Page 27 of Closer Than You Know (Vera Boyett #2)

Khatri Residence

Morton Drive, Fayetteville, 10:00 p.m.

Eve sat on the side of the bed.

She needed a drink. Dear God, she needed a drink.

She needed a drink more than she had needed one in years. More than she needed to breathe.

The sound of the shower turning on in the bathroom made her blink. Suri was taking a shower. She didn’t have to know. No. No way could she cross that line. She couldn’t do that to Suri. Suri believed in her. Trusted her. Loved her.

And Suri needed her now more than ever.

“Don’t screw up,” she muttered. Don’t screw up!

Her fingers tightened on the sheets on either side of where she sat. But how could she keep fighting when the need got stronger every minute.

She needed a drink!

“Damn it!” She pushed up from the bed. She should call her sponsor.

Vera and Bent were right about getting this Gates business out in the open. It would all work out. Vera wouldn’t steer them wrong. Bent either.

“You’re good, Eve.” She paced the floor. She and Suri would be okay. It was all good.

Still, she couldn’t help wishing that cave had never been found by those two kids. That Gates was still hidden away and no one, not Teresa Russ or anyone else, had made the connection between Gates and Suri.

The son of a bitch had gotten what he deserved. All this fuss over him was wrong, just wrong. The stress and worry the investigation into his death had caused Eve and Suri was not fair. They had only been protecting themselves. Well, Eve had been protecting Suri. But anyway, it was self-defense. Suri was the victim.

Eve paced the small room again and again. She and Suri had finally found their place with each other. They no longer felt the need to hide from anyone. But now people would be looking at them with suspicion. Murderers, they would call them. Lesbian murderers. Damn it!

The impulse to rush to the liquor store and buy a fifth was very nearly overwhelming. She couldn’t do that ... couldn’t do it.

Couldn’t let Suri down.

Keep it together for Suri.

The spray of water in the bathroom suddenly stopped.

Eve took a breath. Suri would be out in a minute, and they could talk. Suri always knew how to talk her down from the mania and get her on an even keel. Deep breath. She could get through this.

A scream jerked Eve from the worrisome musings.

“Eve!”

She rushed out of the bedroom and burst into the steamy bathroom. “What’s wrong?”

Suri stood next to the tub, the towel hugged against her like a shield. She pointed to the mirror over the sink.

Eve’s gaze followed that route, landing on the steamy glass, where words had been written in the fog.

Eve, you’re next.

Ice slid through her body. She had to call Vera.

“Who did this?” Suri cried.

Fury blasted Eve, seared away the icy chill. Just what the hell she needed. Life was complicated enough without this shit. She stepped to the sink and used both hands to swipe the words away. “You son of a bitch!”

“Eve! You shouldn’t do that ... it’s evidence,” Suri wailed. Tears streamed down her cheeks.

Eve fell back a step. Shit. Suri was right. “I’ll call Vee.” She turned to the woman she loved more than life itself. “Don’t worry. Vee will know what to do.”

“Let me finish drying and get dressed and I’ll be right there.”

Eve nodded.

“Don’t close the door,” Suri urged. “I don’t want anything between us right now.”

“I won’t.”

Eve hurried down the short hall to the living room and then to the small kitchen. She’d put her cell phone on the charger. She grabbed it from the counter and touched the screen, but something made her pause before selecting the phone app. She frowned and glanced around the room to figure out whatever the hell it was that wasn’t right. The dishes she had washed were drying on the counter. Chairs were all pushed into place at the table. Their boots sat on the floor at the back door.

She looked again. That was it. The door was ajar.

What the hell?

They always locked it immediately when they came in and kept it that way. Frowning, she stepped in that direction.

Something pinched the back of her neck.

When she would have twisted around, a powerful arm locked around her chest, and a hand closed over her mouth.

“Don’t move,” a voice warned.

Male. Not familiar.

Her heart lunged into panic. The room started to spin, and her cell phone clattered to the floor.

The sound of the hair dryer down the hall followed her into the darkness.