“In as many days,” Anthony added. He set a Manhattan on the napkin in front of me. “Are you going to speak to me this time?”

“You’re lucky I’m speaking to you now,” I said.

Anthony nodded, conceding, and then looked to Val. “If she’d ordered only one drink, I still would have remembered. Whose bar do you think this is?”

Val cocked an eyebrow. “This is not your bar, Anthony.”

“It’s my bar,” he said, sitting a short tumbler in front of her. “Do you see anyone else running this shit?” He motioned all around him. “Okay.”

Val chuckled, and Anthony took Marks’s order. I was used to more pleasantries, more courtesy. I liked the sharp wit and jagged edges of their banter—no hurt feelings, no seriousness. After a day at the office, it was refreshing.

The door chimed, and a quick glance turned into a long stare while Maddox made his way to the stool next to Marks. Maddox’s eyes caught mine for a fraction of a second, and then he greeted his friend. Before Maddox could settle into his seat and loosen his tie, Anthony had already set a beer bottle on the counter in front of him.

“Relax,” Val whispered. “He won’t stay long. Maybe one drink.”

“I’m glad I never tried undercover work. I’m beginning to think my thoughts and feelings are surrounded by glass walls and subtitled just in case I’m not obvious enough.”

Val helped me to carry on a semi-normal conversation, but then Maddox ordered another drink.

Val’s face compressed. “That’s not like him.”

I tried to remember if he’d had more than one drink the first time we met.

“Hell,” I whispered, “I should probably head home anyway.”

I gestured to Anthony for my check, and Marks leaned forward.

“You leaving?” he asked.

I simply nodded.

He seemed miffed by my silence. “You don’t talk now?”

“Just trying to help you stay out of trouble.” I signed the small strip of paper for Anthony, leaving behind a tip that covered all three nights, and then I slipped the strap of my purse over my arm.

The night air begged me to take a stroll in a different direction than my condo, but I rounded the corner and crossed the street, climbing the stoop of my building. Once inside, my heels clicked against the tile floor until I stopped in front of the elevator bay.

The entrance door opened and closed, and then Maddox slowed to a stop when he saw me.

“Going up?” he asked.

I stared at him with a blank expression, and he looked around as if he were lost, or maybe he couldn’t believe he’d said something so stupid. We were on the ground floor.