"What did you get?"
Frank listed them and Gail frowned. "You hate romantic comedies."
"I don't hate 'em. Just don't want to spend eight bucks on 'em in a theater."
Gail wagged her bob. "The oysters, the candles, the sweet music. If I didn't know bet—"
A cell phone rang and they both got up. Gail's was on the table near the door, next to Frank's. They checked their messages and Frank swore.
"Franco," she answered.
"Frank, it's Lewis."
"S'up, Sister Shaft?"
"We got word Diaz is in La Quinta. Probably at a friend's house. Me and Darcy want to go get him."
"Whoa. Slow down. Let's call La Quinta PD, see if they can find him. If they do, they can pick him up, then you can go get him."
"Naw, Frank, I got it deep that he's there. I don't want no jake bustin' my play and losin' my boy for me. I want to get him myself."
"Lewis, I can't authorize OT to go get a suspect that might or might not be there. Call the locals, let 'em do their job. Then you can go."
"What if I went on my own time?"
Frank sighed. "Why you want this so bad?"
"You saw what he did to his wife? I want that mo-fo locked up and put away! You can't do shit like that in my 'hood and walk away. Nuh-uh. And I don't trust them Palm Desert cops to do the job right. I want it done right, I gotta do it myself. See it through. And it ain't no skin off the department's nose if I go off the clock. So what's the big?"
"No big," Frank admitted. "One thing though. Two. I'ma call Palm Desert and arrange backup for you. And you will use it, is that clear? You're not to go in alone."
"Yes, ma'am," Lewis replied sweetly. "And the second thing?"
"Call me. Keep me in the loop. Call me when you get him and if you don't get him call and tell me why. Clear?"
"Crystal, LT."
"A'ight. Be careful."
"I will."
Lewis banged the phone down and Frank winced. Gail was clearing the dishes and Frank called, "Hey, don't do those. I'll just be a sec."
But it took a while to get hold of someone at Palm Desert PD who could authorize Lewis's backup and by the time Frank was done Gail had finished the dishes.
"I thought I told you not to do those."
Gail leaned back against the sink, drying her hands.
Frank couldn't help but cup her hand against the doc's cheek. "You look beat. We'll save the movie for another night."
"No." Gail smiled. "I'm fine. You don't have to go in?"
"Nope. Just arranging for Lewis to pick up a suspect. She's a regular Stakhanovite." Frank grinned. "Reminds me of me when I was her age."
"What's a Stakhanovite?"
"Hey," Frank said, surprised. "Not often you ask me what something means. Stakhanovite's a hard worker, real industrious person. See, when I got my medical degree I got a linguistics degree, too."
"So I see." Gail laughed. She touched Frank's face. "I liked that. What you did with your hand."
Frank held Gail's cheek again. "That?"
"Yes."
Then it seemed that the next right thing to do was to kiss her. So Frank did. On the lips, slowly, mouths lingering.
Gail pulled back. She smiled but said, "How about that movie?"
"How about it?" Frank returned the smile.
CHAPTER 47
Gail nodded off about forty minutes into the movie. Frank tried to stay with it, waiting for Lewis to call, but she dozed off, too. The DVD defaulting to menu woke her. Gail was still out. Frank remoted the TV off.
For a while she watched Gail sleep, lulled by the doc's breathing. She still didn't wake when Frank got up for a blanket. She draped it over the doc who muttered, twisting against the pillows. Frank smoothed Gail's hair, whispering a "shh." Instead of sending Gail into a deeper sleep it roused her. She looked at Frank, dazed.
"Hey. You fell asleep during the movie."
Gail righted herself, looking around.
Frank knelt and took her hand. "Let me put you to bed. In the guest room. You shouldn't be driving home."
Gail nodded and Frank helped her up. She kissed Gail's forehead, steering her toward the spare room.
Frank turned lights off and double-checked locks. She looked in on Gail, calling through the bathroom door, "Want a toothbrush?"
"Please."
Frank brought her a new one, and a clean T-shirt. "Thought you might like to sleep in this."
"Mm. Thanks. Sorry I flaked out on you."
"That's okay. I did too. Not the best movie in the world."
"Do I even have to ask how it ended?"
Frank shook her head. "Exactly as you'd imagine."
"Well, you were sweet to get it."
"Get some sleep. Lewis is supposed to call. I might not be here when you get up, but stay as long as you want, okay?"
Gail nodded.
"There's coffee, grapefruit, eggs, cereal... help yourself."
"I will. Thank you."
Frank turned to go, but Gail touched her arm. "Why didn't you invite me to sleep with you?"
"Thought about it." Frank grinned. "Figured that would definitely constitute pushing. Should I have?"
Gail blinked, debating.
Frank tried to sway her. "It's not too late."
"I'd like that. Very much."
The answer was so ingenuously vulnerable that Frank blurted, "I love you." She offered her hand. "Come on. Let's sleep."
Expecting nothing more than the pleasure of Gail's proximity, Frank offered a chaste good-night kiss. Gail returned it eagerly and Frank offered another. It too was hungrily accepted. Frank gave and received more kisses, as their hands roved the familiar terrain of each other's bodies. Their lovemaking was hot and ardent, wordless, their passion speaking for itself.
After their desire had spent itself to a whisper, they lay in a tangle of limbs.
Frank swore, "Christ, but I've missed you."
"Mmm. Me, too."
Gail's breathing quickly evened out and Frank basked in the simple pleasure of Gail against her. She wondered why Lewis hadn't called yet, then her thoughts shifted to Irie. She'd felt absurd dropping his prints at the lab, justifying to herself that it couldn't hurt to have background on him. There was a reason Irie wouldn't register as an official CI and odds were high it was a criminal reason—probably nothing worth the price of a private print check but Bobby'd be pleased with the extra info.
Checking the night clock Frank thought about Lewis again. Until Marguerite James snaked into her thoughts. Even with her arms wrapped around her lover, Frank had to admit a potent attraction to the mambo. It wasn't an emotional pull, or even intellectual, but completely physical. The woman wore her sexuality like strong cologne.
The phone rang and Gail woke but Frank told her to go back to sleep. She picked the phone out its cradle and took it into the living room.
"I got him!" Lewis crowed.
"Good. Where are you?"
"We found the bastard in Indio. Got him locked up in the back of the car."
"Good job. I'll meet you at the station at.. . six?"
"Make it six thirty." Lewis laughed. "I been up all night and I'm starving]"
"Six thirty it is."
Frank went back to bed to salvage a couple hours sleep. She half-heartedly tried rousing the doc but Gail didn't respond. Just as well, Frank decided, dropping hard into sleep.
Only a few hours later, Diaz broke in the box. Lewis was happy but tired. She headed home, leaving the booking and reports to her well-rested partner. It was Sunday morning and the squad room was empty except for Frank and Darcy. Frank cocked her head at him. "Hey."
He grunted at his paperwork.
"You told me you had a gift and chose not to use it. But why does Marguerite think I have a gift?"