Another press of Odin’s lips against her temple.
“It’s because of him that I first started watching crime shows. We’d stay up late watching them together. Get lost in them. He would always want me to try and solve the cases with him.” She could see him so clearly in her mind as he sat on the edge of that old, sagging couch. “My mom was the town’s librarian. When I wasn’t trying to solve crimes with him, I was reading with her. My life was good. It was quiet. It was safe.” A slow exhale. “Until that safety ended.”
“Baby…”
“The town was supposed to be perfect. A place where you know everybody and everybody knows you.” She swallowed. “But how well can you really know anyone? I told you before, I get that evil can hide. And Pop figured out that one of the guys in town—this fellow who went to every PTA meeting and city council meeting—he’d been pulling robberies left and right two cities over. Pop went to confront him, and instead of surrendering, the guy ran.” And that was when things ended. “But he didn’t run far. He blamed my dad for destroying his world. For making his perfect illusion shatter.”
“It was the bastard’s own fault. Your dad was doing his job.”
She nodded. Yes, that was what she thought, too. But… “He went to the library. The only library in town. He knew my mom worked there, you see. The sheriff’s wife. He went there, and he shot her.”
“Fuck. Maisey.”
“His name was Jeremiah Harrison. He’d bought candy from me when I did school fundraisers. And he shot my mother.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“There was a standoff at the library. Biggest thing the town had ever seen. Jeremiah just wouldn’t give up. He would not surrender. He came out shooting. Pop stopped him, but Pop…he didn’t live long after that.” A ragged breath as the pain squeezed her heart. “He wasn’t wearing his vest. He should have been wearing his bulletproof vest, but I think he didn’t care about himself. Not after he knew what had happened to Mom.”
She could feel the tears on her cheeks. She hadn’t told anyone else about her parents. She’d moved away. Started fresh. Tried to leave the pain behind. But Odin wasn’t other people. She needed to tell him this. “I buried them both on the same day, and I never went back to that town.”
His fingers slid over her cheeks. Tenderly wiped away the tears that she knew he couldn’t see. “I want to take your pain away.”
“You do. You have.” That was why she had to finish. So he’d understand. “Pop said certain people fit you, and you know it.” Just say it. “You fit me, Odin. Fit me in a way no one else ever has. I’m scared because I haven’t felt this way before, but the truth is…I think I’m falling in love with you.” Then she held her breath because…
It’s too soon. He won’t feel the same way. I should have just held back. But once she’d started talking…
“Can you forget what I said?” Maisey blurted into the silence. “Sometimes, I overshare. That was obviously a major overshare. You don’t need to feel that you have to say anything back to me. I mean, you can just be like, ‘That’s nice’ and sort of leave it at that. There is no pressure. I don’t expect anything.”
His hand slid under her chin. “You should.”
“I should—what?”
“You should expect the whole damn world. And that’s what I want to give you.”
What was he saying?
“I don’t know what I feel, Maisey. I just know that I feel more for you than I ever have with anyone else. I like it when you smile. Sometimes, I think I’d do just about anything to see your dimples wink at me.”
He would?
His lips brushed over hers. He’d found her mouth—unerringly—in the dark.
“I like it when you’re excited about something that you’re telling me and your eyes get extra golden as they light up. You’ve got the most gorgeous eyes I’ve ever seen.”
That was so sweet.
He gets grumbly when I tell him that he’s sweet.
“I like the way your body responds to mine. Like you were made for me. I was made for you.”
“I’m rather fond of your body, too,” she confessed.
“I don’t feel too big or rough when I’m around you. Everything feels just right.” Another kiss. “Like we fit.”
She blinked quickly so that more tears wouldn’t fall.
“I don’t know much about love. Didn’t have those teen romances in school. Most girls steered clear of me. Then it was battle after battle. No time for anything lasting.” His words were careful. “I would like to try something lasting, with you.”
Could he feel the frantic pounding of her heart?
“I want to try everything with you.” Odin’s voice seemed to fill the darkness around her.
“I would like that very much.” She was the one to arch up toward him. To find his lips in the dark this time. Happiness was blooming inside of her. When she’d walked into Trouble for Hire, she’d never expected her life to change this much. Now, she couldn’t imagine her life without Odin.
She was in his arms. Safe. Warm. And he wasn’t saying he loved her. She truly hadn’t expected the words back. But what he was saying sure sounded good to her. It sounded like a beautiful start.
***
A phone was ringing. The quick peal of sound yanked Maisey from sleep. She jerked upright, pulling from Odin’s arms.
“Yours,” Odin rumbled.
Hers. Her phone. Ringing on the nightstand. She squinted at the glowing screen of her clock. Two a.m. A late-night call again. She knew it had to be the jerk they were after.
“Keep him talking,” Odin ordered as he sat up beside her. “We’ll get the trace.” He jumped from the bed. Grabbed his own phone and sent out a quick text to someone.
Maisey reached for her phone. Swiped her fingers over the screen as she took the call and turned on the speaker. She wanted Odin to hear every word. “Hello?”
“Help me…” Whitney’s voice.
A pang shot through Maisey. All sleepiness had vanished. Her mind was ice-cold and awake.
“Come…help—”
“Stop it,” Maisey ordered bluntly as she shoved back hair that had tumbled over her eye. “I know this isn’t Whitney. You’re using a recording, and you’re jerking me around. Either talk to me for real or I end this call.”
Silence.
She stared fearfully at Odin’s shadowy form. Had she just screwed up? Would the caller hang up on her?
“You think you’re clever.” Not Whitney any longer. But still, not the caller’s real voice. Distorted. Robotic. “Solving the big mystery. Hunting the killer.”
She sucked in a breath that just seemed to chill her lungs. “What do you want from me?” Her hand fisted the sheets and pulled them against her chest.
“I wanted you to stop playing Nancy Drew. But you didn’t. I tried to warn you off, but you just couldn’t take a freaking hint.”
Her heart hammered frantically in her chest. “What did you do to Whitney?”
“She’s gone. She won’t be coming back.”