Where the Blame Lies(26)

Jimmy took a seat on one of the chairs across from the sofa and removed his own coffee. “Sleep any?” he asked before taking a sip and making an appreciative grunt.

“Drifted off for an hour or so. I’m beat.”

“Yeah. Get on home and get a few hours of sleep. I’m all set here.”

Zach nodded but hesitated. Jimmy peered at him from over his paper cup. “You all right?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. There’s a lot to do today. You sure you’re okay camping out here for a while? I can be back after work, around five, and take the night shift.” He’d called Jimmy the night before, after Josie went to bed, and told him about the break-in and what was left on Josie’s kitchen table. Then he’d called his boss, cleared it with him to watch Josie’s house for a couple of days until they could be certain she wasn’t in imminent danger.

“You’ll need more than a few hours of sleep this morning to do another night shift here,” Jimmy said, taking a sip of his coffee. “See if we can get one of the rookie third shift officers to sit vigil.”

The idea of that left an immediate sour taste in Zach’s mouth. A rookie? Watching over Josie? Playing on his phone all night? He’d been a rookie the first time he’d watched over Josie, and he’d taken his job seriously. But . . . “Nah, I’ll be fine.”

Jimmy was watching him carefully as though there was something different about him he was trying to figure out. He scratched at his prickly jaw. “Your call.”

A door opened upstairs and a few seconds later, footsteps could be heard descending the stairs. Josie appeared in the doorway, looking sleep mussed and . . . beautiful, Zach acknowledged, a robe tied tightly around her waist.

Jimmy stood, walking to her and extending his hand. “Ma’am. Detective Jimmy Keene. I’m Copeland’s partner. I’ll be keeping an eye on your house today so you don’t have any need to worry.”

Josie glanced at Zach who nodded. Her eyes moved back to Jimmy. “All right. Thank you. And please, call me Josie.” She looked at Zach again. “Thank you again for staying the night. I hope you got some sleep.”

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m good. And no problem. I’ll be back later tonight.”

“Okay.” Zach glanced at Jimmy who was watching them both closely.

“Oh,” Zach said, “I’ll need your cousin’s last name and his phone number if you have it.”

Josie nodded. “I have a pen and some paper in the kitchen. Is it safe . . .”

“Oh. Yeah. It’s been cleaned up.”

She nodded and headed toward the kitchen. “She’s a looker, isn’t she?” Jimmy said, still giving Zach that knowing look.

“What? Yeah, I guess. Stop looking at me like that, Jimmy. Jesus. Yeah, she’s beautiful. And she’s the victim of a heinous crime who’s now been thrust back into a situation that could spell danger for her. The city of Cincinnati owes it to her to keep her safe. We’d do the same for any other citizen.”

Jimmy smiled, his jowly cheeks shifting. “You running for mayor, Cope?”

“Fuck off, Jimmy.”

Jimmy laughed and took a casual sip of coffee, holding it in his mouth for a minute before swallowing it down, his annoying smile reappearing.

“Here you go,” Josie said, re-entering the room and holding out a piece of paper to Zach. He took it, slipping it into the pocket of his track pants. “Great. Thanks. I’ll let you know what your cousin says after I meet with him.”

She gave him a slight smile. “Thanks again.”

Zach shot Jimmy a look as he headed to the door. “Keep me updated.”

“Yup,” Jimmy called and from his peripheral vision, Zach saw him take a seat back in the easy chair. As much as Jimmy annoyed him sometimes with his ability to see things Zach wasn’t interested in telling him, he trusted his partner with his life. And in this case, with Josie’s life. He shut the door behind him and walked out into the early morning sunshine.

**********

The apartment building where Aria Glazer had once lived was a large, older home in Hyde Park that had been converted into three units. Zach pressed the buzzer next to the label that said Glazer/Lewis and waited. He heard footsteps and a few seconds later, a pretty blonde opened the door, hair in a bun on top of her head, an overly large sweatshirt falling off one shoulder. Her eyes were red-rimmed as though she’d been crying. “Tessa Lewis?”

Her eyes widened slightly. “Yes. Detective Copeland?”

“Yes. May I come in?”

She nodded as she stepped back. “This way.” She turned and started walking toward an open door to the left of a staircase and Zach followed. She looked over her shoulder, eyeing him. “I didn’t expect . . . I mean, I thought you’d be . . . older.” She gave a small nervous laugh as she entered her apartment and turned toward him.

He smiled, closing the door of her apartment. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

She bobbed her head. “You should.” Color crept up her neck and she played with a piece of hair that had escaped her bun. She waved her hand toward a table next to the open kitchen. “Do you want to sit?”

“That’d be great. I appreciate you meeting with me.”

She sat down and so did he. She bobbed her head again and swallowed, her chin trembling. “I can’t believe she’s dead.” Tears sprang to her eyes. “Can’t believe someone murdered her.”