Page 78

“He couldn’t sell this for a nickel,” Caleb says, still staring dumbfounded at the ring. Without asking to keep it, he sticks the ring in his pocket. “Maybe it will be important. Are you almost done?”
I toss in a few more necessities and nod. Caleb carries the suitcase, opening the front door for me.
“Amelia? Is that you?”
“Gary.” I rush to hug him.
He hugs me back with a strength that belies his failing mind, his arms trembling around my shoulders. “They carried a body out; I thought it was you.”
“I’m fine. I promise.” I squeeze him once more before pulling back, then looping my arm through his. “It’s been…a weird day. How about I come over and tell you about it sometime?” I say, already vowing never to tell this poor man what really happened.
He nods and rubs his eyes. “Okay. I’ll make some tea.”
I steer him back toward his apartment. “That sounds perfect.”
He opens the door to his apartment and steps inside. “You’ll be back?”
It breaks my heart that he has to ask because everyone in his life disappears, either in his memory or to their own homes.
“Of course.” He shuts the door and I follow Caleb to the car, but my feet are on autopilot. I’m not sure how they are still moving when my body feels like it’s been run over repeatedly. What if it had been me?
It was real before now, but something about a kind old friend worrying about you puts things into perspective.
I could have freaking died!
Chapter 31
Caleb
Amelia hasn’t said a word to me since we left her apartment. I'm sure I offended her when I told her she couldn't stay with me. But I don’t know how else to keep her safe from the killer, and from me. I’m not a relationship kind of guy. No matter how much she may tempt me to consider it. Besides the fact that it would make my job more difficult, I’ve got too much of my dad in me.
No. I’m not stupid enough to assume my parents' mistakes will be mine, but I have learned from their mistakes so I don’t make them myself. Which is why I decided long ago to avoid even the thought of long-term commitment. And up until a month ago, I was doing great. Now, I think about it daily: what it would be like to date a woman like her?
I rap my fingers on the concierge desk, hoping the woman checking us in gets the point.
I need Amelia locked safely in a room before I can dwell on more what-ifs.
“Room three-oh-two.” The woman hands me the keys. I take it and turn to Amelia. She takes it and stomps away from me without a word.
I wait until she’s in the elevator before taking the stairs up to my room. Three-oh-four. No way I’m going to leave her here alone. I need her away from me, but I also don’t want her to go far.
The hall is empty and I rush into my room. Shutting the door, I lean back against it, waiting to hear her. My pulse is pounding so loud from my sprint up the stairs that I worry I won’t hear anything else. But a few seconds later the elevator dings and I hold my breath. Footsteps pound closer. Then the door next to mine opens and closes.
I let out a breath. She’s safe. And I’m an idiot. What am I going to do for the next few days? Sit silently in my room listening to her? I’m hungry, but I can’t leave or I’ll worry something has happened to her. And I’m tired, but I can’t sleep with her in danger. I should have taken her to my apartment where I could keep an eye on her twenty-four-seven and not have to pay an arm and a leg for this place.
Cruz was right; this was a bad idea.
We spoke after the interview with the detective. She wasn’t happy with me being in the interrogation room at all. Or taking Amelia’s side in any of this. But she agreed to help me look into it because she’s a good partner like that.
I’ll have to pay her back somehow. Maybe give her a couple of lessons in flirting so she has a chance of getting our supervisor’s notice. She’d hate it. It’s perfect.
Chapter 32
Amelia
The door to my hotel room shuts behind me, enclosing me in silence. I lock it, but not before ensuring there are no dead bodies in the tub. Is that something I’ll always look for now?
An hour ago the shock wore off and I couldn’t speak. It took everything in me to keep breathing. Caleb probably thought I was mad at him, but my body was simply shutting down. At the police station I was laughing and joking, my preferred form of coping. But nothing is funny anymore.