Behind Holbrook, the guys at the next occupied booth had their heads bent close together as they talked in low, furtive voices. The one across from me wore a baseball cap emblazoned with the logo of a local towing company, the brim shadowing his face, giving him a menacing appearance. Something in his narrowed eyes made me squirm in my seat and sent a shudder down my spine. However, all concerns flew out of the window as soon as our server came back, depositing a large sundae glass oozing chocolate goodness in front of me.
Holbrook rolled his eyes and chuckled as he watched me spoon a giant dollop of whipped cream into my mouth.
“Want my cherry?” I asked with a salacious grin.
Choking on his iced tea, he glowered at me while wiping spilled tea off his chin and the table.
“I’m good,” he declined, shaking his head.
“Suit yourself.”
Popping the cherry in my mouth, I made a show of licking its juice off my lips.
Holbrook practically sagged in relief when our server came back to take our order, the act of ordering a bacon cheeseburger with extra crispy fries distracting me momentarily from making any more lewd insinuations. As our server walked away Holbrook dug his cell phone out of his pocket, putting a stop to any thoughts I might have had about picking up my previous line of conversation. Smirking, I took a long sip of my milkshake as he lifted the slim phone to his ear.
“Jim? It’s Holbrook. I need you to look up an address for me. It’s for an Elena Shoup. Yeah, I’ll wait.”
I swirled the straw through my glass of chocolaty deliciousness while Holbrook waited for the guy on the other end of the line to come up with Shoup’s address. Pulling a small notebook and pen out of his jacket he scribbled down the address.
“Thanks, Jim. I owe you one.”
“That Shoup’s address?” I asked, eyeing Holbrook’s almost indecipherable chicken scratch.
“Yeah,” he replied.
I growled internally as he slipped the notebook and his phone back into his jacket before I could decipher the address.
“So…” I drawled, swiping my finger through another dollop of whipped cream.
“No,” Holbrook replied.
“Aw, come on. You already took me along to The Sage Brush.”
“Yes, and I shouldn’t have done that. You’re a civilian, one that I’m supposed to be protecting, not dragging around on an investigation. If Santos finds out he’ll have my ass in a sling.”
“I was on my best behavior.”
“You nearly punched the guy.”
“Yes, but I didn’t punch him. See, I can restrain myself,” I said, flashing him the most sweet and innocent smile I could muster.
It didn’t appear to be working.
It looked like I needed to use another tactic if I was going to get Holbrook to take me along with him to question Shoup. “You know, I’ll be able to tell if Johnson has been at her place better than any CSI team. This nose knows,” I said, tapping the end of my nose for emphasis.
“Riley…” he warned, running a hand through his hair.
“Oh come on. You’re really going to waste time driving me back to your place knowing that Johnson might be hiding out at Shoup’s?” I asked, hoping the trace of logic in my words would win him over. The indecision was written all over his face, and hoping to seal the deal I added, “Besides, with Collins and Hill with us, how much trouble could I really get into?”
“Promise to be on your best behavior?” he asked, his voice full of resignation, and in that instant I knew I had him.
“Absolutely,” I replied, though I wasn’t sure I’d be able to restrain myself if I found Johnson holed up with Shoup. Surely Holbrook would look the other way and let me rough him up just a little bit if he was there.
“Why do I have the feeling I’m going to regret this?” he asked. “No, don’t answer that. I’ll be right back,” he added with a sigh, rising from the table to stride off towards the bathroom.
From my seat, I watched his gorgeous ass walk away, not for the first time feeling my innards tighten at the memory of his toned flesh beneath my fingers. Deep in my daydream, I didn’t notice one of the guys from the other table rise and walk over until he was already looming over me. He smelled of engine oil and malevolence.
“Hey, aren’t you that woman on the news?”
“Um…” I said, looking around for Holbrook. What the hell was taking him so long?
“Yeah, you’re her. Hey, Ted, you were right; it’s her,” he called over his shoulder to his buddy.
Ted just nodded in reply, his eyes narrowing a little more.
He’s going to go cross-eyed he if keeps that up, I thought, pulling my gaze away from him to the guy standing next to me.
Like his counterpart, he wore a mechanics style shirt over a long sleeved thermal, the name Max embroidered on the left pocket. Max was making me nervous.
“I think you’ve got me confused with someone else,” I said, my grip tightening on the edge of the table until my knuckles turned white. Hunkering down in my seat, I tried to ignore him, hoping he would take the hint and just leave me alone.
I should be so lucky, I thought when he lingered beside the table, scrutinizing me.
At the other table Ted was still staring at me, his shadowed gaze unwavering and his lips compressed into a thin line.
What the hell is with these guys?
“Nah, you’re her. You dated that nut job Reed. The one that butchered all those girls.”