The Marsh Madness

“Well, she was standing on a step and I walked past her. She could have tripped, although I know she didn’t.

“I’ll be back at the station shortly. Thought I’d use my lunch to get respectable.”

The rest of the conversation was all on her end. Chicken squawks that meant nothing.

In the end, Tyler said, “Yes, ma’am. We’ll get them.”

And that was the end of that.

I listened as Tyler padded off toward the bathroom. As soon as I heard him turn on the shower, I slipped out from under the bed with a very good plan to race along the hallway and out the back door off the kitchen. I wanted to check his cell to see who else he might have been talking to besides Castellano, but I figured I’d better get out of there.

I picked up Walter and began to tiptoe out. Tyler’s cell phone rang on the side table. He always turned on the ring and raised the volume when he was out of the room. In that tiny bathroom there was nowhere to put a phone.

Why had I forgotten that?

I heard Tyler thundering toward the room. Too late to get back under the bed. I hugged the wall in the faint hope that he wouldn’t notice a woman and an extra dog standing there, trapped.

“Hello?” Tyler clutched the oversized blue-and-white-striped bath sheet around himself as he fumbled with the phone. “Yeah, Stoddard, I’ll be there as soon as I get cleaned up, and yes, I’ll be wearing plain clothes. And no, they won’t be coffee-colored.”

He clicked the phone closed and turned. I held my breath. Maybe he wouldn’t notice. But that would have been too good to be true.

Walter yipped happily. He’d been missing his friend, Smiley. Cobain barked in agreement.

I wiggled the fingers of my free hand to say “hey” and sidled closer to the door.

Tyler’s blue eyes popped. His familiar blush rose, this time from his chest to the roots of his hair. I should add the hair had a nice lather of shampoo on it.

“Wha—?”

“Good to see you too,” I said.

“I just assured my commanding officer that we’re not in touch.”

“Well, that’s a fact. You said that you hadn’t spoken to me, and it was true at the time.”

“It’s not true anymore.”

“But it was true then.”

“Really, Jordan? Do you think that would matter to Castellano? We can’t be together.”

“I didn’t want to be together. I needed somewhere to sleep and I didn’t think you’d be goofing off from work to take a shower. I still had my key and—Do you really think I murdered that woman?”

He blinked. “Well, of course not.”

“And what about Chadwick Kauffman? Look me in the eye and tell me you think I did that.”

He swallowed.

I had the advantage over him, being fully dressed and with a lot to lose. Plus I’d learned from the expression on his face that he didn’t believe I’d killed Chadwick. I also knew that he was going to pursue that case under orders.

He said, “When this is over, we can—”

“That’s not going to happen.”

“Jordan—”

I felt a buzz of emotions. Fear of getting arrested didn’t even make the list. How could he? How could he suggest that we would ever even talk again?

“Never. Not in my lifetime. I don’t ever want to see you again. I am only hiding out here because I had no choice. And I had the key.”

“I realize that, but since we’re face-to-face, let me explain—” By now, Tyler was flushed from his hairline to his feet. Usually I find his blushing endearing, but not this time.

I sputtered, “Explain? Explain? What’s to explain? I can’t believe you said that. You broke up with me by text. You didn’t have the courage to do it to my face. And that was after I forgave you for everything that happened last fall. Now this? No explanation possible except that you are a colossal jerk.”

“I’m not. I mean, I may be a jerk, but that’s not why. I had to.”

“Stop wasting my time. I’m out of here.”

“I had no choice. They were watching you.”

“What?”

“They were watching you.”

“Who was watching me?”

“The police. Us. We were.”