“Are you settled at your hotel?”
“Not exactly.” I wiped my mouth and looked at myself in the mirror, wondering how much to share. If I told him someone broke into Vero’s house, then hurled a rock through her living room window—that someone had been repeatedly threatening her—he’d call my sister to babysit, jump in his Impala, and break a speed record to get here.
I had everything under control. This was not something he needed to worry about.
I sat on the lip of the bathtub so I wouldn’t have to look at myself when I said, “Norma and Gloria invited me and Javi to spend the night at their house.”
I could practically hear the gears in Nick’s brain shift, the moment that inconsistent detail pinged the cop side of his brain. “Javi, too? How long did she invite you to stay?”
“I’m not exactly sure yet. We were all talking at dinner, and we might have found a lead in her case. There was a witness who can provide an alibi for Vero.”
“That’s good, isn’t it?”
“It would be, if he would cooperate. She’s left a few messages, but he’s not returning her calls. So, I offered to find him and convince him to help.”
“Finn,” Nick said, the tinge of worry growing. “I don’t like the idea of you getting involved. If he’s a hostile witness—”
“I’ll be perfectly safe. Javi and Ramón are going with me.”
“Maybe I should—”
“Stop,” I said firmly. “I’m completely capable of handling this. There’s nothing you need to worry about.”
I wasn’t sure if his heavy sigh was from exhaustion or capitulation.I could picture him rubbing his eyes, his hands dragging down his cheeks and rasping over his thick dark stubble. “You’ll call me if you run into any problems?”
“I promise. How are the kids?” I asked before he could change his mind.
“Good.” His slight pause pinged the mom part ofmybrain. “Georgia and Sam gave Delia and Zach the grand tour of the station. Then Roddy treated them to donuts and took them over to the fire department to see the engines while I managed to squeeze in some paperwork. We grabbed some takeout on the way home. They’re exhausted. I just got them to sleep.”
“You sound exhausted, too. Are you sure you don’t need me to call my sister for backup?”
“What I need,” Nick said, his voice falling to a low rumble that pinged an entirely different part of my body, “is for you to talk to your witness, enjoy your visit with Vero, and come home. There are plenty of things I can handle here without you, but there’s one in particular I prefer not to do alone.”
I grinned. “Want to talk to me about it? Maybe I can walk you through it over the phone.”
“I’d rather show you in person.”
“I can’t wait. I’ll be home as soon as I can. Oh, and Nick? If a woman named Stacey comes by and offers you sex toys or brownies, just say no. And don’t show her your underwear.”
“My underwear?”
“I love you.”
“I love you, too,” he said, sounding bemused. “Be safe tomorrow,” he added before hanging up.
I washed my face, brushed my teeth, and headed back to Vero’s room. She was in bed staring at the ceiling when I got there.
“I’m sorry I got you into this,” she said ruefully as I lay on the trundle.
“What kind of friend would I be if I let you go through it alone, especially after all you’ve been through for me? Besides, it’s not like you’re asking me to help you hide a body.”
That got a laugh out of her. “There were several bodies,” she corrected me.
“Well, there aren’t any now. We’ve made it through bigger messes before. We’ll get through this one, too.” I reached for the lamp and turned off the light.
CHAPTER 9
Vero and I left the house early the next morning. I braced myself for the shrill beep of an alarm as we climbed into my minivan and drove away from the house, but just as Vero had assured me the night before, her ankle bracelet had turned off at nineA.M.sharp, freeing her for her scheduled window for errands.
