“Okay.”

“If I’m finished in time, I’ll meet you at The Hornet. If not, I’ll meet you at your house.”

“What if you’re not finished on time but finished in the middle of the night, like last night?”

His eyes caught mine.“I’ll meet you at your house.”

“What if I’m sleeping?”

“I’ll use my key.”

“What key?”

“The key I had copied from Ally’s key.”

“Does Ally know you copied my key?”

He didn’t answer. This meant no.

“When did you do this?” I asked.

His eyes crinkled but there was still no answer.

“Why did you do this?”

One of his forearms was on the steering wheel, the other one on the back of my seat. He grabbed a lock of hair and wrapped it around his finger.

“I figured I’d need one eventually, so when I had the opportunity to take care of that chore, I took it.”

“You’re very cocky, have I told you that?”

“I think you’ve mentioned it.”

He pulled my hair toward him and I had no choice but to follow it. He kissed me, no brush on the lips this time, this one left me a little bothered.

Okay, a lot bothered.

He waited until the door to Fortnum’s closed behind Chowleena and I and he took off.

Duke was behind the book counter, Tex was behind the espresso counter. There were no customers and no sign of Jane.

“You need to go home, you were shot three days ago,” I told Tex.

“I was waitin’ for you to get here. I wanted to hear about your day,” Tex answered.

I threw myself full body on one of the couches. Chowleena jumped up, sat beside me and stared at Tex. Everyone, man, woman and dog, stared at Tex.

I ran down an abbreviated version. “I had a tour of Lee’s Command Headquarters, nearly got into a bitch-slapping fight with his receptionist, then I tasered a hit man in the street just before he got the chance to shoot me. We found Rosie and he’s been arrested and now I’m here.”

Duke put his elbow on the counter and his forehead in his hand.

Tex stared at me and he looked disappointed.

Then he shrugged. “The day’s still young.”

I closed my eyes.

Tex left and I stayed where I was.

“Do you know how old that guy is?” Duke asked.

“Old… ish?” I answered the question with a question.

Duke didn’t reply, but instead he said, “Do you know he’s an ex-con?”

“Yes,” I said.

“Do you know he hasn’t had a job since he got back from ‘Nam?”

I opened my eyes and looked at Duke. “No.”

“Totally dropped out, so dropped out that he makes me look like a soccer mom. Even before he went to prison and definitely after.”

Yikes.

“How do you know this?” I asked.

“Hank came by.”

I nodded and closed my eyes again.

“He makes great coffee, everyone’s talkin’ about it,” Duke said.

Finally, a real piece of good news.

When Duke spoke again, his gravelly voice sounded from right above me and my eyes popped open again.

“You’re doin’ a good thing by him. No man can live his life surrounded by cats, never leavin’ his block.”

I nodded again and said, “Outside of the gunshot wound, he’s fit as a fiddle. He threw me through a window and you saw what he did on stage at BJ’s. He’s in good shape, at least physically. Mentally is still up for debate.”

“Yeah,” Duke replied, then looked out the window. “Ain’t none of my concern but I gotta tell you, it’s good to see you and Lee aren’t circlin’ each other anymore. Your grandmother used to say that you were two souls separated in heaven. She mainly meant you were both trouble and deserved each other.”

Great.

Duke went on. “She’d be f**kin’ thrilled if she was still alive.”

I felt my throat close up. When it reopened, I said quietly, “Thanks, Duke.”

“When we close, I’m walkin’ you home.”

It wasn’t a question. I did, of course, have Chowleena with me but I didn’t think bad guys would be scared off by a Chow with fur chaps and attitude.

“Okay,” I agreed.

* * * * *

When I got home, I called Marianne and set up a time to meet at The Hornet. Then I called Lee to tell him I was home. He was at the hospital checking on Luke. I was glad I didn’t have a ride-along on that one or my Denial Zone would be obliterated.

I gave Chowleena some kibbles and water. She put her nose up at the kibbles so I gave her a doggie biscuit. Then she gave me her pathetic look so I gave her another one. Then she pranced into the living room, curly tail swaying in the air, jumped up on my new couch, circled about twenty times, flopped down and settled in.

I jumped into the shower and did my Indy Out for the Night Preparations complete with leg shave. I didn’t really feel up to it, I was tired and hadn’t had a Disco Nap. However, there was a possibility Lee was going to meet us at The Hornet and his receptionist looked like she stepped out of the pages of a fashion magazine. I thought it best to put some effort into it.

I grabbed my dress that was just a thick band of stretchy black from which fell a swath of olive green gauzy material swirled through with cream and black. The band fit above my br**sts, the gauze fell in a scarf-like hem to above the knee. I put on a droopy black belt with a big circular silver buckle and bloused the dress over it, making it mini. I fluffed out my hair, pawed through the dregs at the back of my makeup drawer and slapped on some makeup, put on a pair of big silver hoop earrings, a bunch of bangles on my wrist, a bunch of silver rings on my fingers and pulled on my black cowboy boots. I shoved some stuff into a black purse and headed out the door.

I walked to The Hornet, which was only four blocks away. I didn’t waste any time, Rosie was found, Pepper Rick and Sandy Pete were out of the picture and the hit man was behind bars. I was likely relatively safe but I wasn’t going to take any chances.

Marianne was there when I got there, sitting on a stool at the bar. I’d asked Ally to join us but she had a shift at Brother’s. I’d braved the pissed off brute and asked Eddie if he wanted to come but he was going to be bogged down in paperwork.

“I wish I could wear a dress like that,” Marianne told me when I slid on the booth next to her.

Marianne used to be a size four. Her hair changed color with her mood, so much so that I didn’t remember what it was when it started out. Now it was brunette. She had big gray eyes. She was always pretty and regardless of the weight, she still was a looker. She’d been popular, being so dainty and cute, boys flocked to her. Her divorce had taken its toll, it was ugly, she still wasn’t over it and she was eating through the pain.