Page 88 of Pretty Poison

Grant chuckled. “Perhaps.”

Rocky, Jonah, and Felix thanked Tess when she walked them outside, then wished her a safe and fun vacation.

“How quickly can you upload the scans and photos?” Rocky asked Felix and Jonah when they were out of earshot. “I want to put together a strategy and hit it hard this weekend before Tess changes her mind or Grant changes it for her.”

“I’ll get on it as soon as I get home,” Felix said.

“Me too,” Jonah added.

Rocky rubbed his hands together. “Perfect.”

Things were finally clicking into place for this investigation.

“What about you?” Felix asked. “Deputy Delicious won’t be home?”

Rocky chuckled. “He’s been in Atlanta since yesterday working on a joint task force with the DEA and FBI. He should be back sometime this weekend.”

The busy work would keep Rocky’s mind occupied with something productive instead of worrying about Asher’s safety or fretting about why Duggins had suddenly stopped calling. His husband thought his former friend and partner finally got the message, but Rocky knew better. Duggins was just biding his time before springing his attack. Rocky wanted to think they’d be ready and spent too much of his free time preparing for every conceivable possibility. It was exhausting.

Karen had been right about Rocky falling back on bad habits when Asher was away. He’d slept horribly the night before, and even though his husband was expected back soon, he decided to fill the prescription for the sleep aid. Karen had written it out during their first visit, but Rocky had been reluctant to take it. The key to recovery was sleep, so he would start making it a top priority.

Tess’s investigation wasn’t the only thing moving in the right direction. Rocky was proud of himself in ways he hadn’t been for a long time.

“Your car or mine?” Asher asked.

Rocky halted and looked at his husband. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

Asher looked at the shiny Miata, then back at Rocky. “What’s wrong with Goldie?”

“Besides the name?” Before Asher could answer, Rocky pointed at the large picnic basket his husband carried. “That won’t fit in the trunk.”

“Would so,” Asher argued. “It’s a summer day and she’s a convertible.”

The ornery grin on Asher’s face made Rocky want to drag his husband back inside the house. A picnic in bed was starting to sound like an excellent idea. Asher had arrived home during the wee hours of the night, much later than Rocky expected. His husband had to be exhausted, even though Rocky let him sleep until almost noon. Rocky had kept himself busy making the last few phone calls to Tess’s friends and family leftover on the list. The trio of trouble had reached all but three people during their marathon of interviews the day before.

“Huh-uh. August in the South means the humidity will be a thousand percent,” Rocky countered. “We will need the air-conditioning blowing on full blast.”

“Fine,” Asher said with a shrug as he walked toward Rocky’s car. “Where did we get this basket, anyway?”

“I borrowed it from Marla. I guess she used it for a drag performance ofThe Wizard of Oz.Miss Betty got to play Toto.”

“I hope that’s on video someplace,” Asher said.

Asher stowed the picnic basket in the trunk, then pulled Rocky into his arms.

“Hi,” Asher whispered before dropping a kiss on his lips.

“Hi back,” Rocky said when they parted. “I missed you.”

“I missed you too.”

“We could stay here and explore this further,” Rocky suggested again.

Asher narrowed his eyes. “Are you ashamed of me? Is that why you want to hide me in the house?”

Rocky laughed and stepped from his embrace. “Don’t be ridiculous. Get in the car.”

“How’d you sleep while I was gone?” Asher asked as Rocky backed down the driveway.