Page 88 of Rest In Pink

We got to her car and parked in front of it.

“Well, Inspector Still?” I said.

“Well, Detective Cooper?” she replied.

“Skye Blue is in Cincinnati,” I said. “You’re going back to Cincinnati.”

“Eventually,” she said.

“‘Eventually’?”

“Not right away. Something I want to do in town, then I’ll go back.”

“Dare I ask what?”

“You can ask.”

When she didn’t add more, I didn’t push it.

Rain folded the small towel. “I’ll look Skye up when I get back. And you?”

“Learn more about Mickey. I don’t get why Mickey would give a shit about Thacker. Especially to kill him.”

“Who else would kill him?” Rain asked.

“He didn’t make many friends here,” I agreed. “Someone smart could try to use Mickey’s fires as cover for murder.”

Rain nodded. “Possible.”

She got out and I exited to walk her to the Mercedes.

“Keep your hatchet sharp,” she said as she slid into her car.

“Rangers lead the way.”

“Some days.” She paused and looked at me. “I enjoy working with you, Vince.”

She drove off toward town before I could say anything, which was good. What could you say to that?

I called the old folks home to get Jim Pitts’ location.

Chapter Thirty-Nine

After lunch, I got garbage bags from Marianne and we drove to Margot’s house, ignored Faye’s protests and the fish-eye from the biker guy with her, and emptied Peri’s bedroom and Margot’s closet into the bags, along with any family photos we could find. Peri was charmed by this form of luggage, and she dragged bags out to the car with enthusiasm, ignoring her grandmother’s suggestion that she spend the night. The car filled up pretty fast, so we left Margot’s bags that had her fancier clothes piled in the hall, telling Faye we’d be back for them later, and then took what we had back to the Blue House, where we dumped everything in the last empty upstairs bedroom and beat feet for violin lessons.

I waited outside, thinking about Anemone and houses and Vince.

One of the things Anemone liked most about being married was living with a man. “It’s just so nice to have him there,” she said, and I got the feeling that as long as Anemone had her husband and a house, she coped with everything else that came along.

I didn’t want a house, but I did want the man.I really need to see Vince,I thought. We were both busy, and we didn’t have a claim on each other, but I needed some alone time with the newly promoted detective that was not in a diner with his very attractive work partner who I was definitely not jealous of.

I wondered if she’d been to the Big Chef. Yes, I know Belinda had said they’d gone out there together, but it would be a cold day in hell when I took Belinda Roarke’s word for anything. What I really wondered was if I was more jealous of Rain being at the Big Chef than I was with her being with Vince in general. I decided I was. I knew they weren’t sleeping together, but sharing that space with him seemed to belong to me. Which was insane. Which pretty much described my life since I’d met Vince and Anemone had come to town. And then there was the fact that I was leaving in a couple of months. Anemone only had the Blue House until September and then we’d be gone—

Peri came out of the house and flung herself in the car, narrowly missing clocking me with her violin case.

“Sorry,” she said, and I thought about leaving town in September and never seeing her again.

Or Vince.