Straight Flushed (Hot Pursuit #1)(33)

I patted her hand. “You did good, Miss Red. No more cleaning on the weekends. You got me?”

“Don’t think I’ll be doin’ that again. No sir-ee.”

I sat with her until a couple of nurses came back to take her over for a CAT scan. If it looked clear they said they would staple her up and send her home. Shortly after, her son, Jay, arrived, so I excused myself. When I came out from behind the curtain, the detectives were standing in front of Tom and Vance in the waiting room. I sat down and joined them, and the officers began asking me a few questions.

“You mentioned you thought someone had come in the locker room while you were there?” Officer Micelli asked.

“That’s right. It was stupid. I should have checked it out.”

“Di, don’t,” Vance said. “It’s not your fault.”

I shrugged.

“Miss Red said she was already in the locker room when you entered,” Officer Micelli added.

“She was?” A chill ran up my spine.

“She said she saw you heading to the showers so she decided to tend to another area to give you some privacy.”

I smiled. Miss Red was one of the sweetest people on the face of the earth. But that meant the man who’d attacked Miss Red entered when I’d heard the door to the locker room open.

The officers asked a series of standard questions: when we arrived, the approximate time when I heard someone enter the locker room, when we left, and a few others. When they were satisfied we’d covered everything, they drove Tom back to his car at B&B. Vance and I hung out until Miss Red’s CAT scan results came back. Fortunately, it turned out it was nothing more than a deep wound, so Vance and I headed back to his house.



. . .



“That was pretty crazy,” I said, pulling out one of the kitchen chairs and sitting down. We’d reheated our food and were getting ready to dig in. “How could someone hurt innocent Miss Red? She wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

“I don’t know, but I really don’t like anyone on our staff getting assaulted inside our building. It would be terrible for business if anything got leaked to the media. ‘Personal Protection Agency Can’t Protect Their Own’, I can practically see the headline now.” He groaned, shaking his head. “I can’t wait for the staff meeting Monday morning.”

“Oh, Cavanaugh is going to be breathing fire.”

“It’s not going to be pleasant,” Vance said.

“Tom is probably going to get fired,” I said, frowning while twirling buttered pasta onto my fork.

“Yeah, well, how a person managed to sneak into the building is going to be a major hot point, and the fact that it happened under his watch, he pretty much signed his pink slip.” He sliced into his chicken and shoved a generous bite into his mouth. “Hey, you think it’s too late for cards?” he asked, covering his mouth as he spoke.

“Yeah, I should get going after I finish eating.”

“You can crash here if you want. It’s late. You can take the bed and I’ll sleep down here.”

“Nah, I should head home.”

“You sure?”

I glared at him with a grin. “Seriously, it’s kind of pathetic the methods you’ll go to get me into your bed.” I pushed my pasta aside and sunk my fork into the tip of my creamy, vanilla bean cheesecake. While I was sliding it off my fork, I glanced over to Vance and was greeted with a stern expression. “Geez, who’s the serious one tonight? Thanks a lot for the offer, but I’m looking forward to sleeping in my own bed in clean sheets.”

Realization hit Vance. “Oh, right. Last night. Say no more,” he said with a chuckle.

After we finished eating, Vance walked me to my little four-door sedan parked in his driveway. I hit the button to unlock it, and Vance held my door open.

“Hey.” Vance put his hand on my shoulder and stopped me from getting in. “Text me when you get home.”

“Okay, Dad.” I rolled my eyes.

“Watch it, girl.” He reached up and put his hands to my cheeks. His thumb lightly grazed the scar under my eye. “I’m a little bothered, okay? Just do it. It’ll help me sleep better.”

I stood for a beat, noticing his features shadowed by the silvery moonlight. His aquiline nose, low cheek bones and sloping jawline revealed has Roman ancestry. His facial hair had come in as the day grew on, peppering his face with a thick layer of black stubble. I smiled. “Sure, I’ll text you when I’m inside.”

I slid into my seat, and he shut my door then gave my roof a couple of light smacks. He walked down the driveway as I backed out. I drove away from him, watching his figure getting smaller and smaller in my rear view mirror.

It was after midnight by the time I pulled into a parking spot outside of my apartment building. Everything was quiet in my neighborhood, even for a Saturday night. I lived surrounded by people from all walks of life from college students to the elderly, so I could never guess what the weekend would bring.

Once inside my apartment, I sent Vance the text I promised and walked into my bedroom. Vacations are great, but it’s always nice to come back to the comfort of home. I couldn’t wait to slip between my sheets and sleep in my bed. I put on one of Gabe’s oversized T-shirts and set my phone on my bedside table. I turned on the radio and let it lull me to sleep. I drifted off with the smell of roses wafting in from the kitchen.