CHAPTER 15

T RINA

Ugh. If there’s one thing I hate, it’s showering in public showers, like the ones at the gym where I work out. Today, though, it was a necessary evil since I’m meeting Jordan for lunch.

After slipping on shorts and a tank top and sliding into my flip-flops, I pull the towel off my head and run a wide-tooth comb through my hair. Grabbing my hair dryer, I head over to the sink area and plug it into an outlet. I only need to dry it enough to pull it up without damaging it.

As the other two women at the sinks are taking care with how they dry their hair and apply their make-up, I chaotically move the hairdryer around my head, not even focusing on my reflection. I quickly get lost in my thoughts.

It’s been a little over a week since I started letting Ben stay over on the nights I’m off work. He’s been nothing but respectful, never pushing my limits or trying to change the arrival and departure times. No, I’m the one who’s done that.

He’s slept over four nights and after the second, I invited him to come around six if he wanted to have dinner at my house instead of trying to figure out something before coming over. That’s when I realized I enjoyed his company.

It was subtle at first. From having a beer on the back porch late in the evening and rehashing our days, to racing each other on finishing the Chicago Tribune Daily Jumble puzzle. Then there’s the binge watching Bridgerton on Netflix—not because I’m interested, of course, but only to relate to those saps on my A shift crew who are addicted to the series.

So, I did the only reasonable thing and told him not to come over last night. After four nights of staying. Because, if I’m being honest with myself, I’ve been a bit freaked out since I realized yesterday afternoon that I was looking forward to seeing him later in the day.

A tap on my shoulder pulls me out of my Ben-induced stupor. I glance over to see one of the other women, now made up, looking ready for a beauty pageant, and I turn off my hair dryer to hear her.

“I think it’s dry. You seemed to be daydreaming and your hair’s so gorgeous I didn’t want you to accidentally damage it.”

I give her a tight smile. “Oops, yeah. Lots of work stuff on my mind. Thanks.”

She smiles brightly at me and walks away.

Alone now, I lean in close to the mirror and point my finger at my reflection. “You are not this woman. You are strong and in control of your thoughts, not someone who gets caught daydreaming about some guy,” I quietly scold myself. I stand up straight now. “Get it together, Trina,” I mutter.

A minute or two later, I’ve grabbed my gym bag and head out the main doors to the outside, looking down at my phone to see what time it is.

“Fancy seeing you out here in Meadow Creek, Trina.” The voice is vaguely familiar, and I look up, surprised to see John, the police officer from New Year’s Eve and the Valentine’s Fundraiser, leaning against his police cruiser.

I stop dead in my tracks, my eyes widening as I take him in. “W-what are you doing here?”

A sarcastic laugh escapes him. “I work here, remember? It’s my job to protect the citizens of Meadow Creek. To keep my eyes on who’s coming and who’s going in our quaint little city.”

I narrow my eyes at him. “I’ve been working out here for four years and I’ve never seen you here before. I think I’d remember a police officer parked outside of the gym.”

He gives a casual shrug of one shoulder. “Maybe it’s a sign. Fate and shit like that.”

I shouldn’t continue the conversation, but I’m curious. “A sign meaning what?”

“Meaning maybe you should let me take you out for dinner. Get to know each other better. I think we got off on the wrong?—”

I sigh. “Listen John. I’m truly not trying to be difficult, but I’m not interested. And I’m about to be late for lunch plans with my friend, so I need to go.”

Without waiting for an answer, I turn and walk toward my car.

“Friend or boyfriend?” he calls after me.

I make the split-second decision not to acknowledge his comment and I keep walking without looking back. When I’m in my car and have locked the doors, I glance up and see him staring at me. I quickly look away, turn on the car, and glance down at my hands on the steering wheel. My shaking hands.

Twenty-five minutes later, I walk into Giuseppe’s Italian restaurant, Jordan and my favorite spot for our every-other-month lunch dates. We always sit in the room that houses the bar because we’re both smart women. This will be our first lunch out since she gave birth to her son, so I’m sure she’s ready for a glass of wine.

Jordan is already here and has a glass of wine for each of us at the table. When she sees me, she stands and hugs me.

“Oh my God, you’re even more gorgeous than when I saw you last. Motherhood suits you,” I tell her. I mean it, too. Jordan is a smoke show on a normal day, but add the glow she has now, and she takes it up to another level.

