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“How do you know?” she finally snapped at her husband.
“It was totally guy code,” Derrick said, putting his arm around Taylor and walking her back up the stairs, “and he told me the other day that he has a girlfriend.”
That news had Taylor tripping on her feet as she tried to stop but Derrick kept her moving forward. “He did?” she asked. “Wh-when did he tell you that?”
“The other day at the Medical Examiner’s office,” Derrick said, “He told me he wasn’t into you and that he had someone he cared about as much as I care about you,” Derrick said. He shrugged. “Maybe he isn’t such a bad guy,” he said as they made their way up the second-story stairs.
“No, he isn’t.”
“I mean I wouldn’t want him dating my sister or anything but he isn’t a bad guy.”
Taylor suddenly became overcome with a coughing fit, however it sounded very similar to laughter.
“You okay, Tay?”
Taylor nodded and continued to cough all the way to their room.
* * *
Taylor pacedat the foot of their bed checking her phone every time she turned to pace the other direction. After repeating this about fifty times she stopped and threw her hands up in the air. “I can’t wait any longer, I’m going back down,” she announced and turned to the door, only to be pulled into a bear hug by Derrick.
“Oh no, you’re not,” he said.
“Derrick, I need to check this place out,” she whined as she struggled to extricate herself from his strong arms.
“You are going to have to wait,” he whispered in her ear. “I have some suggestions on how to keep you occupied while we wait for Henry.”
“Derrick, I…” Taylor stopped herself as an idea came to her. She spun around and wrapped her arms around Derrick’s neck. “I have an idea,” she said softly, biting her lip.
“Yeah?” Derrick asked, touching his lips to Taylor’s. “Tell me,” he whispered.
“Let’s sneak out and go ourselves,” she whispered against her husband’s lips.
Derrick jerked his head back, “What?”
“Come on, babe, it’ll be fun,” she coaxed.
“No way,” Derrick said stone-faced. “Someone is out there trying to kill you, Taylor.”
“But if we sneak, they won’t know how to get to me,” she said. “Think about it. I usually leave with hordes of security. If it's just a single car leaving, no one will think it’s us.”
“No, Tay, it’s a bad idea,” Derrick said firmly.
“Derrick, I need to check this,” Taylor said just as firm.
“Well, I am not helping you,” Derrick declared, crossing his arms across his chest.
“Fine, I will just go myself,” Taylor said, unfazed that her attempt to seduce Derrick into her plan had failed.
“No, no you’re not,” Derrick said putting himself between Taylor and the door. He shook his head at her. “Taylor, have you lost your mind?”
“Yes, as a matter of fact I have,” Taylor said with wide eyes. “I am in the middle of this wild goose chase from Cedric that I am hoping can lead us to answers and some damn closure. And I am not waiting for Henry to finish getting his groove on to find out!”
Taylor watched as Derrick took a deep breath and waited for his calm speech about patience. She could feel a fire light inside of her at the thought of what he would say.
Instead Derrick heaved out a sigh and walked past Taylor. She spun and watched Derrick disappear into the closet.
“What are you doing?” she called.