“Nothing. I’d just forgotten how nice it is to work with you, Rita.” His smile reaches his dark eyes.

I swallow. My hair has fallen out of its bun and hangs in a tangled mess over my shoulders. At least the gray is gone. But I’m sure my mascara is smudged, and the sleeve of my white blouse definitely has a smear of Mrs. Bradley’s blood from her injured fingers. I sit up and smooth my hair back.

“Yeah. It’s nice to have you here.” I sip my wine. “I guess you’ll be wrapping up and moving on to your next assignment.”

“Pretty soon, I’m sure.”

Is he thinking about what happened after we finished our last case together? I feel heat rush to my face. As much as I don’t regret what happened between us, I feel like I’m past that kind of recklessness now. It’s not what I want. But I don’t want him to disappear for another six years either. I huff out a breath. You’d think by now I’d have my life figured out.

“What?”

I shake my head. “Just thinking. Some case, huh?”

He smiles. “It was a wild ride. But the outcome was right.”

He picks up a mozzarella stick, bites into it, and leaves a long string of cheese trailing down his chin. I resist the urge to lean over and wipe it off.

“Remember when we questioned Arthur Knoll?” he asks. Knoll was the perp in our last case. “And he said that he didn’t kill his wife, that she killed herself?”

“Yeah. What an idiot. He was covered in her blood, and she’d been shot in the back three times.”

“Then he said the dog shot her, and he had some elaborate explanation of how that happened.”

“Yeah. The dog hated her guts apparently.”

We both laugh, and I’m feeling the effects of the wine and the letdown of the stress. Tears wet both our cheeks as we can’t stop laughing, and even the cops at the bar turn around to look.

CHAPTER 74 - Molly

CHAPTER 74

Molly

One week later

THE SUN IS SHINING FOR THE FIRST TIME IN DAYS. CORRINE AND I SIT AT my kitchen table, mugs of tea and brownies that Alice made in front of us. Physically, I’m back to normal, but the rest of me will take a while. Cal was released from the hospital a few days ago and is now in custody, with no bond, so that gives me some comfort.

“How’s Laken?” Corrine asks.

“Better. She called me yesterday. She’s at her parents’ house with the boys. She wanted to apologize again and to let me know that she’s not coming back to Graybridge.”

“That’s probably for the best. She’s lucky to be alive,” Corrine says. “What’s happening with Kim and Josh?”