I ease down the hallway and good Lord, I can’t stop myself. I call out, “Hello? Anyone here?” As if a killer would just say, “Oh, hi there, Pri, I’m in here in the kitchen.” Angry at my stupidity, I stiffen my spine and head down the hallway, my tennis shoes soft on the search of the house. When I’m certain it’s clear, I set the gun on my teal kitchen island and pull up a stool in front of my MacBook to check my messages before I shower. I quickly scan my inbox, hoping to hear from Agent Pitt about former FBI Agent Adrian Mack. Mack was inside the Devils’ operation, close to Waters. His testimony can take Waters down. He’s the one man between Waters and freedom.
I press my hands to my face. This case is huge. I have a team of people working with me, and while the DA manages every step I take and runs the case from the golf course. The pressure is immense and now, the danger, extreme. At least if I’d been an FBI agent, I could go to work with my weapon on my person. I’m licensed to carry but in my role, a gun at my hip, could be called intimidation. It certainly works against easing the nerves of witnesses. Instead, it’s hidden in my purse, which isn’t close enough for comfort right now.
I sip my coffee, which is now cold, and toss it in the trash before I dial Agent Pitt. He doesn’t answer. Of course, he doesn’t answer. He’s the only link I have to Adrian Mack, who’s been in hiding for over two years. He’s supposed to be locating Mack for me. Why would he actually take my call?
For reasons I cannot explain, especially right now, of all times, in the middle of a killer case, quite literally, my mind is back on Rafael. I quickly google “Rafael,” looking for the singer, who seems to have no last name, and the first image I pull up has my lips parting. My God, I was right. He really does look like the man I just met, only not quite like him. The resemblance is uncanny though and just to be sure, I google Rafael’s, as in the singer’s, tattoos. I couldn’t quite make out all of the ink on my Rafael, but I know that it was black and red.
My gaze rakes over the singer’s naked upper torso, and his ink is brightly colored, which means he is not my Rafael. The singer Rafael does have really amazing ripped abs and I wonder if my Rafael has those abs. I’m fairly certain the answer is yes. I’m one hundred percent certain that I’d like to find out. My phone rings and I glance at the number to find Grace, a co-worker, fellow assistant DA, and friend, who wants me at a party tonight. I’d ignore the call, except she’s a good friend, the kind I never had back at the firm and it’s her birthday. “Hey,” I say, answering the call.
“How’s it going?”
“It’s—going,” I say. “Happy birthday. Again.”
She laughs. “I still can’t believe you called me at midnight.”
“And woke you up,” I say. “I didn’t think you’d be asleep on a Friday night.”
“Alas, I’m becoming boring. I can’t believe Josh’s party is tonight of all nights. You’re going, right?”
Josh is not only a detective who works for the DA like we do, albeit outside any direct contact with me, he’s the detective Grace has long had a crush on but avoided because of the conflict of interest. And since he’s now taking a job with a private security company to do the same work for more money, that problem has disappeared. I wonder briefly if he’s going to work for the same company Rafael works for, but that’s silly and an impossible coincidence.
Shoving aside my thoughts of a hot man I barely know, I go to work explaining myself to Grace. “I want to,” I say, aware that she’s shy outside of the courtroom and wants me with her.
“But?” she adds. “Why is there always a but with you?”
“I’m just a little worried about this case overflowing into my personal life.”
“This isn’t your personal life,” she says. “It’s work. We’ll still be contracting Josh’s services and he’s someone we can trust. And the bar’s going to be packed with cops and it’s only a few blocks from work, which means your house. In other words, I can come to your door and get you.”
“All right, all right” I concede. “I’ll go for you.”
“And you,” she corrects. “You need a safe place to relax a little. It’s September first. You have some time. The trial doesn't start for a month. I still can’t believe this trial is going to run so close to the holidays.”