“He’s gonna stop by the agency tomorrow anyway,” my mother assured me, looking much less troubled now that we were taking action. “He’s been missin’ you lately. I have, too. I liked it when we were all under the same roof.”
I smiled at her. “It was nice, but we all need our own space. I love my cottage and I’m still hoping that Trey will head off to college in January. He can’t defer his admission beyond that.” I gazed fondly at my mother. “But we should do this more often. Have a regular girls’ night. Just you and me. I don’t want any distance to come between us because I moved a few miles down the road. You’re important to me, Mama.”
At this poignant moment my cell phone buzzed. I’d set it to vibrate before entering the restaurant, but when I saw Sean’s number floating in the rectangular screen, I excused myself and rushed to the foyer to answer his call.
“Hi, stranger,” I said.
His sigh echoed through my phone’s speaker. “Stranger, huh? It’s been too long, hasn’t it? Sometimes I hate this job because the bad guys just won’t turn themselves in like I wish they would. If they’d only cooperate, you and I could go out for a nice, leisurely dinner. We could talk about anything other than police work over an enormous steak and a really good bottle of wine.”
“I have a decent merlot at home,” I offered. “Are you still on the clock?”
“Yes.” His regret was tangible.
Thinking fast, I said, “If I told you that I hadn’t left Dunston yet and that I had information that might be relevant to the case, could you meet me at Bill’s Bar and Grill?”
“Absolutely.” The delight in Sean’s voice was unmistakable. “See you in five minutes.”
Grinning like a fool, I went back inside and was surprised to see my mother pouring the contents of her whiskey tumbler into a takeout cup. “I’ll drink this when I get home,” she said with a smirk. “You don’t need me hangin’ around like a third wheel. You and your hunky policeman need some alone time.”
Despite my protests over her swift departure and the fact that she was carrying whiskey home in a foam cup, my mother called for the check, handed the waiter a few bills, and kissed me on the cheek.
“Call me after you see Trey tomorrow,” she commanded and then headed out into the night.
I resumed my seat and finished my sandwich. Suddenly, I was starving, and I didn’t want to wolf my food down in front of Sean. As it turned out, he’d already eaten so we both ordered decaf cappuccinos.
Behaving like a pair of smitten teenagers, we held hands across the table and couldn’t stop smiling at each other. I drank in the blue of Sean’s eyes and reveled in the touch of his fingertips. He told me about his day and we both shared a laugh over a joke one of his fellow officers had told him over lunch. He then thanked me for the fax and assured me that Ruben’s story checked out. The bereaved editor had definitely been in Chicago and dozens of people could attest to this fact.
I was relieved on Ruben’s behalf, but the mention of his name brought an end to our jovial mood. We tried to cling to it as long as possible, but as soon as I raised the subject of Tilly and her stalker, Sean’s eyes lost their merry twinkle and became dark with concern.
“And you saw someone near her house? A man or a woman?”
I shook my head. “I can’t be that specific. It was a movement. A shadow. But I’m pretty sure someone was there. Tilly thinks she’s been followed since the book festival.” I wondered if I should mention that T. J. West fit Tilly’s description of the man she’d repeatedly seen around town. However, I decided that it would be unfair to put West on Sean’s radar without a scrap of evidence that he’d done something wrong.
“Is there a connection between Tilly and Melissa?” Sean asked, his gaze keen. I could practically hear his mind churning. “They’re both in the book business.”
“I don’t know,” I said. “Tilly’s books aren’t put out by Melissa’s publishing company, but the fact that they were both at the book festival might mean something. Flora’s her agent, so you could get Tilly’s professional history from her.”
“I’m going to take you home now,” Sean said with a tinge of regret. “But we’ll go by Tilly’s house first. I want to make sure that no one is lurking around before we leave Dunston.”
At that moment I felt such a strong rush of affection for my dedicated policeman that I stood, leaned over the table, and kissed him on the mouth. People turned and smiled at us and Sean looked pleasantly surprised.
“What was that for?”