Frank picked up his phone and punched a few buttons. We heard a muffled ringing sound. Pete went toward it, and suddenly it stopped. He turned to give Frank a dark scowl, causing Frank to start laughing.
Frank moved his thumb off the cradle and punched in the numbers once again. The odd ringing returned. Papers were flying everywhere as Pete tried to track it down. Suddenly he yanked the bottom desk drawer open, then threw some file folders onto the floor. He reached in and held up the phone in triumph.
“I forgot I put it in there for safekeeping,” he said.
Much to Pete’s dismay, I lost my struggle not to laugh. I looked over and saw that Frank was grinning. It was one of those moments when I felt so attracted to him I stopped breathing for a while. I exhaled and decided that I wasn’t going to wait to make amends. “Could we go somewhere to talk for a minute?”
He lost the grin, but said, “Sure.”
I followed him into a small interview room. “There aren’t any hidden mirrors or cameras in here, are there?” I asked.
“Not in this one,” he said.
“No recording devices?”
“Not at the moment.”
What the hell? I thought. I pushed him up against the door and then reached up and pulled his head down toward me for a kiss. He was surprised for about one-tenth of a second, then reached around me and kept it going. You’d think one of us had been overseas for six months.
“Does this mean you’re not mad at me anymore?” he asked, keeping his arms around me. “Or do we need to make up now that we’ve kissed?”
“Sorry about this morning. I just felt hemmed in. I thought you were being a little overprotective.”
“I guess I’m not quite over being afraid for you. I don’t ever want to have to go through another night of not knowing where you are or worrying about what someone may have done to you.”
I leaned my head against his shoulder. “I’ll never walk around believing ‘it will never happen to me’ — those days are over. But I can’t just crawl into a cocoon with you, Frank, and you know it. You would grow tired of it. You’d resent my helplessness.”
I felt him shaking beneath me. He was laughing. I couldn’t believe it.
“Irene, if there is one word I’ll never use to describe you, it’s ‘helpless.’”
Well, that made me feel better. “Thanks. But do you understand why I was upset this morning?”
“I think so.” He sighed. “I guess this means you’re getting back to being your old self.”
“Don’t sound so disappointed.”
That started him laughing again, which somehow led to kissing again.
“Damn,” I said. “If we don’t stop now, I’m going to risk being the first person to be arrested for lewd conduct while visiting the Las Piernas Police Department.”
“Plead entrapment.”
“So you won’t be home until late, huh?”
He shook his head. “Believe me, I’ll be there as soon as I can. By the way — Saturday night there’s an office Christmas party. Want to be my date?”
“Sure. Are you still off this weekend?” I asked.
“Depends on what comes up, but it looks like it. Why?”
“Well, I have to work a day shift Saturday, and we’ll be with our friends on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I just wondered if I’d get you all to myself on Sunday. It’s Christmas Adam.”
“Christmas Adam?”
“The day before Christmas Eve.”
“Of course. You are one weird broad.” There was tenderness in that, so I didn’t challenge him.
I WAS WHISTLING as I drove off, at least, I was until I remembered what was up next on the agenda. I pulled over and called Steven from a pay phone. We agreed to meet at the college. I dropped by the paper to turn in the photo of Rosie Thayer, then found Lydia and quickly gave her the rundown on Steven Kincaid.
“You’re concerned about him being alone for the holidays,” she said.
“Right.”
“Invite him to join us, of course. What did I just tell you this morning?”
WHEN I REACHED the building that housed the history faculty offices, Steven was waiting outside the doors. He seemed agitated.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
He nodded. “It’s just — I’ve been thinking about what you said.”
“I guess that wasn’t very kind of me.”
“No, I’m grateful. At least I’m a little better prepared.”
“Has the college done anything at all in the way of cleanup?”
“No.” His face was set in a tense frown. “Dr. Ferguson told me that after all the rumors about her, he wanted me to have a chance to remove her belongings, especially personal things, before the cleaning crew worked on the room. I assumed he was being respectful of her memory.”
