Wes straightened. “Who?”

“Jennifer Pattee.”

“Really.”

“What?”

Wes laughed wryly. So much for gaydar. “Never mind.”

“Do you trust your instincts, Wes?”

“Professionally, yes.” Wes thought of Evyn—she trusted her instincts about Evyn too. Evyn was totally worthy of trust and confidence, in all ways.

“So tell me what you think about Lieutenant Pattee.”

Wes hesitated, then decided her personal embarrassment was unimportant. “I had the feeling the lieutenant was more interested in female partners. I could be totally wrong in that—or maybe she’s bi.”

“Has she expressed a personal interest in you?”

“I thought so. As I said—”

“I’m just gathering information, Wes. As a newcomer, you’re more likely to make an unbiased observation. Anything that seems off to you might be important.”

“I understand.”

Cam sat forward. “A puncture site is pretty easy to miss in an autopsy, isn’t it?”

“Yes—very. And we won’t have the tox screens back for another week or so. Without some evidence of drug administration, we don’t have any reason to exhume his body. I’d hate to put his family through that.”

“I don’t want to do that either if it isn’t necessary. I’ll see about expediting the tox results,” Cam said.

“Excellent.”

“Could the injection go unnoticed by the recipient—say if he was distracted?”

“Possibly. Airjet injection is nearly painless.”

“Peter Chang was working out with Len the day he died. He would also have been Len’s most likely successor if Lucinda hadn’t insisted on going outside for a new chief.”

“I didn’t know that.” Wes tried to see Peter Chang as a traitor. She couldn’t, but she didn’t see anyone in the WHMU as capable of betrayal. “This is ugly.”

Cam’s mouth hardened. “We just have to see it doesn’t get uglier.”

*

“You can pull over here,” Evyn told the cabbie, pointing to a spot up the street from Louise’s. She paid the fare and got out, jumping over a mound of slush at the curb. The snow had stopped but the streets were still a mess. The wind was wet on her neck—the miserable weather fit her mood. Her life had gone from orderly and uncomplicated to confusing and crazy-making overnight. Literally. Hell, she’d gone to bed with Wes Masters. Worse, she wanted to again. Right now. Her body hummed like a live wire looking to ground out on the nearest surface. If she so much as brushed a hand over herself, she’d probably come. That was a first. She’d always had great control—being sexually in charge was like being captain of the team. Calling the game, knowing just when to pull the trigger for the perfect score.

Not so with Wes—all Wes had to do was look at her and she was ready to explode. The whole airplane ride had been torture—the sweetest torture she’d ever experienced. Wes had slept on her shoulder, something Gary had done a million times. Andrea too—a smoking-hot blonde who usually worked a different shift. Andrea had also slept in Evyn’s bed a few times, when they’d been coming off a detail in the ass-end of nowhere and killing time until they could get home. She didn’t get hot and sweaty and ache to come in her jeans when Andrea nestled her cheek against her shoulder. She didn’t long to slide her arm around Andrea and run her fingers through her hair either. Hell, she didn’t want that with Louise, which was maybe why she was standing in the foyer of Louise’s building right now.

She pressed Louise’s buzzer. Louise opened the door and gave Evyn a curious look. “Hi. Come on in.”

Feeling just a little bit foolish, Evyn followed her inside. “Sorry to drop by like this.”

“That’s okay. I was just about to open a bottle of wine. Are you hungry?”

“No, I don’t want to put you out—”

“Don’t be silly. It’s no bother.” Louise walked through the apartment to the kitchen, and Evyn followed, wondering why she had come and realizing what she was about to say was completely unlike her. Louise looked great in dance leggings and a tank top. She was barefoot, and her hair was loose. She was everything Evyn liked in a woman—smart, accomplished, great sense of humor, super body, and generous in bed. To make it even better, she was undemanding and independent.

So what was she doing here?

“Listen, before you pour that wine, I should probably tell you I stopped by to break our date.”

Louise turned, the wine bottle in one hand and a corkscrew in the other. She leaned back against the counter and gave Evyn an appraising look. “Okay. Usually people just call.”

“And I guess the excuse that I was just in the neighborhood really doesn’t fly,” Evyn said ruefully. She rested her shoulder on the doorjamb and ran a hand through her hair. “So, I’m feeling a little dumb here. You want me to go?”

Louise laughed. “No. I want you to stay and have a glass of wine and something to eat. How does stir-fry sound?”

Evyn’s stomach rumbled and she blushed. “Well, it sounds great, but—”

“Evyn,” Louise said, crossing the small space between them and kissing her on the cheek. “I think you’re great. We have a wonderful time together. But we never promised anything, and I don’t have any expectations.”

