Get a Clue

After all, what did they really know about each other, except that their bodies seemed to be predestined to yearn and burn when they were within sight of each other.

'He thinks it's one of us,' Shelly said quietly. 'The cop thinks one of us killed Edward.'

It was still odd to think of Cooper as a cop. She'd not thought of him as one yesterday when he'd stripped her out of her wet clothes. Or last night when he'd held her close. Or this morning when he'd had his hands in her panties. She hadn't thought of him as a cop until he'd been standing in the cellar holding his gun, ready to take on the world for her.

Yeah, then he'd been a cop, through and through. And actually, given his world-weary eyes and ready awareness, she should have known.

Probably she would have at least guessed if she'd been thinking with her brain cells instead of with every fiber of her feminine being.

'He's walking around, you know,' Shelly said. 'Looking for answers.' Chop, chop, chop.

Breanne marveled that the chef hadn't lost any fingers. 'Maybe he's trying to clear everyone.'

Shelly set down the knife and looked close to tears again. 'I don't have an alibi or anything.'

Join the club. 'I saw you last night. I saw you this morning.'

'But you didn't see me in between, or before you got here.'

'No one saw me yesterday afternoon, either. It could be any one of us.' An extremely disturbing thought.

Veggies done, Shelly moved to the refrigerator and searched the dark depths for something else to chop. 'Dante told me he'd cover for me,' she said into the crisper drawer. 'Can you believe it? No questions asked.'

'Maybe he cares about you and wants to prove it.' Illegally.

Shelly shut the fridge and turned to Breanne, her cheeks two high spots of bright red. 'He kissed me today,' she whispered as if departing with a state secret. 'I mean really, really kissed me.'

'So I'm taking it that he noticed you were a woman,' Breanne said dryly.

Shelly flashed a small smile. 'Was it good?'

She let out a shaky breath. 'It was the best thing I've ever experienced, but he wouldn't make love with me because we were in the pantry at the time-'

'The pantry?' Breanne couldn't have imagined feeling like laughing, but she choked one out now.

Shelly looked uncomfortable. 'So that's… weird?'

'Well-'

'Where's the oddest place you've kissed?'

Every time Breanne thought about that morning in the library, and what she'd let Cooper do to her there, her face burned hot as a fire poker. And other places burned, too. 'For this conversation, I need something more fattening than vegetables.'

Shelly went to a cupboard and pulled out a bag of BBQ chips. She opened the bag. 'Tell me.'

'Can't.'

'That's too bad.' Shelly dug into the chips with a heartfelt moan. 'Yum.'

Breanne could smell the salt, could practically taste it. 'Damn it. In the library. Happy?'

'Wow. A public one?'

'No.' Breanne snatched the bag of chips. 'Here. In this house.'

Shelly blinked. 'You've been here before?'

'No.'

'Then…' Understanding dawned. 'Oh, my God. With the cop!'

'Cooper.' Breanne shoved another handful of chips down her throat. 'And honestly, I don't know what's wrong with me. I was just dumped. Again. I swore off men. Also again. Can't believe I let him- Well.'

They munched in companionable, stressful silence for a moment before a loud thud shook them.

'What was that?' Breanne whispered.

Shelly sidled closer. 'Hopefully, Patrick fixing the generator.'

'Or Dante digging us out of here?'

'He'd have to dig us to China to get us out of here.'

Another thud.

Breanne and Shelly stared at each other.

'I'd feel a lot better if I knew what that was,' Breanne said.

'Yeah.' Looking around her uneasily, Shelly kept eating. 'Up until this morning, I thought this house the most soothing, amazing place I'd ever seen. Now it's just… creepy.'

'Agreed.'

'It'll be different when the electricity is back.' Shelly hugged herself. 'Probably.'

Another odd thump.

'That's it,' Breanne said. She hopped off the stool and opened the kitchen door. 'Hello?'

No one answered.

'It's getting dark,' Shelly noted uneasily.

'Yeah.'

'Wish we could make like a fat man's pants and split,' Shelly whispered.

No kidding. 'Where's Lariana?'

'She said she was taking a few hours off. I assumed she was having a late lunch,' Shelly said.

'Wouldn't that be in the kitchen?'

They both looked around. No Lariana.

Thump.

'Come on,' Breanne said.

'W-where are we going?'

'I'm tired of being scared. We're going to find out what that noise is.'

'But it's nearly dark.'

Was dark. Breanne tugged down the nearly obscenely short skirt, snatched the lantern, and then, on second thought, took a large butcher knife out of its block, handing it to Sherry before grabbing another one for herself. 'Don't worry, we're going to be fine.'

'Then why are we carrying butcher knives?'

'Just in case.' She tugged Shelly out of the kitchen. The hallway was dark except for the lantern's glow, and she went still to listen. 'What's down that way?' she asked, pointing with the knife past the dining room.

'A sauna, gym, Jacuzzi, and a small, indoor pool.'

More thumps.

'Oh, God,' Shelly said, swallowing hard.

'Come on.' They tiptoed toward the area, their knives out in front of them.

The thumps got louder.

'Could you really use that knife if you had to?' Shelly whispered.

Breanne thought about the spider she wouldn't have been able to kill. 'Yes,' she lied. 'You?'

Shelly's knife was shaking so badly it was in danger of falling out of her hand, so she brought up her other hand to help support it. 'Sure.' She gulped. 'No sweat.'

They turned a corner and came to an open workout area, two of the walls lined in mirrors, the room filled with first-class gym equipment. There was a full-screen TV on one wall with an opened DVD case of