Yup. “I am now though.” Kind of.
“I think this is great. Joel seems like a really awesome guy, and if you’re going to d?—”
“Don’t use the ‘d’ word!”
“Okay, if you’re going to share a month’s worth of sex with a guy, Joel seems safe. I know he used to be a chronic dater, but he seems different now. And anyway, it doesn’t mean you’re marrying the guy.”
This is why she’d called her best friend. Because she’d needed to hear that. Sleeping with Joeldidn’tmean she was marrying him. It was stilljust sex.
A knock tapped on her driver’s-side window, and she turned her head to see Connor standing there.
“I have to go,” she quickly rushed out. “But thanks. You always say what I need to hear.”
“Say hi to the guys for me.”
Polly grabbed the coffee tray and bag of croissants before climbing out of the car. “Hi.”
“Hey, Polly. Can I help you with that?”
She handed him the coffees. “One of those is for you.”
He grinned. “I was hoping you’d say that. You’ve made my morning.”
“No. That’s the caffeine. Just make sure you eat your croissant before Joel gets to it. I swear that man has a bottomless pit for a stomach.”
Connor laughed. “Yes, he does. He ate three lunches yesterday.”
She threw her head back and laughed.
“I heard you’ve been seeing a bit more of him.”
She tensed. She shouldn’t be surprised he knew. They worked together and the guys were his best friends, so they probably told each other everything. It shouldn’t bother her. “We have…been seeing each other more.”
“I know the situation with his parents is complicated, but don’t let that deter you. Okay?”
The situation with his parents? She opened her mouth to ask what thatsituationwas, but he continued.
“Youare what he wants.”
She frowned. As opposed to what?
But it was too late to ask, because they were already stepping into the old firehouse, which was full of the team. All except Joel.
Joel studied the photos.On one side, there were five women dating back twenty-five years. On the other side, the four most recent women who’d all been killed in the last year.
Was it the same killer for all of them? Had the psychopath escalated? Or were these two separate cases?
The team had stuck the photos and bios on a pinboard in a back room of the base. They didn’t want this out in the open area where anyone who walked in could see it and question what they were doing. They were supposed to be search and rescue, not doing the sheriff’s job.
But how the hell were they supposed to let this go? They couldn’t. Not until the string of women being taken ended.
He was about to step out of the room when his phone rang, his mother’s name on the screen. He canceled the call.
“Hope that wasn’t anyone important.”
His gaze shot up to see Polly leaning against the doorframe, to-go cup in one hand and a croissant on a plate in the other. “How long have you been standing there?”
“Long enough to know that frown between your brows is going to become permanent if it sits there any longer.” She pushed off the frame and came to stand beside him, her eyes scanning the board.
