“Wait, what did you say?” I thought about the fortune-teller’s earlier comment. “Did you tell Esmeralda we were going out?”
“I haven’t seen her since I left the building. I told you that Justin called while I was driving back to South Cove. Callers like him are why I love my truck’s Bluetooth. I can’t ever get him to shut up.” He looked at me. “You look a little green, are you sick?”
“No, I’m not sick.” I told him about how Esmeralda had asked if I’d been looking for hidden treasure and told me to be careful. When I finished, Greg shrugged.
“She’s messing with you. I’m sure someone has told her that we’ve been doing this geocaching thing with Amy and Justin. Probably Amy told her.” He took a last bite of the slice on his plate and gave the rest to Emma. “You have to stop letting her play you.”
As I ate my pizza, I thought about his words. The explanation sounded logical, and even Esmeralda had admitted she could piece together bits of information she heard from different sources to figure out what people needed to hear. But for some reason, the hair at the back of my neck was standing up and I had goose pimples on my arms.
“So, are we on for Sunday? Justin wants us to meet at the parking lot at the trailhead. That way if you two are still snippy, we can separate you for the ride home.” Greg finished off his beer.
“I’ll be good if she is.” I picked up the plates and took them to the sink, putting the leftover pizza in one box, keeping two pieces out for my lunch tomorrow. Greg would take the rest to the station, and Toby and Tim would scarf down the leftovers. It was like having kids to feed. Big, hungry kids with size-ten feet.
He put his arms around me and gave me a tight squeeze. “I know you’ll be good. So, do you want to watch a movie? I can’t promise when or if you’ll see me again between now and Sunday.”
“Let me finish cleaning up and I’ll be right in. I’ll even let you choose the movie.” I leaned into his body for a second, enjoying the warmth of his embrace.
“You will probably regret those words,” he whispered into my ear.
I nodded. “I already do.”
We stayed like that for a long minute, then he kissed me on the neck and left the room, Emma on his heels. During an investigation, we rarely got couple time except for the No-Guilt-Sunday time he’d implemented last year. And even then, if there was an emergency, all bets were off. Tonight, I wasn’t going to worry about anything but spending time together. I could pry him for information tomorrow when I stopped by the station with a slice of cheesecake or two.
When I entered the living room, he sat in the middle of the couch, Emma on one side and a small portion of the seat cushion for me on the other. I slipped into the space and hit Play on the DVD remote. “So, you never told me why you’re able to have date night in the middle of the week. Is John out of town for some reason?”
“He’s trying to deal with the information you brought to my attention this morning. He says thanks, by the way. He didn’t mean it when he said it, but I know his heart is in the right place.” Greg leaned back into the couch and put his arm around me, pulling me closer.
“What’s he deciding?” I put my ear over his heart and listened to the strong, comforting beat.
He put his hand on my head, stroking my face very gently as if I were a china doll to be protected from crashing and breaking. “Whether to drop the charges on Austin. Apparently John was convinced that Austin did in Mary Jane as well, and now that we found her, he’s in the clear, so the ‘kill one, kill them all’ motive doesn’t really apply.”
We both left the other question hang in the air without an answer. If Austin didn’t kill Kacey, who did?
CHAPTER 15
I hadn’t slept well, my dreams filled with wandering kittens that kept getting into harm’s way. When I woke early, I dressed in my running clothes and took Emma out for a quick run hoping to clear my head of the stress dreams. I still opened the shop early.
After the morning commuter customers left, I dialed Aunt Jackie’s number. Three rings and she answered. “What? Is there a problem in the shop?”
“No, there’s a problem with Josh.” I could hear her favorite morning show in the background.
The sigh was long and loud. “What’s he done now?”