He stalked across his apartment barefoot, dressed only in exercise pants, and wrenched the handle to open the door, already feeling sorry for whoever was about to experience him in full-throttle fury mode.
Raphael was unprepared to see Lucy standing there, looking bright, cheery and clearly well rested. Unlike him.
Her ready smile fell away and her eyes widened when he loomed tall in the doorframe like a sand-claw beast woken from slumber too soon, ready to bite someone’s head off for daring to knock on his door.
“Raphael?” she said in a quivering voice, taking a step back as both hands came up, palms out in an effort to ward him off or possibly fight off an imminent attack.
Instantly contrite, Raphael shrank back from the doorframe, ducked his head and plastered a fake smile in place as he beckoned her inside with a wave.
She did not move one eyelash.
“Sorry,” he said in a quiet tone. “I didn’t get much sleep last night.”
Lucy’s eyes went even wider. Her lips formed a small O, her cheeks went tomato red and she waved both hands back and forth as if waving away a car along a roadside. “I’m so sorry,” she said, taking two more steps backward. “I did not mean to interrupt…you know…anything.”
Raphael squinted. “You didn’t interrupt…”What is she talking about?“…anything.” He motioned again for her to come into his place, but was not convinced she’d step one baby toe inside his lair, since he’d been such an insufferable brute when he opened the door.
“Okay. Great. Well. Just tell Francine I stopped by to talk, okay?” She stared. He stared. She added, “Okay then. I’ll just…go, now.”
“Oh. Oh!”I get it.“Francine’s not here.” He figured out in that second what Lucy thought she had interrupted. He scraped his fingers through his hair along his scalp once, trying to wake up. He scratched his chest, and registered the fact he didn’t have a shirt on. “Hang on a second,” he said, turning to grab last night’s T-shirt, which was draped over one of his two barstools, and slipped it over his head.
When he looked at Lucy, her brows were furrowed. “Where is she?”
“Francine?” Raphael had to stop and think. He really needed something to help him wake up. “She’s at home.”
“No, she’s not.” Lucy crossed her arms, head tilting to one side and looking past him into his small place, like he was lying and had Francine hidden in a closet or something. “I’ve already been there. I pounded so loud her landlady poked her head out and made a mean face. And Mrs. Greenstone is the nicest person in the world. Francine never answered, so I thought she was with you.”
Raphael grabbed his phone off the charger on the bar countertop, unplugged the device and looked to see if Francine had messaged to say she was on her way to his place.
The only message was the one she’d sent last night about being tired and heading to bed.
He sent a quick text, telling her he was bringing club sandwiches and chips from the Cosmos Café for lunch, asking if noon was a good time. He waited for a response.
“Usually she answers pretty fast unless she’s at work.”
“True,” Lucy said.
Nothing came through after a couple of minutes. Raphael handed his phone to Lucy with the messages on the screen to prove what he’d said. Maybe he needed to invite her in to do a thorough search of his quarters. She could look to her heart’s content. It wouldn’t take long.
Lucy stared down at his phone screen, frowned, and handed it back. Then she pulled her own phone from her pocket. She swiped, punched the screen a few times and handed him her phone, open to a text. It said, “Hey, I’m back, but I’ll be busy for a few days. Talk later.” He also noted the three messages Lucy had sent in return, with no response.
“I tried to call her, twice, but she didn’t answer.”
Raphael handed over her phone and put both palms to his face, scrubbing furiously. Every word spoken and thought in his head was a struggle. “I’m not quite awake yet.” He probably needed more sleep, but was unlikely to get it. He cleared his throat and tried to think of something intelligent to say. Nothing came to mind.
Lucy sighed. “No problem. I’m sorry to have disturbed you.” She looked like a dejected puppy he’d just thrown to the curb.
“Wait, Lucy. Tell you what—let me grab a quick shower, and a quicker cup of coffee and we can go to Francine’s place together. If she’s not there, we’ll hunt her down until we find her.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“I’m a bounty hunter. It’s what I do and pretty much the only thing I’m good at. Besides, I know for a fact that she wouldn’t want you to be worried.”
A smile formed. “Okay. Why don’t you go get your shower and I’ll fetch both of us a cup of coffee to cast away the cobwebs. Deal?”
“Deal. Thanks.”
Lucy smiled and pulled his front door shut. He stripped his clothes off as he walked toward the bathroom and took the fastest shower he’d ever managed. Even so, Lucy was knocking by the time he’d dressed.
