“Gotta boogie. Ryan’s waiting downstairs.”
I heard Hippo push to his feet, then the lab door open and close.
My eyes drifted to the bones.
Or would it go the other way? Would I provide answers to Obeline?
Seconds, perhaps epochs later, the door opened again. I looked up.
“Giving up Saturday morning cartoons?”
“Hey.”
“Hippo told me you were up here.”
Hippo must have shared more than the fact of my presence. Ryan’s eyes were crimped with concern.
“A hale fellow.” I managed a weak smile. “He tell you about Obeline Landry being married to this sleaze David Bastarache?”
Ryan nodded.
“He doesn’t want me to contact her.”
“But we both know you will.”
“Do you think Bastarache would shoot me just for phoning his estranged wife?”
“I don’t know. Just—”
Pointing a finger I finished Ryan’s sentence. “Be careful out there.”
Ryan hesitated, as though collecting his thoughts. Or choosing an opening.
“Listen, Tempe. There’s something I need to tell you.”
I waited, curious.
“I’ve made—”
Ryan’s cell warbled. Giving a “sorry” face, he turned a shoulder and clicked on.
“Ryan.”
I heard a series of “
“Lousy timing.” Ryan waggled the phone. “But we may be catching a break on the Quincy kid.”
“I understand.” I kept very still. “Would you like to meet later?”
Ryan’s answer was a long time coming. “Sure.”
“Curry?”
“Ben’s at seven?”
“Sounds like a plan.”
Troubled blue eyes scanned my face. As though memorizing detail.
Something sucked at my heart.
“Come here.” Ryan opened his arms. “Give me a hug.”
Surprised, I rose and pressed my cheek to Ryan’s chest. The embrace broke every rule I’d imposed about intimacy at work. I didn’t care. It had been too long. It was Saturday. The place was deserted.
Ryan’s arms enveloped me. His chin rested on my hair. I felt a flush climb my throat as warmth spread through me.
Breathing in the familiar scent of soap and Acqua di Parma, feeling the familiar muscles and hollows, I wondered if I’d misinterpreted Ryan’s look.
Then I heard the words, whispered, more to himself than to me.
“You’ll probably never do this again.”
14
I REFUSED TO LET MYSELF THINK ABOUT RYAN.
I refused to let myself rush to the phone. Before punching those digits, I wanted to rehearse what to tell Obeline.
Instead, I focused on bone pathology.
Though the metatarsal was slender and unnaturally pointed on the distal end, its outer cortex appeared normal on X-ray. Similar changes occur in advanced cases of rheumatoid arthritis. But with rheumatoid arthritis, the joints are also affected. The girl’s joints were fine.
Lupus can cause changes in the bones of the hands and feet. It can also affect the nasal spine and aperture and cause resorption of the premaxillary alveolar process. But lupus is an immune disease that attacks many internal organs and tissues. The damage to the girl’s skeleton was not that widespread.
