"Let's get a beer sometime, Lucas," Pete suggested. "I'd like to see that gun collection of yours."
"Right, we really ought to do that. Give me a call."
"Night."
They parted just as Meredyth Sanger drove into the lot. She Would normally be parking in her reserved spot in the small underground lot, but she had spotted Lucas in his Aussie-looking Wellington leather coat out here with Blackhorn, so she drove in waving to him. "There you are," she said to him as she climbed from her car. "Where've you been?"
"I've spent the last several hours gathering dental records on those three missing persons we ID'd this morning."
"Great, anything shake out?"
'Too early to tell for sure. Tried reaching you around two, but you'd bugged out."
"I see, and next you'll be saying that you missed me."
"I did actually."
"I'm sure that Detective North took your mind off such bothersome thoughts as me."
"Hey, whoa up there, cowgirl. Where's this coming from?" He wondered how she'd learned of his having spent the better part of the day with Jana North. "Jana smoothed the way for the family introductions and the permissions. She was a great asset. No way I could've gotten through it in such a short time without her help, believe me."
"I'll bet she was just that, a big asset."
"Are you deliberately picking a fight, or are you merely jealous?" he asked.
"Not in the least." She didn't sound convincing.
"Not in the least to which? Fight for fighting's sake, honey-be-mine, or jealousy for jealousy's sake? 'Cause while the jealousy thing is flattering, the fighting just looks like the old arm's length excuses of the past, Mere. So, which is it?"
"Damn it…I just thought you'd call."
"Mere, I did call, but I missed you. You were busy, remember, in meetings? Then I got super-busy. You know how that goes. What're you doing back here anyway?" he asked.
"I want to get a file I left in my office."
"Sure you didn't race over here to catch me with Jana, only to find me with Pete?"
"I came back for the file, Lucas."
"Come here." He hugged her close.
"So what did you two find on the missing persons front?" she asked, changing the subject. "You must've learned something?"
"Very little, but let me take you to dinner, and I'll fill you in."
"I want to change, freshen up. My place at around eight?" Meredyth suggested.
Lucas reached out an open palm to brush aside her falling hair from her eyes, but Meredyth shied off, saying, "I'd really like to keep our personal life to ourselves, Lucas, so if you don't mind, the precinct house parking lot isn't the place to display our affections."
Did she get a call from some exaggeration-monger telling her that he and Detective North had had a rendezvous here only moments before? Had she rushed over to catch a glimpse of Lucas in Jana's company to determine if she had something to worry about or not? He wanted to reassure her that nothing untoward was going on between him and Jana, but he realized that if he began down such a road, it would simply sound like a cover-up or even a lie, despite the truth.
'Trust me," Meredyth continued, reading his silence as a disagreement. "Romance in the workplace always wreaks havoc of one sort or another, so let's try to keep what we have a private matter."
"Sure it isn't your professional reputation that you're worried about?"
"I don't mind saying that that's part of it, yes."
"You ashamed of what we have. Mere?"
"I didn't say that! Never. It's just that the leeches and termites in the house will find ways to make it uncomfortable for both of us."
He nodded. "Of course, you're right, but you aren't having second thoughts about us… about this morning, are you?"
"Aren't you?"
"Then you are…having misgivings."
"Don't try to tell me you're not," she countered. "I mean, it all happened so fast, and we were both emotionally distraught, our nerves stretched to the sea and…and…" She stopped, seeing the accusatory look in his eye.
They both stood in silent scrutiny of one another, weighing up, trying to determine the depth of hurt their words and actions had already caused. Meredyth had backed away from him in the past, usually with a great deal more speed than presently. Finally, Lucas said, "I have no regrets, Mere. None whatsoever."
She gauged his sincerity, reading his body language and the deep brown eyes. "We'll have to keep talking about it. Later tonight then."
"See you later then."
She took the steps for the precinct, going inside to retrieve that file she'd forgotten, Lucas imagined. He climbed into his unmarked car and drove for home, wondering why she was afraid to love him unequivocally and unconditionally.
CHAPTER 6
Once inside her inner office, Dr. Meredyth Sanger made a series of phone calls to the crime lab, asking about any new developments in her and Lucas's case. She was put through to Dr. Lynn Nielsen, who civilly and curtly brought her up to date on the progress being made. And while Nielsen was overtly courteous, she finally told Meredyth in a firm, controlled, and accented voice, "If we were left alone to do our jobs, then the information you and Detective Stonecoat want would be that much more forthcoming sooner."
Mereydth felt satisfied that Lucas had indeed spent the day as he had said, and that he had kept her abreast of each step he'd taken in the investigation. Checking up on a man? She chastised herself for going to such extremes. She had never done such a thing before. Maybe Lucas was right. Perhaps she was looking for any little excuse to cut off the legs of their newfound intimacy before it could walk off with her heart entirely. They had been friends for years, always testing one another, teasing, and had in fact been intimate at one time, but Tsali had destroyed that earlier attempt at a life together, and Meredyth wasn't about to go down that heart-wrenching road again. She just knew that he would never get over Tsali, that he had built up a romantic fantasy about life with her and her two girls that he'd always wonder about.
Dr. Nielsen came back on the line. "Detective Stonecoat left us with three sets of dental records, which we then left for Dr. Davies's perusal against the teeth. Dr. Davies has them now."
"Would you please have Dr. Davies contact me with the results as soon as possible, please."
"I'll do that, and Dr. Sanger, I am sorry that someone has victimized you in this appalling manner."
"Thank you for your concern, Dr. Nielsen."
"It is a horrible thing; I can only imagine how horrible."
The ice woman almost thaweth, Meredyth thought, but said simply, "Again, thank you, Doctor."
Sergeant Stan Kelton knocked on Meredyth's door and peeked into her office. "Heard you had come in. Dr. Sanger."
"Stan, do you sleep here at the precinct too? You seem to be here day and night."
"Pulling double shifts lately. Two men out with the flu. Hope to hell it isn't a West Nile virus thing."
"God, hope not."
"Anyway, two items for you." He held up an artist sketch in one hand and a hefty parcel wrapped in brown paper in the other. "Sketch is too damned generic to be of much help. Looks like any number of Bill Gates look a likes. Makes you want to believe your doorman, Stu Long, took the package from a guy who was simply paid to deliver it."
Meredyth only half-heard him as her full attention was on the compact little box he'd placed on the comer of her desk. For a moment, she pictured kindly Stan in cahoots with others trying to drive her insane.