"Thanks for the ride." Laina entered her apartment and turned to face Rory. "Goodnight." "You sure you don't want me to stay a while?" The starched collar of his indigo shirt gave a faint rustle as he leaned against the inner frame of the doorway. The scent of his musky-pine cologne…
Laina stirred her float and studied its milky spirals. Greasy aromas flooded the diner, so she could almost taste the burger she ordered--she glanced at her watch--twenty minutes ago. "Got another date later?" Rory asked. "Huh?" She looked up from the entrancing eddies of her root beer. He propped his elbows…
"Don't be afraid." The detective laid his hand on her shoulder as a door opened in the adjacent room. Beyond a pane of smoky glass, a troop of surly men marched onto a platform. Laina slid her icy fingertips inside her collar and itched under the medallion chain. "Like we told…
At the right of the doorway, a fountain gurgled over an iron spire. Ornate moldings with gilded leaves framed a second door. At the cherry desk guarding it, a gaunt woman peered over her bifocals. Lines deepened around her lips as she spoke. "Go on in. Do not impose upon our…
A rusty blue hatchback hugged the curb near the sidewalk waste bin. Arden withdrew his key and unlocked its passenger door. "Say hello to my girl, Bessie." "No remote key fob?" Laina chuckled. "Funny." He held open the door, patting the top of the frame. "Talk nice to my car, now. She's…
Cool sips of water trickled through her constricted gullet, easing her garbled voice. "Thanks. I don't think the police escort would've offered me a chance to decompress. I don't want to keep you late. You'll probably have to be at your office early in the morning." "No problem. My work day…
As a pack of Harleys rumbled onto Forty-Ninth Avenue, Laina hustled toward the inner edge of the sidewalk. An exhaust pop snapped her attention to the lead FatBoy, slowing near the curb. The grisly-bearded rider sneered, his gold-capped canine teeth glinting in the streetlight. "Want a ride, sweet thang?" She shifted…