She got the shower going, undressed, stepped in, and closed the frosted glass door behind her. She’d rinsed the shampoo from her hair when she heard his approach.

“Caitlin, you situated?”

“We’re separated by a polite wall of glass. Come on in.” She started conditioner. No reason to rush. “Why so frustrated?”

“Besides the wall of glass?”

“Yes, besides this.”

She looked over the top of the door, pressed her body against the glass. “Can you see my nips?”

Greenwood sat on the edge of the tub, his tie noticeably absent, top two buttons undone. “Sadly no, but you’re rocking out those suds.”

“Seriously, what’s wrong?”

“Paige Lauffer is completely gone.”

Caitlin leaned back, rinsed her conditioner. “That’s why you didn’t text.”

He nodded. “Or call. My phone is really the department’s phone.”

“Nothing on a running app or GPS pings?”

“No luck with the tech, the tip line, or the searches. Same thing as Chapman. At least this time, no one’s made any mistakes.”

“Mistakes? What mistakes?”

He backpedaled. “Nothing, but I wasn’t involved with Chapman from the onset. Not really a mistake as much as a mishandling.”

Caitlin knew Jerry had joined the Chapman investigation late but realized she hadn’t met the person who’d started the process.

He changed the momentum before she could ask. “Ready to tell me what you’re working on?”

One easy way to dodge that question.

She rinsed the last of the soap from her body, opened the shower door, and stepped out naked, dripping wet.

“I’m working on getting you out of those pants.”

*   *   *

Greenwood didn’t try to hold her. Caitlin didn’t try to stop him from leaving. He’d given her two things—sex and a lead.

She texted Lakshmi. The patient had the munchies. Caitlin appeared at her apartment half an hour later with takeout. She knocked twice, tried the handle.

Unlocked.

She opened the door, set the takeout on the coffee table. “Lakshmi, you here?”

A hoarse groan answered from the bedroom.

Caitlin ran around the corner.

Lakshmi lay star-fished on her back, her maroon panties the only layer between her skin and the puke brown carpet. Her eyes were closed, her breathing labored.

“Lakshmi, are you okay?”

Lakshmi opened her eyes, smiled with her whole face. “I feel great, why?”

Caitlin squatted next to her. “’Cause the door was unlocked and you’re lying on the floor with your tits out.”

Lakshmi giggled. “I got hot.”

Caitlin reached for her un-casted arm. “They said the pills might do that to you.”

“So I had a beer,” Lakshmi said, propped herself up.

“There’s our answer. Let’s put a shirt on and some food on top of those pills.”