“You’re terrible! I’ll see you later for pizza right?”

“Yeah, we should wrap around seven thirty.” Dave turned to head back to set.

“Okay, bye,” I said to his retreating back.

The whole good-bye thing had been so brief that I felt a little like I’d been dismissed. I hated being given the signal that it was time for me to go. Oh well, he was working, I reasoned to myself.

Checking the clock in my car, I was stunned to see that it was almost three. I had been out of the office for way too long. I charged back over the hill weaving in and out of traffic as I made my way over to Barham. I usually didn’t go to lunch, let alone disappear from the office for nearly three hours. At the office, I tried to slip unnoticed through the cubicles toward my office door, keeping my head bowed. All I needed was to be apprehended coming back late from lunch by Evil Janet.

“Hey Dani, where’ve you been?” Steve called from the doorway to the kitchen.

Turning around, I knew I looked guilty, with my purse over my shoulder and car keys still my hand.

“You look like you’ve been caught, my dear,” Steve teased. “Were you trying to sneak back to your office after taking a two-hour lunch?”

“I am running late. I’m sorry . . . I had a doctor’s appointment.”

Steve savored my excuse, enjoying my flushed face and sweaty forehead. It wasn’t even May and it was approaching ninety degrees outside in the Valley.

“Doctor’s appointment?”

“I had a doctor’s appointment about a ‘female matter,’” I answered soberly. I dared him to challenge that one.

Steve was instantly uncomfortable. “Oh, okay . . . I hope everything’s all right.”

I smiled back mysteriously. A doctor’s appointment about a “female matter” always shut guys up good.

“I was just looking for you over lunch,” Steve said, “and I left you a voice mail and you didn’t respond. We just need you to make another pass at the scene in the woods when we find the teenager’s body. It could use a bit more punch in the dialogue.”

“Sorry, I didn’t get the message, but I’ll get right on the pages.” I ducked away like a truant kid at school. Caught up in my Dave Delirium, I hadn’t checked my phone. I didn’t want Steve to feel I was letting him down, and I was sure he only half bought the doctor’s appointment excuse.

I tried to focus on work. Enough with Dave.