The Perfect Couple (Last Stand #4)(73)
Author: Brenda Novak

"I have about fifteen minutes to reach my mom or she’s going to burst into tears," he said. "And then my dad will call me to tell me how disappointed he is that I didn’t show more consideration. At which point, I’ll explain that I’ve been busy, but neither of them will understand because they haven’t seen busy in a long time."

"Oh. Right. You’d better call her, then." She moved off him and buried herself in the blankets, and he knew he needed to get her up and dressed before she slipped into such a deep depression she couldn’t get up.

She was teetering dangerously close. There’d been a fatalistic abandon in her lovemaking this morning that hadn’t been there last night, a recklessness that suggested she didn’t care as much about her own life as she should.

She had a lot to face, but she needed to face it, or matters would only get worse.

He pulled on his boxers and a pair of jeans. "Ready to grab a shower?"

"Not especially. If you’ve got stuff to do, go ahead. I’ll wait here,"

came her muttered response.

She needed a purpose, something to do for Sam’s sake. "I’ve got another idea."

Her head popped out of the covers. "What?" she said, but it wasn’t a hopeful what. It was a "if you’re not staying in bed, leave me alone" what.

"Let’s go over to the hospital to see Toby. I’m sure his parents could use a break. We can sit with him while Mr. Simpson takes his wife out for brunch."

She rubbed the sleep from her eyes but continued to watch him with an uncertain expression. "I’m sure they have other family members."

"Who might also like a break. What do you say?" he prompted.

"What can I say?" she replied.

He smiled. "You’ll feel better in a bit. Towels and washcloths are in the hall." He thumped the closet door to show her where as he and Kino passed through to the kitchen.

"Got it," she said, but he barely heard the response and didn’t follow up on it.

It was going to be a hot day in Sacramento. At eleven the sun was bearing down on his glass door, heating up the kitchen.

He let Kino out in the backyard, then called his mom, who was fortunately in a great mood. He promised to take her to her favorite crepe place once she got home, then visited with his father for a few minutes and, having fulfilled his familial obligations, felt slightly less guilt-ridden about taking advantage of someone with as little to lose as Zoe. He’d make it up to her somehow, be more restrained in the future. It’d just been too long for him; that was all. And she was such an attractive woman.

He fed Kino and was heading back to the bedroom to see why she wasn’t up when his BlackBerry rang. Caller ID indicated it was Sheridan.

He hesitated, wondering if he should pick up. He hadn’t spoken to her since that short encounter at The Last Stand the day he’d found out about Sam. But they couldn’t avoid each other forever. It wasn’t even fair of him to try. It wasn’t as if she’d cheated on him or given him false hope. He hadn’t even made his feelings clear. He’d been too busy waiting, expecting it to happen when she was ready.

He supposed he should answer the phone, get this over with.

With a silent curse, he ducked back into the kitchen and hit the Talk button. "Hello?"

"Hi."

"Hi," he said. "What’s up?"

"This is a friendly reminder to call your mother."

He chuckled. "Thanks, but I’m ahead of the game. I just hung up with her."

"Good. How is she?"

"Tired of being away from home, but Grandpa’s almost back on his feet."

"Will he still be able to live on his own?"

"Looks that way."

"That’s a relief."

"He’s a stubborn old guy."

"Reminds me of someone else I know."

"Me? Stubborn?" he said.

She laughed softly. "Skye told me that you’re helping Zoe Duncan find her daughter."

"I’m trying."

"That doesn’t sound too encouraging. It’s not going well?"

"Not as well as we’d like."

"If you can’t find her, no one can, Jon. You’re the best."

"There isn’t a lot to go on." He opened the back door to let the dog back in and missed her response.

"You having dinner with your folks today?" he asked, changing the subject.

"Cain and I just took them to breakfast. My sister and her husband are in town, too, so they brought the baby."

He couldn’t help feeling he should’ve been there instead of Cain.

"Sounds like a nice family outing."

She paused as if she’d picked up on his sarcasm. "It was nice."

"What’re you working on these days at The Last Stand?" he asked to cover his gaffe.

"An odd case."

"Tell me about it."

"My client believes he once had a second younger sister."

"What does he think happened to her?"

"He claims his mother might’ve killed her, but he has only some bizarre memories to support that theory."

"He can’t afford a P.I.?"

"No, and it’s such a long shot the police won’t touch it."

"What does the living sister say?"

"She corroborates part of his story."

"But you don’t believe them?"

"I haven’t decided. It’s not exactly common for a mother to kill her own child. And with the few who do, the crime generally doesn’t go undetected for twenty-some years. It’s almost too incredible to be true, isn’t it?"

"Anything’s possible. Just when we think we’ve seen it all, we’re surprised again."

"That’s why I’m taking the case, doing what I can to look into the matter. If I can prove it’s not true, maybe he can achieve some peace of mind. And if it is true, maybe I can bring him closure. Regardless, I could use help on the investigative end when you’re available."

"It might be a while."

"I meant when the Duncan case is over."

"I’ve got quite a few other cases going." Which was true. His voice mail was full. He had yet to sort through his messages.

There was a short pause. "You’ve always had time for me before."

"I’ve never been this busy before."

"You don’t want to work with me anymore, do you?"

He muttered a silent curse. "That isn’t true."

"Yes, it is."

He didn’t deny it again. Silence fell between them, but he could hear Zoe moving around and wanted to get off the phone. "I’d better go," he said.

"Jon?"

He hesitated. "Yes?"

"Why are you being so shitty to me all of a sudden?"