My favorite drive. All those night cruises along the Pacific with Robin—shut up.
“Perfect,” she said. “If we get hungry, there are plenty of places to stop. See you at seven.”
“Want me to meet you somewhere?”
“No, pick me up at my house.”
I got there at 7:02. Before I reached the door, she opened it, stepped out onto the front path, and met me halfway, setting off the motion-sensing light. She had on a sleeveless, black cotton dress, no stockings, low-heeled black sandals. No diamonds, just a thin, gold choker that accentuated the length and whiteness of her neck. Her hair was clipped back in a ponytail. It made her look younger, tentative.
“I need to explain about last night,” she said, talking fast, sounding breathless. “The truth is, the early patient was scheduled at nine-thirty. I had plenty of time, didn’t need to kibosh everything. I was—let’s call a spade a spade: I was nervous. Being with you made me very, very nervous, Alex.”
“I—”
“It wasn’t you.” Her shoulders rose and fell. Her laugh was quick, just short of brittle, as she took my arm and ushered me into her house. Standing with her back to the door, she said, “If my patients could see me now. I’m a big-deal expert at helping others make transitions, but I am having the hardest time.”
She shook her head. “Transitions. Now I’m being presumptuous—”
“Hey,” I said. “The first time we went out I changed shirts three times.”
She stared up at me. I touched her chin and raised it. She removed my hand.
“Saying the right thing,” she said. “With people like us, you never know if it’s the training.”
“Occupational hazard,” I said.
She threw her arms around me and kissed me deeply. Her tongue was gingery and nimble. I held her tight, stroked her face, her neck, her back, chanced roaming lower and when she didn’t stop me, dropped both my hands and cupped her rear. She moved my right hand around to her front, sandwiched it between cotton-sheathed thighs. I explored her heat and she did something with her hips that was pure intent. Lifting the black dress, I peeled down her panties, felt the angle of her legs widen. I kissed her, I strummed her. One of her hands was tangled in my hair, holding fast. The other fumbled at my zipper. Finally, she freed me and we were on the hardwood floor of her living room and I was in her and she was clutching me and we were moving together as if we’d been doing it all our lives.
She kissed my face and said, “I’m going to go out on a limb. With you it’s not just the training. You’re a sweet man.”
The feelings came later. After we’d slept and eaten leftovers and renewed our dehydrated bodies with gulps of water and were finally heading north on Pacific Coast Highway. Taking Allison’s Jaguar because it was a convertible. I was at the wheel and Allison stretched out on the reclined passenger seat, bundled up in a big, white Irish sweater, hair loose, flapping like an ebony banner, face to the wind.
One hand rested on my knee. Beautiful fingers, long and tapered. Smooth and white.
No scars. Robin, though a master of tools, hurt herself from time to time.
I gave the Jag more gas, sped past black ocean and gray hillside, the headlights of other adventurers. Stealing peeks at Allison’s face when the road straightened. My scalp still ached where she’d yanked my hair, and the stretch of brow from which she’d licked my sweat pinged with electricity.
I put on even more speed and she stroked my knee and I got hard, again.
Beautiful woman, sensuous woman.
Fast car, gorgeous California night. Perfect.
But this idiot’s joy was muffled by the wagging finger of doubt—some notion that I’d cheated.
Beyond stupid. Robin’s with Tim.
And now I’m with Allison.
Things changed. Change was good.
Right?
5
A hundred hours since Baby Boy had bled out in the alley and Petra had turned up nothing. The clammy, sour smell of whodunit permeated her sinuses. She found herself wishing for a slam-dunk bar stabbing but picked up no other cases. The crime drop that had become the department’s big-time cap feather meant adequate staffing. It would be a while before the homicide dial rotated back to her.