She stretched further—only to jerk back as the pulsing beat of “I Won’t Back Down” erupted from her cell on the counter.

Sweet mercy!

Grabbing the edge of the cabinet to steady herself, she coaxed her lungs to kick back in. If Brent and his cohorts didn’t wrap up this case soon, her nerves would be shot.

She picked up the phone, skimmed the screen, and greeted Grace.

“Am I interrupting anything?” Her sister seemed a tad distracted.

“No. I’m on a spice search.”

“A what?”

“Spice search. I’m trying to find my dill for Mom’s dolmathes recipe. I haven’t made that one in a while, and I thought I’d whip up a batch for us when you and Cate come to dinner tomorrow.”

Two seconds ticked by. “I didn’t know we were invited for dinner tomorrow.”

“You weren’t. But I talked to Cate earlier, and she mentioned she might drop by. She also said you were going to be in town for a forensic seminar. Rather than have you two show up with food in hand again, I decided to feed you this visit.”

“Is your detective going to be there too?” Her sister was fully engaged in the conversation now.

“No. Why would he be?”

“Well, he’s doing chauffeur duty for you. It would be a hospitable gesture to invite him to join us.”

And subject him to the third degree from her sisters?

Not a chance.

“Considerate of you to think of that—but plan on a threesome. So what’s up?”

As if she had to ask.

Her two sisters had been tag-teaming phone calls since she’d told them on Sunday about the twist her case had taken. While neither had seemed concerned about the threat to themselves, they had not been thrilled to hear that there could be a second person targeting her.

But two calls a day from each of them?

Overkill.

Now another in-person visit.

Much as she loved them, they had their own lives—and impinging on their free time wasn’t fair.

“I had kind of a gruesome case today—but I doubt you want to hear about it.” Humor lurked in Grace’s inflection.

Eve put her hand on her stomach. “Gruesome is more than sufficient detail. Anything else going on?”

“Nope. How is it on your end?” Her sister’s casual tone didn’t fool her one bit.

“If you’re asking whether I’ve received any more communication from my harasser, the answer is no.”

“Any updates from your detective since we last talked?”

“He isn’t my detective.” Yet. “And I promised during our last chat to let you know if there were any developments. That was a mere seven hours ago, by the way.”

“I know—but I like to hear your voice. You have an issue with that?”