She reached up onto her toes and wrapped her arms around my neck. “I will.” She kissed me, then said, “You better go make that call.”
“Right.” I kissed her on the forehead and then made my way up the steps two at a time. I shut the door to my office and called Kyle.
“Hey, I thought it was best if I paged you like it was from the department,” Kyle said.
“Smart thinking. Did you find anything out?”
“Yeah. I only read the letters from senior year, since that’s when it happened. I found one where she tells you about the study group. She mentioned a girl named Sarah. And I was talking to Aiden. I had to be sneaky…but I got the name of the girl who found Arabella.”
I fist pumped the air. “What’s her name?”
“Lori Dexter.”
I glanced at the door. “I can’t talk now, but Bella’s going shopping with Brighton to find an outfit for tonight.”
“Wow. I don’t know what’s more shocking. Bella going out, or Bella going shopping with Brighton. Isn’t that kind of weird? Your girlfriend hanging out with your ex-lover?”
I brought my hand to the back of my neck. “Kind of, but if she’s not bothered by it, then I guess I’m not either.”
“Until they start comparing notes on your dick.”
I rolled my eyes. “Shut the fuck up, Larson. I’ll call you when I’m on my way. Meet me at the station.”
“Sounds good.”
After I hung up, I headed back downstairs to find Brighton standing in my living room. Okay, it was a bit weird to see the two of them together. I cleared my throat and they both turned to look at me.
Brighton beamed with happiness. “I’m stealing her for a few hours. We’re going to swing by her place, pack a bag, then go shopping. You can pick her up later at Greer’s house.”
My brows rose. “Come again?”
Bella’s cheeks flushed.
Brighton crossed her arms over her chest. “I’ve got a lot of work to do since this is Arabella’s first night out in nearly ten years. You’ll be okay for a few hours on your own.” She winked. “Do whatever it is guys do, just don’t wank off. Save that for Arabella later.”
“Oh my God! Brighton!” Arabella gasped as I shook my head. Good God, something was wrong with Bree.
“What? You said you planned on—”
Bella slapped her hand over Brighton’s mouth and looked at me with a horrified expression. “We’re leaving now.”
I tried not to laugh. “Okay, Jack and I need to head to the station for a bit.”
Bella dropped her hand from Brighton’s mouth. “Is everything okay?”
Making my way to her, I placed my hand on the side of her face and smiled. “Everything’s fine. Kyle and I are working on a case, and he just needs to show me some things.”
It wasn’t really a lie. We were working on something.
She grinned and leaned into my hand. I bent down and kissed her softly on the lips. “I love you, sweetheart.”
It almost felt as if Bella purred. “Mmm, I love you too. Be careful, okay?”
Brighton made a gagging sound and headed toward the front door. “Ugh. Love sucks. I mean, I’m happy for you two, but, ugh…love sucks.”
We both looked at her, then at each other. Shrugging, Bella grabbed her coat and purse before giving Jack a hug and kiss goodbye. “See you in a few hours!”
I waved. “Be careful.”
Bella slid into the passenger seat of Brighton’s BMW. Once they pulled away and turned at the corner, I grabbed the keys to my work cruiser and headed to the door.
“Let’s go, boy. We’ve got someone to track down.”
Jack barked and whined as we made our way to my Tahoe. He clearly thought we were going to work, because he paused at his work vest before following me out the door. With two names now to work with, I was hoping we were on our way to finding the asshole who hurt Bella.
Revenge was that much closer.
Arabella
Brighton sighed for the third time. “For fuck’s sake, Arabella, just come out of the dressing room.”
I stared at myself in the mirror and shook my head. “It looks like I’m wearing an oversized shirt!”
“If you don’t come out here, I’m coming in!”
It was my turn to sigh as I slowly turned the door handle and peeked to make sure no one was around. I stepped out, and Brighton let out a low whistle.
“Holy shit, why do you hide that rocking body?”
I chewed nervously on my lip. The dress I had on was a sleeveless V-neck that tied at the waist and barely covered my butt.
“Your tits are amazing, Arabella. If I wasn’t into men, I’d be so turned on right now.”
I couldn’t help but laugh while I rolled my eyes.
“This isn’t the right look for you. We need innocent sexy. Something that says I have a hot body, but you’re only getting a peek of it.”
Nodding, I said, “Yes. Let’s go with that.”
Brighton handed me three more outfits. “Try the blue one first.”
“You know, Willa warned me going shopping with you could be hazardous to my wallet.”
Placing her hand over her chest, Brighton feigned surprise. “I have no idea why she would say that. Now try on the damn blue dress.”
I saluted her and made my way back into the dressing room.
Holding up the dresses, a white one caught my eye. Even though Brighton had wanted me to try on the blue one, I was going with the white.
Once I slipped it on, I turned and stared at myself. It was a knee-length dress with a V-neck that showed just enough cleavage to be sexy, but left something to the imagination as well. Lace covered most of the bodice and trailed down into a tulle skirt, giving it a softer feel. It was strapless, but I could easily wear a shawl over my shoulders.
“Is it on?” Brighton asked.
Turning to look at the back, I smiled. It showed the perfect amount of skin without showing too much.
“Arabella?” Brighton called out as she knocked on the door.
I opened it and stepped out. Brighton gasped and covered her mouth.
“I wanted to see what the white one looked like.”
Brighton slowly shook her head, taking in the dress. She dropped her hand and smiled. “Goddamn, I’m good.”
I laughed. “You told me to put on the blue one first.”
She narrowed her eyes at me. “I’m also the one who picked out this dress. This isn’t the dress for tonight, though. This dress…this dress needs a special night out.”
Glancing down, I nodded. “I think so as well. It doesn’t really scream Brew’s Place.”
Brighton stared at me and nodded. She brought her hand to her mouth and started to chew on her thumbnail. Then she smiled. “Stay right here. I’ve got an idea.”
“Do you want me to put the blue one on?” I called after her.
“No!”
I blew out a breath and turned and looked back at myself. I smiled. I hadn’t felt this sexy since I was in that ridiculous outfit Brighton made me wear at Greer’s house last fall for girls’ night.
Suddenly, Annie popped her head around the corner. “Brighton said get undressed and put these on.”