I wanted to go home and finish working on one of the dozen projects around the house that had gone on hold when I left. Again, I couldn’t do that unless Reggie allowed it, and that hurt more than any wound. I wanted to go home, and I couldn’t because it wasn’t home anymore. We had a dinner planned, I told myself again, but that pessimistic part of me that had been growing louder over the six-month separation was in my head now, telling me that I should figure out what home meant without Reggie. What would home mean if it was just me and Connery half the time and me alone the rest of the time? The thought made me want to put my head down on the steering wheel and weep. Where could I go? What could I do to keep the dark thoughts from eating up all the good ones? The only answer was work; I could go back to work, I could try to figure out why everything was different with this demon possession, if that was even the correct term for it. I could find the demon that had helped Mark Cookson rape and kill our victim, Megan Borowski. I could find the demon that either had killed Mark Cookson or was using his body to commit crimes, because unlike angels, demons didn’t just go back to Hell and get lost in the Infernal fires. They stayed up here until they were forced back to Hell. Angels enjoyed Heaven and being closer to God; no demon I’d met wanted to return to Hell.
A car stopped behind my parked one. It was blocking me in, and it took me a second to realize it was Reggie. She turned the engine off and got out of the car. I had a moment of my heart lifting in pure happiness; maybe she was going to say the date could be tonight, or maybe she wanted me to come home even to do some tool-using chore. I’d take it. I’d be her handyman with no benefits if I could just be in the house when Connery came home from school. Then I saw the tension in her body, the way she held her lips, and knew underneath the big sunglasses her eyes would be black dark with anger.
What in Heaven’s name had I done to piss her off now?
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
I got out of the car, so I was standing and facing her as she said, “Why are you waiting for me? I agreed to the dinner.”
“I’m not waiting for you,” I said.
“Were you going to follow me to see if I got a date or something?”
“It never occurred to me to follow you, Reggie.”
“You’re a cop, it’s part of what they teach you, isn’t it?”
“I suppose, but I’m just waiting—”
“For what; if you’re not waiting to see where I go next, what are you waiting for?” she demanded.
“To know if I join Charleston at the crime scene or go with another detective to get background on a suspect.”
That seemed to calm her down a little. “Oh, well, how long does that take to find out?”
My phone rang and saved us both from a conversation that I really didn’t understand at all. “Hey, Havoc, wait until you see what we found at the parents’ house!”
“Just tell me what it is,” I said, smiling because she sounded so excited.
“Who is that?” Reggie asked.
“It’s Detective Bridges.”
“Lila, you mean.” And she raised both her eyebrows up high enough that they showed above the sunglasses.
“Yes, Lila Bridges,” I said.
Lila said, “I thought your text said the therapy was over.”
“We’re in the parking lot,” I said.
“Is she asking where we are?” Reggie said.
“Yes,” I said.
“What?” Lila asked.
Reggie pantomimed me handing the phone to her, but I was too confused about what was happening, so I put it on speaker. “Lila, you’re on speaker, Reggie wanted to talk to you, I think.”
“Hi, Reggie,” Lila said, her voice neutral friendly.
“Hi, Lila.” Reggie’s tone was overly friendly and didn’t sound right. “Did he text you as soon as our couples therapy was over?”
“Her and Charleston,” I said.
“Havoc wanted to know if I was done talking to the parents.”
“Parents, what do you mean, parents?” Reggie asked.
“One of the people involved in the crime is a college kid,” I said, so that Lila didn’t have to figure out how much I’d shared or not shared with my wife.
“Victim or bad guy?” Reggie asked, but her anger seemed to be fading.
“Both,” I said.
“You mean this is all college-age kids?” she asked.
“Everyone’s young, or as old as they’re ever going to get,” Lila said, and she couldn’t hide the weariness in her voice. She might have been excited about the evidence she’d found, but something about the case was getting to her. It probably meant the parents had been nice. Sometimes it was harder when the family seems like good people, especially if you’re trying to tell them their son is suspected in the rape and murder of another college student.
“I didn’t know the victim or that everyone else involved was so young. I’m sorry you had to go see the parents.” And Reggie sounded more like herself.
“Never my favorite part of the job,” Lila said, and she sounded tired.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there to help you with the parents, Lila,” I said.
“Hey, I took the new guy, MacGregor 2.0; he didn’t suck.”
“I’m glad he didn’t suck,” I said.
“I’m sorry that Zaniel couldn’t be there to help, too, Lila,” Reggie said.
“It’s okay, I just wish my wife had been willing to do counseling with me like you and Havoc are doing.”
“Are you saying that Annie refused to go to couples counseling with you?” Reggie asked.
“Yeah, I offered, but she said there was nothing wrong with her, she didn’t need therapy, and if I thought I needed it I should go to therapy, but couples therapy without the other half of your couple seemed sort of pointless.” Lila sounded about as unhappy as I’d ever heard her.
“That sounds awful,” Reggie said, her voice soft. The glasses hid most of her face, but she seemed more affected than I’d expected by Lila sharing.
“It’s okay, Reggie, I just want someone else to get the happily-ever-after I keep missing.” She sounded genuinely sad, which I knew she was about her divorce, but she was letting Reggie hear it in her voice on purpose. I didn’t know why, but I knew it was on purpose, because Lila could control her voice in an interrogation or undercover better than I could.
“Well, I don’t think we’re ready for happily-ever-after, but the counseling sessions are helpful,” Reggie said.
“I thought it was promising,” I said, fighting to keep my voice as neutral as hers.
“Promising is good,” Lila said on the phone, then added, “I’m taking all the paraphernalia we gathered at the house back to the precinct. I want you to see it before it goes to forensics. Neither I nor the new guy is that versed on this kind of occult.”
“I’ll meet you there,” I said.
“Okay, and good to talk to you, Reggie.”
“Good to talk to you, too, Lila.”
“See you back at home base, Havoc,” Lila said, then hung up.
Reggie looked down at the ground and sighed. I was almost able to ignore how it made the sweater move as she did it. I made sure I was meeting her eyes behind the black lenses when she looked up.