“It’s just that—” Evyn was more confused now than she had been a few minutes before. Louise must be even more bewildered. Time to stop dancing around the issue. “I’m thinking we might not be intimate again.”

“Ah.” Louise studied her. “It’s not something I said or did, is it?”

“No, you’re great,” Evyn said quickly. “I’m being a total ass, aren’t I? I’m not explaining anything really very well. I’m not even sure why I’m here.”

“Don’t apologize.” Louise smiled a little sadly. “That you would come here to tell me this, face-to-face, is one of the reasons I’m sorry we have to stop at friendship.”

“Ah hell—”

“But there’s no law against two people who like each other being friends, is there?” Louise brushed her fingers over Evyn’s shoulder. “I like you, aside from the great sex.”

Evyn blushed. “It’s official. I am an ass.”

“Quite possibly.” Louise laughed and poured a glass of red wine. “Have some of this while I cook and tell me what’s going on.”

Evyn sipped wine and started to relax. “I don’t know what’s going on. Nothing, really. That’s what makes this whole thing sort of ridiculous.”

“Uh-huh,” Louise said, taking food from the refrigerator and pans from underneath the sleek counter. “But you’re here, so why don’t you start with what got you here.”

“I just got back from a detail. It was a little crazy. One of my team members got into trouble.” Just saying that much made her faintly sick. The recurring image of Wes sinking deeper into the water came back sharp and clear. Adrenaline surged through her blood and a coppery taste filled her mouth.

Louise glanced over her shoulder and paused in her food prep. “You sound like it was really bad. I’m sorry.”

Evyn sucked in a breath. “She’s fine now. It was just tense there for a couple of minutes. That sort of thing happens. It’s part of the job.”

“I guess it probably is. I got the sense you never really wanted to talk about it, so I never pressed. If you want to tell me more—”

“Sorry. I guess I’ve never really shared much of anything.”

“And I never asked you to. So we’re okay on that score. Go ahead—you just got back from a tough assignment. And?”

“And there’s this woman…”

Louise smiled. “Isn’t there always? Sometimes they really turn your head around, don’t they?”

Evyn laughed. “You’d think I was new at this.”

Louise regarded her thoughtfully. “Maybe you are?”

“I think you might be right.” Where Wes was concerned, she sure felt like a first-timer. All hormones and insanity and hungry for more of everything. She’d kept praying Wes would lean back into the cab and kiss her good night. Yeah, right. Nuts. “Anyhow, that’s kind of what this is about. This woman I’m not really involved with—not that way, I mean.”

“I think I almost understand. You need to think about some things.”

“Yeah—I’m sorry.”

“I know. Me too—but it’s okay. Really.” Louise pointed a wooden spatula at the vegetables piled on the cutting board. “So—will you stay?”

“Yeah. I’m starved. And thanks.”

Louise put the utensils down, motioned Evyn closer, and kissed Evyn’s cheek. “You’re welcome. I like friends with benefits, but friends without benefits is okay too.”

“That’s good to know. Thanks.” Evyn wasn’t sure what she’d just done or why, but it felt right. It felt almost as good as the night she’d spent with Wes, which felt more than right. And she had no idea what to do about that.

Chapter Twenty-five

“You need plants,” Doris Masters said, standing with her hands on her hips in the center of the small galley kitchen, surveying the adjacent living area. She pointed to the bay windows overlooking Nineteenth Street. “That window seat gets enough sunlight. A planter or two right there—”

“Mom,” Wes said, “I kill plants.” Behind her, Denny snickered and mumbled something about understatement.

Giving the impersonal apartment a 360-degree glance, Doris said, “A cat would be good.”

“You have to feed cats,” Wes said.

Her mother pointed a finger at her. “That’s why your plants die.”

“Better plants than a cat,” Wes muttered. Her mother smiled, but Wes could tell by the glint in her ocean-green eyes she wasn’t finished. Looking a decade younger than her age, with the same green eyes and brown hair shot through with burnished gold, she could have been Wes’s older sister—and was sometimes mistaken for one of the sibs when they were all out together. Wes hadn’t known Denny and her mother were coming, but when they had shown up a few minutes after the delivery truck brought her belongings from Maryland, she’d been glad for more than the help. Their bright, sure love helped chase away the shadows that plagued her. She’d slept poorly since the night she’d spent with Evyn. The hotel bed was big and empty and cold, and every morning she awoke lonely. She went through the days, splitting her time between exercises with PPD and clinic duties, with an empty ache inside. Evyn was friendly but reserved, and Wes didn’t think it was an accident they hadn’t been alone together since their return from Kitty Hawk. Evyn was avoiding her.