“I don’t know.” For a second, Bri looked as if she might say more but did not.

“I’ll see what I can find out,” Trey said as she stood. She extended her hand to Reese and then to Bri. “Thank you for coming. I’ll be in touch.”

“Ms. Pelosi.” Reese stood as well. “I’m not interested in hauling a boy into court on a DUI when he’s already paying for his mistake. If that’s all this turns out to be, we’re not going to have a problem. But if it’s anything more, the next time I come, I’m not standing outside in the hall.”

“You two take care,” Trey said calmly. “Good night, now.”

“Good night, Counselor,” Reese said.

“Jeez,” Bri said so softly that only Reese could hear as she watched the attorney walk away, “I sorta liked her until I figured out she was kicking our asses.”

Reese laughed. “She didn’t kick them too bad. At least now we have a lead to work on.” As they walked down the hall toward the exit, Reese glanced at Bri. “So when’s the last time you were at one of these parties?”

Bri blushed and kept her face forward. “Last year. When I was still in school.”

“Is there anything we need to talk about?”

“No, ma’am. I don’t…partake.” Bri got to the exit door first and held it open until Reese passed through. Walking briskly to catch up, she said, “Sometimes you don’t know it’s going to be that kind of party until you get there and it just sort of happens. Spontaneously. But other times, it’s publicized in advance and an address circulates maybe a day or so ahead of time so you know where to go.”

They settled back into the cruiser and Reese pulled out onto the highway. “And what about dealers?”

“I only went to two of them, and both were by mistake. At the second one, there were definitely guys selling hard street drugs.”

“So,” Reese mused. “We might be looking for a mobile drug party that’s a front for dealers to move their stuff, probably to the kids of vacationing families who have plenty of money to spend. Jesus. Where do we start with that?”

“We have to talk to Robert Bridger or one of his friends to find out how they heard about it, how they got directions, and where it was.”

“Yes,” Reese agreed. “Unless Ms. Pelosi comes through for us.”

“Think she will?”

“I don’t know. She’s too good to give her game away.”

“KT?”

“Yeah,” KT mumbled, rolling over in bed without thinking. She caught her left hand in the covers and gasped sharply. “God damn it.”

“KT? Are you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah.” KT put her cell phone down, fumbled for the light switch in the unfamiliar room, and blinked into the sudden glare. Even through the haze of confusion, she recognized the voice. She found her phone again. “Vic?”

“I woke you. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.” KT rubbed her face with the back of her arm and tried desperately to wake up. She’d taken two pain pills to get to sleep, and she was groggy. She glanced at the clock and saw that it was not quite 11 p.m. She’d only been asleep half an hour, “Sorry. Go ahead. What is it?”

“I…uh…wanted to tell you that you’ve got the job. Here at the clinic. If you still want it.”

KT closed her eyes and let out a long sigh. “Great. Thank you.”

“I know you probably need time to move your things and settle in, so I was thinking next week would be soo”

“Tomorrow, I can start tomorrow.” KT suddenly felt invigorated. She had work. She had some purpose. “I have a nine o’clock appointment with my therapist. I can start at eleven.”

“I didn’t ask you. Is it Pia Torres?”

“Yes,” KT replied, surprised, although if she’d thought about it, she shouldn’t have been. Provincetown the entire Cape was a small community, and it made sense that Tory would know about other medical professionals.

Tory was quiet for a second, then said, “Good. She’s terrific. Does she know that you’ll be working with me?”

“Not yet. I didn’t know that I would be.”

“No, of course you didn’t.”

Tory’s laughter coming through the phone gave KT such a strong sense of déjà vu that she was nearly dizzy. How many nights had she lain awake in her on-call room down the hall from the trauma unit, talking to Tory on the phone? Hundreds? Thousands? Conversations about nothing. Something on the news. Some bill that needed paying. A movie they planned on seeing the following weekend. The aimless, easy conversations of people whose lives were one. Jesus. How long has it been since anything has felt so right?

“KT? Are you there?”

“Yeah,” KT said quickly. “I told her I’d fit my schedule around hers. I’ll try to get a better idea from her tomorrow about how that will shake out. You just tell me when you need me, and I’ll work out the rest.”

“Tomorrow at eleven will be fine for starters. We’ll work out the rest of the details later.” There were a few seconds of silence. “Good luck in therapy tomorrow. Don’t push too hard, KT.”

“Wouldn’t think of it.”

“Good Night,” Tory said softly.

