Page 60 of Watch Me

“I’m fine. I just … I just miss you.”

My heart sank. “I miss you too. Are you sure you’re doing okay?”

“Yeah. I wanted to tell you …” Shepaused.

“Tell me what?” I asked after a long moment of silence. April tapped at her wrist, indicating that we needed to hurry so I wouldn’t be late to class. I nodded and started to walk again in the direction of thebuilding.

“I started dating someone.”

I stopped walking again. “Oh yeah?”

“Yeah. I’ve been waiting to tell you fordays.”

April and I started up the stairs into the building. “I’m sorry, honey. You didn’t mention it on Monday or Tuesday.”

“Because I didn’t know if it was serious or not.”

“And now it’s serious?”

“Yeah,” Maddie sighed as though she was thinking about her new relationship at that verymoment.

“I’m happy for you, but I’m just heading into class now. Can I call you tonight on my dinner break? You can tell me more then.”

“There’s actually a party tonight.”

I grinned. “Right. You’re a college girl.”

“Yeah.” I heard herchuckle.

“Listen, honey. We’re preparing for our final exam that’s next week, and I need to go before I’m late. I can’t wait to meet him, and we can chat more about him later.”

“Yeah—okay.”

“Love you.”

“Love you too.”

That afternoon, I went to work my shift at Judy’s. Neither Braeden nor April were on my detail. This time it was Officer Cash, whom I had met at Ethan’s condo before my shift. The plan was for Officer Cash to already be inside the bar before I got there so it wasn’t obvious I was walking in with a detail.

April saw me off, and when I pulled into the alley behind Judy’s, Ethan was waiting. There was no parking lot for the bar, but given I worked until the early morning, I parked as close to the back door as possible, hoping no one would crash into my car as they drove down the alley. Ethan was leaning against a squad car, ankles crossed. We walked toward each other after I got out of mycar.

“I didn’t know you were coming by,” Istated.

He reached up with one hand and cupped my face, pressing his lips to mine. “Just wanted to make sure you made it here safely.”

“Yep. Doors stayed locked, and I came straight here.” Of course, I wasn’t taking any chances: get in the car, lock all the doors, don’t stop anywhere, and go straight to work.Check.I only had to drive two blocks given Ethan’s condo was just down thestreet.

“Good. I’ll come back in a few hours, and then I’ll drive you home.”

“Okay.”

We started walking toward the back door of the bar. “I was thinking we should hire private security for you. That way, you aren’t bouncing you from officer to officer. Eventually, Captain Rapp won’t let me keep using department resources.”

“You don’t think you’ll solve this soon?”

Ethan faced me. “Honestly? No.”

My heart sank. There was a lot riding on finding the killer, including my safety and Ethan seeing his sons. “Maybe I should go somewhere. That way you can get your boys back and—”