Page 119 of The Body in the Backyard

Nick fought to cling to his comfort zone for another ten seconds before the war was lost. “I’m not really a guest here. I’m a PI and I didn’t have the runs. I was questioning a suspect or a witness or whatever the hell she is,” he blurted out.

“Interesting,” Hector said as his hands moved down Nick’s spine, pressing and stretching and rubbing as they went.

“I grew up in a competitive family and never learned how to have healthy relationships,” Nick continued into the face cradle.

“That is very common and is nothing to be ashamed of,” Hector assured him.

“Once when I was in junior high, I stole my dad’s car, drove to his restaurant in the middle of the night, and deep-fried an entire bag of mozzarella sticks. I ate the whole thing, drove home, and threw up in my bed. The marinara sauce made it look like I was bleeding internally, and my parents took me to the emergency room. It cost them five grand.”

He felt something strong and hard dig into the muscle just below his shoulder blade. An elbow? A knee? A goddamn crowbar? Nick didn’t care.

“The truth releases with the muscle,” Hector said wisely.

“Listen, Hector, I’m getting my shit together so I can propose to my girl. But if I weren’t already in a committed relationship and straight, I’d ask you to marry me right now,” he said.

“I’ve received many proposals in the spa,” Hector said as his magic fingers released a knot Nick hadn’t known existed but felt like it had been there for all of eternity.

“Oh God. Okay. What’s a cool but romantic way to propose? Do I have to get down on one knee? And I don’t like the whole asking for the dad’s permission. Mainly because I don’t like to ask for permission for anything. But also it feels kind of like seventeenth-century ‘how many oxen is your daughter worth?’”

“I find something as important as a proposal should be a reflection of the couple as a whole.”

“Gah! It hurts but it feels so fucking good.”

“As does life,” Hector advised.

Nick released a sound that wasn’t even human as the man worked his way down to his lower back.

“You’re so smart. And talented. Did you know my girlfriend is psychic? I think it’s really cool. She’s really cool,” Nick said dreamily into the face cradle.

“Uhhhh…”

Nick managed to lift his head and smile at the stunned Riley in the doorway.

“It is all right,” Hector promised. “He has confessed all.”

“And Hector still loves us,” Nick said, melting into the table.

“You both will return, and I will massage you,” Hector predicted.

28

12:50 p.m. Sunday, November 3

“I’m already exhausted,” Riley said on a yawn as Nick turned onto Front Street. The Susquehanna River looked gray under the cloudy autumn sky.

After leaving the spa, he had taken her back to the gun range and made her shoot her way through four targets and eight magazines of ammo. She still wasn’t a great shot, but there was marginal improvement.

Afterward, Nick had announced he had half a dozen urgent errands to run.

She was fairly certain these “errands” were just a way to avoid being at home with her obnoxious ex-husband. But since she also had no desire to hang around Griffin, she was happy to be along for the ride.

They’d been all over both sides of the river, stocking up on groceries, eating lunch, buying office supplies, and even swinging by a hardware store for a dozen folding chairs, “Just in case we need them.” She was too tired from the early-morning workout to question him. However, even in her state of physical exhaustion, it didn’t escape her notice when Nick checked the rearview mirror for the fifteenth time.

She sat up out of her slump. “Are we being followed?”

“We are not being followed,” he said.

“Then why do you keep looking behind us?”