“But he does now. Hey, if you have a chance tomorrow, I’d like to meet your guy at the cemetery. Sergeant Alfie Parker? From the little I’ve gathered, he sounds fascinating—and a little sad.”
“We can probably arrange it if Alfie is around,” Colleen assured her. “We’re hoping to get Vince Monroe, the musician we went to see tonight, into headquarters tomorrow. We need to talk to him more. Find out about him—”
“To see if he was after revenge?”
“Or if he knows about anyone else who might want to hurt Dierdre.”
“Right. So, we’ll just see. But I think I’ll be on the train returning home tomorrow evening. And next, you can come up to see me!”
“Sure. I love NYC.”
“Okay, it’s a deal. Hey, I brewed some tea. Let’s have some and then call it a night!”
“Sounds good.”
They had tea along with some store-bought biscuits that were in the pantry. They talked about their parents and their brother and life in general including the ownership of cats over dogs or dogs over cats.
“You’re the weirdo in our trio. Patrick and I both have our pups.”
“Jensen is almost like a pup. I can’t keep a dog, Megan. I’d love to. I’m just not home enough.”
“Ah, you need a dog like Red! One who goes everywhere.”
“One day,” Colleen said.
Megan bit into a cookie and then paused for a minute.
“You know,” she said, “I have the thing with knowing what people mean, and I see the dead when they’re all right with being seen, but I don’t have...”
“What?”
“Well, a sense that someone is around. At least, not more than most people.”
“Neither do I. I can hear things, but...”
“It was odd. When I got back tonight, I felt as if I was being watched. But no one was around.”
“Strange,” Colleen said. “I had the same sensation. But I paused and listened, and I didn’t hear anything.”
“Maybe we’re both paranoid,” Megan said.
“Maybe. But we’re fine now. I have a great alarm system, and I sleep with a gun on the bedside table.”
“I know. I have to admit, I was glad when you got home, even though I was here maybe just twenty minutes or so. Anyway, I guess we’d best get to bed. I have a lunch meeting with a few of our local crew here tomorrow. If you can set up a time for me in the afternoon, that would be great. And if not, you know I’ll be back. Anyway...”
Megan stretched and yawned.
“Yep. Let’s call it a night.”
They picked up the mess they had made, said good-night, and went to their rooms.
Colleen was tired. She felt she would sleep easily.
But she lay awake awhile.
Her thoughts turned between the strange coincidence that she and Megan had both thought they were being watched...
To remembering the way she and Mark had clashed forks, and how sharing a piece of strawberry cheesecake had been far too seductive and intimate.
Yes, she admitted to herself. She respected her partner and liked him too.
And yes, she was sexually drawn to him.
Oddly, the self-admission allowed her to sleep.
Because maybe, just maybe, sharing cheesecake was as intimate as it had seemed.