Page 24 of Girl Between (Dana Gray FBI Mystery Thriller #5)

George followed Dr. Gray down the winding gravel path of the French style garden and back into the air conditioned interior of the historic home-turned-office.

He hesitated as they walked past her desk.

The new perspective gave him a clear view of what sat in the glass display case where she’d been working when he arrived.

“What is that?” he asked.

Dana paused, turning her focus to where his gaze lingered. “The mask?”

He nodded.

“It’s a Venetian death mask,” she replied. “It’s what I came here to study.”

“Is that a popular field?”

“Not at all.”

George nodded again but said nothing further.

Dana gave him a prolonged glance, then continued on her way.

Sliding open her office doors, she led the way to the front of the house.

With one last inquisitive stare from Dana’s co-worker, George trailed her onto the front porch then down the stone steps.

They both paused inside the wrought iron gate .

“Well,” he said. “I’ll report back to Jake and send him proof of life.”

“Please tell him to stop being an overbearing goon.”

George smiled. “You and I both know that’s not gonna happen.”

She rolled her eyes, cracking her first smile since he’d arrived. “It was worth a try.”

“For what it’s worth, everything I saw last night says you’re perfectly capable of taking care of yourself. Something I’m sure your partner knows.”

“Yet he sends you here to check on me.”

George shrugged. “A leopard can’t change his spots.”

He turned to go, but Dana’s touch pulled him back. “Wait. Last night … what happened?”

“You don’t remember?” he asked.

“It’s a bit fuzzy.”

“Not surprising considering your aim to drink New Orleans dry,” he teased.

Dana groaned.

“Relax. You weren’t that bad. Why don’t you come out with me again, and we can retrace our steps. Maybe this time with less drinking.”

She shook her head. “This hangover is ensuring I learned my lesson last night.”

He shrugged. “Can’t blame a guy for trying. What do you remember?”

“Styrofoam cups and dancing in the street. Did that really happen?”

Laughing, he nodded. “Yeah, Port of Call don’t play when it comes to cocktails. After your last drink there you were determined to follow the second line. You dragged me halfway down Frenchman before we caught up with them. Then it was to Spotted Cat, and?—”

“You played the piano there!” she interrupted.

George had been hoping to gloss over that, but of course that was what she remembered. He heard his mother’s voice in his head. The ladies always remember the ivory .

It’s how she’d convinced him to keep up his lessons in high school.

The look on Dana’s face told him his mother had been right.

“Yeah, Doug says my money’s no good at his establishment. But he always makes me earn my keep on the ivories when I stop in.”

“It must be often considering they keep your hat on the piano,” Dana said, referring to the fedora he’d donned before joining the band to jam.

“ That she remembers,” he teased.

She blushed again. “That’s where things get fuzzy.”

“Well, the rest was pretty uneventful. Although, you did drag me into Crescent City Tattoo Parlor.”

Dana’s eyes widened.

“Relax. The owner, Etti Blackwell’s an old friend.

She took one look at you and wisely said they were closed for the night.

Then we went to Dat Dog, you devoured a bowl of tot-touffée, then you ‘bout passed out on the picnic tables. You were too incoherent to tell me where your place was, so I took you back to mine, where you promptly found the bathroom and spent the rest of the night getting acquainted with my toilet.”

Dana buried her face in her hands, groaning.

“Nothing I haven’t seen before. Army, remember?”

She glared at him. “Something tells me you didn’t have to hold your fellow Rangers’ hair.”

“You’d be surprised,” he chuckled. “Though, I never offered them my favorite Saints shirt to sleep in.”

“That explains why I woke up in your clothes.”

“And in my bed,” he teased. “I came out from cleaning the bathroom and found you sound asleep, so I took the couch.”

From her bright red cheeks, George could tell Dana was regretting she’d asked, so he stopped teasing. “Hey, nights like that are where great friendships begin. And having a friend in this city is never a bad thing.”

“Especially a friend who’s a cop,” Dana amended.

George raised his eyebrows. “Do you plan on needing one? ”

“I never plan on trouble, but somehow it finds me anyway,” she answered, confirming George’s suspicions. “Anyway, sorry for all the trouble.”

He took a step closer. “You’re the kind of trouble I don’t mind.”

This time when blood rushed to her cheeks, he knew it wasn’t strictly from embarrassment. It made him ask. “You and Jake? I know you work together. But is it more than that?”

“It’s complicated,” she answered.

Knowing better than to get involved in a messy situation, he said, “Well, if it becomes uncomplicated, you be sure to let me know.”

With that, George opened the gate and walked to his bike. Kicking it to life, he pulled away, keenly aware Dr. Dana Gray’s eyes were still fixed on him.