Colleen looked around, then lowered her voice. “She likes vodka, because she thinks you can’t smell it on her breath. And diet pills even though she’s a size four. One guess where she gets the pills.”

The server set their plates on the table. “Here you go.”

“Thanks so much,” Colleen said, flashing her brilliant smile. She picked up her knife and cut the cheeseburger into quarters.

Vera watched, then did the same. “I get why you don’t like them, but what do his parents have against you?”

“Where do I start?” Colleen asked. “They don’t approve of the fact that I bleach my hair. They think I dress trashy. They don’t like me working as a dental hygienist. But mostly they hate the fact that I’m not the girl they had all picked out for their baby boy Allen.”

“Really?” Vera dabbed a french fry in the puddle of ketchup on her plate. “Did they actually have somebody else in mind?”

“Oh yes,” Colleen said. “Morton’s partner’s oldest daughter, Suzanne. Miss Perfect. Miss Debutante. Miss Sun Goddess beauty queen.”

“And then you had to show up and make Allen fall in love with you, and spoil everything,” Vera said, giggling.

“Yeah. Something like that.” Colleen stood up and slung her shoulder bag strap over her arm. “I’ve gotta find the bathroom. Be right back.”

She walked slowly toward the back of the room, as though she had no idea where the ladies’ room was, although, of course, she’d used it when she’d been here three months ago. And she’d used it four more times, each time she’d come back to Mastry’s.

He was watching her. His partner was watching too. They’d turned halfway around on the bar stools, waiting for her to pass by.

Should she speak, or wait to see if he would?

His partner, the shorter, older one, reached out, brushing her arm with his fingertips.

“Look here, Officer Campbell,” he said. “Isn’t this our damsel in distress from the Dreamland?”

“I believe you’re right,” Brice said, a slow smile spreading across his face.

She stopped, blushed, looked away. “Oh hi.”

“Everything okay at home now?” the partner asked, his eyes stern.

“Just fine, thanks,” Colleen said, feeling the blush creep down her neck and across her chest. “It was a misunderstanding. Really.” She could feel Vera watching her, wondering why she was talking to these two cops.

She gestured toward the corner, where the ladies’ room was located. “Okay. Good to see you. Gotta go now.”

Colleen forced herself to walk slowly, until she’d entered the bathroom. She pushed the stall door open, locked it and sank down onto the toilet. Her pulse was racing, her nerves jangling. She was breathing so fast she thought she might hyperventilate.