Low Pressure
Page 86
“Yes?”
“Go to sleep.”
Chapter 15
Bellamy awakened to the smell of freshly brewed coffee. When she pried open her puffy eyes, she saw Dent sitting at his dining table, fully dressed, sipping from a steaming mug as he flipped through the pages of a telephone directory. Sensing that she was awake, he looked toward the bed.
“Surprise! You’re still alive.”
Ignoring that, she sat up and arched her back to work out a kink. “What time is it?”
“Going on nine.”
“I didn’t mean to sleep so late. I need to call Olivia.”
“Mugs are in the cabinet to the right of the sink.”
She found the mugs, filled one with coffee, and placed her call, then left a message when it went straight to voice mail. “I suppose if there was any change I would have heard from her.” She joined Dent at the table.
“There’s nothing for breakfast. Sorry.”
“Coffee’s fine.” But it wasn’t. Her first sip caused her to grimace.
“Gall’s recipe,” he explained. “It would knock a mule on its ass.”
“Milk?”
“I checked. It’s curdled.”
“Doesn’t matter,” she said, bravely taking another sip. “This morning I could use the jolt.”
“Sleep okay?”
“Like a log. You?”
“I did all right. I stayed awake for a while wishing you’d try to cop that feel.” Then, “Ah, the blush is back. I was getting worried for a while there. Last night you went pale at the thought of sleeping with a killer.”
“Dent.”
“Did you wake up convinced I’m innocent?”
“Not guilty. But far from innocent.”
“There’s a difference?”
“In my mind. How’s your back?”
“I think the cut closed up overnight. There’s no fresh blood on the bandage.”
He still looked like the survivor of a long battle. The cuts on his face had begun to scab, but they were puffy and surrounded by dark bruises.
Motioning at the telephone directory, which, judging from the looks of it, was several generations old, she asked who he was looking up.
Sidestepping the question, he stretched out his long legs beneath the table. “Go with me for a minute here.”
“All right. I’m listening.”
“Assume that all this—the rat delivery through last night’s parking lot adventure—is reprisal.”