She smiles wide. “I’m always happy to help. Anytime, Nick.”
I head toward the door, ready to get home and eat my food, which is likely cold at this point.
Not that I’m even hungry. My stomach is in knots for reasons I can’t exactly pinpoint.
My intuition tells me that the Garet case shouldn’t have been closed, but who am I to argue with the captain? He says the family wants it closed, and despite what Shirley said, she’s known for sticking her nose where it doesn’t concern her. Owning a bar and acting as an unpaid therapist for years will do that to a person. She could have it all wrong.
Maybe.
Ten of Swords
FOR THE FIRSTnight in over a week, I sent Lanie home, perfectly content to have some time to myself. With my earbuds in, I got to work cleaning up the house. I was determined not to let things get as bad as they had lately.
My head’s spinning with all the details I’ve uncovered, and I’ve been finding ways to keep busy while I sort through it all.
I head out to the trash bin to dump a full bag of trash left over from the junk food binge that occurred tonight, not paying attention to my surroundings at all. When I turn, a tall, dark figure stands in my path. I yelp, practically jumping out of my slides. My eyes close, and when they open, I breathe a sigh of relief that it’s only Nick.
His mouth moves, but I can’t hear him over Snow Patrol. I put a finger in the air, grab my phone from my back pocket, and shut off the music.
“Sorry, I didn’t know you were behind me.”
He smiles. “You seemed a little distracted. Anything good?” He motions to my ears.
“ ‘Chasing Cars.’ I’ve been cleaning.”
“Listen, I don’t want to bombard you on the street, but we need to talk.”
I smile internally, relishing the fact that he’s forced to admit that my source might just know a thing or two.
He places his hands in his pockets, rocking back and forth on his feet. He looks younger in the dim lighting provided by my motion sensor, and I have to bite my cheek to stop myself from smiling.
“Do you wanna come in?” I ask, motioning toward my house. “It’s probably better if we don’t have this conversation out here.”
He ceases the rocking and removes his hands from his pockets, tapping the sides of both legs. Is he nervous?
“That works.”
Nick follows me into my front room, and I motion for him to take a seat on the chair across from the ancient floral disaster of a couch. I’ve never been embarrassed by the outdated furniture, but having him in the space, I suddenly wish I’d sprung for a new set a long time ago.
“Can I get you something to drink? Coke? A beer?”
“I’ll take a coke.”
I nod and briskly make my way out of the room as quickly as I can, only to find Billy holding his stomach, bent over laughing, while Jackson glares into the side of his head.
“What’s so funny?” I cross my arms over my chest, popping out my hip.
“Jackson just about had a coronary,” he says, wheezing. “His face was priceless.”
“About?” I drawl, looking between the two.
Jackson attempts to land a smack to the side of Billy’s head, but it’s no use. His hand goes right through, only managing to make Billy laugh harder.
“Will you tell me what’s going on?” I say to Jackson since he’s the mature one of the two.
“West is a recovering alcoholic. Saw it myself at Clementine’s. He’s been sober for years, but you don’t wanna be offerin’ him alcohol, toots.”
My stomach twists. I recall that Garrett had once mentioned Nick was on the sober path, but I’d hardly paid attention, and now I’m kicking myself for it.
