She was carrying a monster’s baby.
CHAPTER TWELVE
The loud knock at the front door roused Zach and he startled, sitting up, disjointed for a moment. Josie’s living room. The dead rat. Gone now, thanks to the criminalist who had come and processed the scene quickly and removed the vermin in a paper evidence bag.
Zach pulled himself to his feet, squinting toward the window where the sun was just beginning to rise. He’d been up most of the night, listening for any strange sounds, unsettled about the whole case, the fact that he’d somehow come to be sleeping in a room just below Josie Stratton. It almost felt like one of those full-circle moments from the first night he’d stood outside her hospital room as she’d slept the sleep of a traumatized, medicated victim. But that didn’t feel completely accurate. Zach had a feeling the path he was traveling with Josie Stratton would go at least a bit further, and that didn’t spell out positive things for either of them. It meant she might be in danger, and it meant he had a killer to catch who was still on the loose.
“Hiya, Cope,” Jimmy said, bustling through the door, a cup holder of coffee in his meaty hands. Zach grabbed one of the cups and took a sip of the dark brew before the door was even shut.
“You’re an angel, Jimmy.”
“I keep hearing that. It must be true.”
Zach gave him a wry smile as he gestured toward the open doorway that led to the living room. He pushed aside the blanket he’d grabbed from Josie’s linen closet the night before and sat on the couch, yawning, and taking another sip of the life-giving liquid.
Jimmy took a seat on one of the chairs across from the sofa and removed his own coffee. “Sleep any?” he asked before taking a sip and making an appreciative grunt.
“Drifted off for an hour or so. I’m beat.”
“Yeah. Get on home and get a few hours of sleep. I’m all set here.”
Zach nodded but hesitated. Jimmy peered at him from over his paper cup. “You all right?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. There’s a lot to do today. You sure you’re okay camping out here for a while? I can be back after work, around five, and take the night shift.” He’d called Jimmy the night before, after Josie went to bed, and told him about the break-in and what was left on Josie’s kitchen table. Then he’d called his boss, cleared it with him to watch Josie’s house for a couple of days until they could be certain she wasn’t in imminent danger.
“You’ll need more than a few hours of sleep this morning to do another night shift here,” Jimmy said, taking a sip of his coffee. “See if we can get one of the rookie third shift officers to sit vigil.”
The idea of that left an immediate sour taste in Zach’s mouth. A rookie? Watching over Josie? Playing on his phone all night? He’d been a rookie the first time he’d watched over Josie, and he’d taken his job seriously. But . . . “Nah, I’ll be fine.”
Jimmy was watching him carefully as though there was something different about him he was trying to figure out. He scratched at his prickly jaw. “Your call.”
A door opened upstairs and a few seconds later, footsteps could be heard descending the stairs. Josie appeared in the doorway, looking sleep mussed and . . . beautiful, Zach acknowledged, a robe tied tightly around her waist.
Jimmy stood, walking to her and extending his hand. “Ma’am. Detective Jimmy Keene. I’m Copeland’s partner. I’ll be keeping an eye on your house today so you don’t have any need to worry.”
Josie glanced at Zach who nodded. Her eyes moved back to Jimmy. “All right. Thank you. And please, call me Josie.” She looked at Zach again. “Thank you again for staying the night. I hope you got some sleep.”
“Yeah. Yeah, I’m good. And no problem. I’ll be back later tonight.”
“Okay.” Z
ach glanced at Jimmy who was watching them both closely.
“Oh,” Zach said, “I’ll need your cousin’s last name and his phone number if you have it.”
Josie nodded. “I have a pen and some paper in the kitchen. Is it safe . . .”
“Oh. Yeah. It’s been cleaned up.”
She nodded and headed toward the kitchen. “She’s a looker, isn’t she?” Jimmy said, still giving Zach that knowing look.
“What? Yeah, I guess. Stop looking at me like that, Jimmy. Jesus. Yeah, she’s beautiful. And she’s the victim of a heinous crime who’s now been thrust back into a situation that could spell danger for her. The city of Cincinnati owes it to her to keep her safe. We’d do the same for any other citizen.”
Jimmy smiled, his jowly cheeks shifting. “You running for mayor, Cope?”
“Fuck off, Jimmy.”
Jimmy laughed and took a casual sip of coffee, holding it in his mouth for a minute before swallowing it down, his annoying smile reappearing.