Page 118 of Only the Devil

“I’ve been meaning to check out Chicago in the summer.”

“You have?” Her wandering fingers move from my scruff, down my throat, to my clavicle.

“What do you say—and I’m just gonna throw this out here. If it doesn’t work for you, let’s chat about it and find something that does. What do you say I go back with you, then maybe you go back with me.”

“Where’s your place?”

“Ah, I got a summer rental in the mountains in NC. Nothing permanent. But KOAN’s based there for the time being.”

“But if you’re put on another assignment, you could be sent…”

“Anywhere,” I say, honestly. Saying it out loud, it’s better than it was in the forces, but it’s not great. And given the kinds of work I can take on will be limited, something Hudson’s gonna take note of after this episode, I can’t be picky. “We’ll take it day by day, like you said, right?”

“The beauty of what I do is I really can work from everywhere. Right now, you’re kind of one of my favorite people, so…”

Her lips squeeze together like she’s biting back a smile, and I’m blown away by the explosion going on in my chest, this time a good one. Like a lit fuse setting off a crackly, good kind of people-pleasing firecracker.

“You’re one of my favorite people, too.”

I sit there smiling at her like a loon. The moment feels big, like we’ve agreed on something and we’re in the same place. And yeah, I’ve fallen hard for this one. And I don’t even mind. Not one iota.

Chapter 38

Daisy

“I’m glad you’re okay,” my sister says. “Your company’s been all over TikTok—like nonstop. Well, it was. You don’t happen to have any video of that place, do you?”

She doesn’t give me a chance to answer, and that’s fine. It’ll be a few minutes before she says something that actually requires a response.

I’m kicked back, still in scrubs, feet propped on another chair. They wheeled Jake and his bed off for testing almost forty-five minutes ago. I hadn’t planned to pick up, but she wouldn’t stop calling—and of course, she wouldn’t text what she needed—so I finally caved.

“Mom was really freaked out. You need to call her.”

Hearing Mom worried about me shouldn’t give me the smiles, but it does.

“She thought she’d need bail money for you. Thought for sure you’d had a part in the scam and that’s why you scored a fat salary.”

Figures. “Glad to hear she thinks so much of me.”

“Oh, she’s not mad.”

“You don’t believe I’d do something like that, do you?”

“No! You haven’t been there long enough.”

Fantastic.

“And besides, an online snoop uncovered the deaths. There was a photo of Alvin Reed, that old guy you used to hang out with. You’re there ’cause you went all Buffy the Vampire Slayer, huh? My sister, the PI.”

She sounds proud. I’ll take it.

“Alright, sis. Let me go.”

“Wait, wait! One more thing. Mom wants to know if you’re dating anyone. She said you sounded different when you called last week. Happy different.”

I can feel heat creeping up my neck. “Tell Mom I’ll call her tomorrow.”

“So that’s a yes on the dating front?”