The Cleaner (Professionals 9)

And yet, there was no denying that was exactly how I felt as I paced her home, unsure what my next move was supposed to be.

I had no idea if there was an actual emergency, those calls to my phone aside, since she always kept weapons around, and she also didn't keep a normal schedule, thanks to working for herself.

She might have just went out.

She may have been calling me to ask about the list of security systems I said I would send her, that I hadn't gotten around to yet.

But I didn't know.

I wasn't sure.

And that uncertainty was making it difficult to sit still.

But I couldn't clean. Because what if something had gone wrong? What if there was evidence around?

If I didn't see a sign of her by the end of the day, I was calling the police.

I still would have lost important hours if something had happened, and that was killing me. But if I called prematurely, the cops came by, and she suddenly walked through the door, I would have wasted their time, taken their attention away from actual cases.

In any other situation, I could have brought my team in. Nia, at least, could have done some digging for me. But that was out of the question.

So I just had to wait.

With a swirling stomach.

And a racing mind.

It was sometime around one in the afternoon when I thought I heard a door slam outside.

Before I could even get up from the dining room chair, though, the front door was flying open, and Poppy was literally running inside.

"Poppy." Her name gasped out of me, a surprised, yet relieved sound that made her freeze mid-stride, her eyes going huge.

"Finn," she said, mouth falling open.

"I thought something happened to you," I explained quickly, needing to excuse my being in her house when she wasn't home. "The missed calls. I thought something was wrong," I clarified.

To that, the tension seemed to leave her body in a rush, leaving her shoulders to fall and her face to soften.

"Oh, that. Those were accidental dials. While I was having a bit of a freak-out, thinking someone was trying to break in."

"Was someone?"

"I, ah, no. It was a cat. I think I was just getting a little too wrapped up in work and paranoid. And I panicked. And hid in the basement. Like it was some horror movie. Yogurt here has proven to be more scared of the world than I am," she added, snorting as the Rottweiler mix hid behind her legs, sticking her head out to sniff at the air to get a whiff of me. "I'm sorry I made you worry," she added. "I thought you were going to think I was a psycho for calling."

"I didn't think you were the type to call several times in a row unless you needed to."

"I'm not," she agreed.

"But you didn't answer when I called back, so I worried."

"Right. Well, after the whole cat and basement scare, I decided it was time for a little break. I wanted to spend a few nights at my mom's. I only managed one. I checked my phone finally this morning. They found her."

"They found who?" I asked, confused.

"Shelley Shannon. Well, her body. It would have been naive to think it was possible to find her alive after all this time. But I saw the notifications, so I decided to cut my break short, to rush home and cover the case. I know a lot of my listeners are really invested in this one."

"I won't keep you," I said, feeling like a fool for over-reacting, wondering if she thought I was a creep for forcing myself into her space.

"No, stay. I want you to stay," she clarified. "I just need to do a bit of research and a quick report. But you can stay. I mean, if you want. I know you were out of town for a while. I understand if you just want to be home."

I didn't want to be home.

I wanted to be right here with her.

"How about I run home for a shower and change," I suggested, silently adding getting my car washed, and running a quick carpet cleaner across it until I could get around to doing a full detail. "That way, you can work without distractions. And then I can come back around dinner. And set up a better security system for you, so cats don't send you running to the basement."

"You don't have to do that," she insisted.

"But if I want to?"

"Then I'm sure as hell not going to stop you," she said, smiling. "How was work?"

"Long," I told her, shrugging. "But over. Thankfully."

"So, you'll be around for a few days?" she asked, a hint of hopefulness in her tone.

"Barring any other emergencies, yes."

"Any big family reunions or vacations planned?"

"No."

"What I am hearing is... I can monopolize your time for a bit."