He emphasized murderous as if clarifying that he'd certainly believed me capable of making enemies, just not to that degree. I could have taken offense at that, but in Gabriel's world, if you aren't making the occasional enemy, you aren't trying hard enough.
"Back to the point. I could use your help," he said. "I would pay you, of course."
"I can't--"
"It would be research based. There would be no need for you to come into the office. Interaction would be minimal."
"I'm not arguing about the work, Gabriel. I'm already investigating. I'll turn over anything you can use."
We reached the ground floor.
"I'll need to contact you, then," he said. "I realize we have an agreement--"
"You're helping investigate a threat against me. I don't expect you to pass messages through a third party. Call, e-mail, text, whatever."
He nodded and held the door for me.
--
Gabriel had a key to Rose's house. He opened the door as he rang the bell in warning, then ushered me in and called, "It's Gabriel," up the stairs. He went to speak to Rose, leaving me in the front hall. I heard a whispered conversation, but it was brief and I didn't catch what he said. Then he came down and escorted me up, past a closed door that I presumed led to Rose's room, to an open door at the end. Inside was a spare bedroom.
"What did you tell her?" I asked.
"Only that you'd taken a blow to the head and shouldn't be left alone. I would like to explain more, if you're all right with that."
"I am."
"How much can I tell her?"
"Everything."
He nodded. "Thank you."
"And thank you," I said. "For tonight."
He murmured something and backed out of the room.
--
My pounding head made it impossible to fall into anything resembling actual sleep. I should have taken a painkiller, but if Gabriel had caught me, he'd have insisted on that middle-of-the-night emergency room visit. So now I was lying in bed, picking up snatches of Rose and Gabriel talking downstairs. After a while, it was as if a door had been opened, and I could hear them clearly.
"--so when are you going to tell her?" Rose was saying.
"I don't intend to."
"Because you can't prove it? That's a ridiculous excuse and you know it. Tell her and--"
"No. This is better."
"Better? How is this better, Gabriel?"
"I should go."
"You're not driving back to Chicago tonight."
"I need--"
"It's four A.M. You'll take the other spare room."