“Good night, Vic,” KT whispered. She didn’t say what she’d always added at this point. Sweet dreams, sweetheart.

“You’re home right on time tonight,” Tory said with pleasure, putting aside the newest Katherine Forrest mystery as Reese walked into the bedroom only a few minutes after midnight.

Reese leaned down and kissed her. “And you’re up kind of late, aren’t you?”

“I thought I should try keeping regular hours again since I’m going back to work. But I confess Reggie and I took a little nap a bit earlier.”

“Was she good with Kate and Jean?” Reese stripped off her uniform and laid it carefully across a nearby chair in case she needed to get dressed again before morning.

Tory smiled. “Her grandmothers told me that she was quite angelic.”

“Of course she was. She looks like one asleep right now, too.” Reese slid under the covers as Tory snapped off the light. She extended an arm for Tory to snuggle against her chest, threaded her fingers into Tory’s hair, and kissed her forehead. “Hi.”

“How was your night?” Tory tilted her chin up and kissed the corner of Reese’s mouth. “God, you feel good.”

“Mmm, you, too.” Reese stretched and sighed. “Pretty routine. It seems like those kids were at some kind of drug party out here on the Cape somewhere. We’re going to try to chase that down.” She ran her hand down Tory’s arm and back up again. “When will you have something from the pathologist in Hyannis?”

“The middle of the week, probably. I’ll call him to check on Monday. Oh, that’s a holiday. Tuesday, then.”

“Thanks, baby.”

“Reese,” Tory said quietly as she stroked Reese’s abdomen. “I called KT and offered her the job.” She felt the barest flicker of muscles tightening beneath her ringers. “Okay?”

“It seems like a reasonable decision. What did she say?”

“She said yes. She’s going to start tomorrow.” The strange conversation with her former lover was still fresh in her mind. She’d never known KT not to awaken completely alert and totally functional. Of course, it had been a good many years since she’d had occasion to speak to KT in the middle of the night. Or at any other time, for that matter. Still, it had been disconcerting to talk with her at all. After so many years of relegating KT and everything about her to a past that she rarely allowed to taint her present, to talk to her twice in one day and to talk to her at bedtime, the way they’d always done when they’d been together it was so…Tory jerked, realizing that Reese had been talking and that she hadn’t heard a word. “I’m sorry, honey. What did you say?”

“That I hope it works out.”

“Yes,” Tory said quietly. “So do I.”

“But if it doesn’t,” Reese continued, her cheek resting against the top of Tory’s head, “you’ll let it go, won’t you? Let her go?”

Tory tightened her hold on the most important person in her life. She pressed her face to Reese’s neck, savoring her scent and her strength. “Of course. I promise.”

“That’s fine, then. Go to sleep, Tor. I love you.”

“I love you too, sweetheart.” Tory kissed her again and closed her eyes.

Reese held her in the darkness, listening to her soft, quiet breathing for a long time, thinking about the things she’d never imagined having and that now, she couldn’t imagine living without.

Chapter Eleven

“Hey, did I wake you?” Bri murmured.

“Hi, baby!” Caroline sounded much more awake than Bri. “Did you just finish a shift?”

“Yeah. What are you doing?” Naked, Bri stretched out under the sheets and closed her eyes. She cradled the phone on the pillow next to her ear and idly drew her fingers up and down the center of her stomach.

“Just getting ready to go out for coffee and something to eat. Then I’m going to the studio later this morning to finish a painting I’ve been working on.”

“Yeah? How’s that going?” Bri tried to envision Caroline in the small studio apartment she’d seen in the pictures that Caroline had e-mailed her. She’d seen photos of the neighborhood too, but she had a hard time really getting a sense of what it was like there. It seemed pretty enough. Just so far away.

“It’s going good. Great, actually. They keep us really busy, and I’m glad.” There were a few seconds of silence broken only by a very faint buzzing. “I miss you so much. When I’m painting, it’s not so bad.”

Bri’s stomach tightened, and she fought a wave of sadness. “I know. I’d rather be at work than doing anything else, I love you.”

“Oh, baby. I love you, too, so much.” Caroline’s smile came through in her words. “Are you in bed?”

“Uh-huh. You?”

“On the sofa not dressed yet. I wish I was there with you. I miss sleeping with you.” Her voice was silky soft as she added, “And other stuff.”

“Jesus, Carre,” Bri groaned as a wash of heat raced over her. “Don’t make me think about that right now, okay? I have to get some sleep. There’s a big weekend coming up, and I might be working a double shift for the next three days.”