She rolls her eyes as she sits back down. “Please. I feel like my boobs are ginormous and I’m constantly covered in poop or baby spit up. You’re sweet, but I know I look exhausted.”

“Whatever. You look beautiful and like a woman in love.”

Jordan chuckles, but then when I’m seated, and she looks at me closer, she squints her eyes at me. “What’s wrong? You look… stressed or worried. I can’t put my finger on it because I’ve never seen it on you.”

I swallow past the lump in throat. I hate how shaken I am after running into John. If it wasn’t for the whole creeper texting me thing, I don’t think it would have hit me hard at all, but now I’m looking at everything in a different light.

I spend the next half hour telling her about my… admirer. The flowers, the texts, and today’s run in.

“Jesus. Are you okay? Do you want to come stay with me and Alex?”

I chuckle. “No. Definitely not. I’m not telling anyone at work, so I don’t want Alex to know.”

Jordan frowns. “What does Fitz think of that? Surely, he must disagree.”

I look over at the bar and clear my throat. “He doesn’t know either.”

She shakes her head at me. “Trina. He’s your best friend. You have to tell?—”

“No.” My tone is clear that this isn’t up for discussion. Jordan’s head and neck snap back in surprise and I feel guilty for being so short with my friend. “Not yet. If it gets worse, I will. But I’m not letting this disrupt my life more than it already has. Let’s talk about something else. How are the twins taking having a new baby brother?”

She eyes me for several long seconds. “I’m gonna let you deflect here because it seems like you need to de-stress. Just know I’m here if you need me.” She pauses and takes a hearty drink of her wine. “The girls are great. It’s like having two little helpers all the time. Despite that, I never knew how tiring motherhood is. They were eight when Alex and I got together, and all the baby stuff is definitely exhausting.”

After lunch, we walk out together, and Jordan hugs me. She tosses in one more shameless plug, asking me to reconsider staying with them, or at least to tell Fitz about my creeper. Which I decline.

But when I get in my car, I pull out my cell phone and stare at it for several long seconds before shooting off a text to Ben… asking him to come over tonight.

* * *

BEN

This week at work has been one of the more frustrating I can remember in quite some time. After having no good leads turn up in Trina’s case and still unable to find the whereabouts of Guy, I finally gave in and reached out to Joe Alero, the contractor who I met when he interrupted my dance with Trina at the Valentine’s fundraiser. Trina felt sure he’d be able to help find Guy.

I left a message for him with his secretary two days ago, who assured me she would have him call me back even though he was away from the office working at a job site in River’s Run. When he didn’t call me back yesterday, I pulled building permits for River’s Run and today my partner, Rachel, and I showed up at his job site right around lunchtime.

I expected him to be polite and offer to reach out to Guy’s father for help, given he told Trina he had that connection and to let him know if Guy caused her any problems. What I did not expect was to find Guy sitting and eating his lunch with Alero himself and the rest of the crew.

What the hell?

Thirty annoying minutes later, we’ve succeeded in nothing beyond Guy refusing to talk to us without a lawyer present and Alero defending the kid repeatedly. He got really pissed off when I asked him if the whole firing Guy when they were working in Elladine was a ploy to make Trina think he was a decent guy.

Rachel and I say very little on the way home. I’m aware I screwed the pooch when I let my personal feelings for Trina affect what I said to Alero. To Rachel’s credit, she doesn’t call me out on it. But when we pull into the station parking lot, she turns to me and says, “For what it’s worth, I don’t think the kid’s our guy.”

I close my eyes and rest my head back on the headrest. “Unfortunately, I don’t either. Based on our prior interaction with him, I don’t think he’s sophisticated enough—or frankly smart enough—to be the perp.”

After Rachel and I climb out of the Police Department vehicle, we say goodbye and make plans to regroup tomorrow. As I make my way to my SUV, I glance down at my phone to text Trina and check on her. I’m surprised to find a missed text from her.

Trina: Hey, any chance you want to stay over tonight? I was thinking of getting a pizza from Enzo’s.

Me: Definitely. But how about I pick you up in a half hour and we can actually go to Enzo’s?

Trina: Okay. See you soon.

I’m thrilled to death she letting me stay again tonight after her obvious freakout yesterday. But I’m just as worried about whether something happened making her want me to stay.