Chapter 30

Holly woke early and decided to make a huge breakfast. Cooking soothed her, and right now, she needed to be calmed. Her night had been plagued by nightmares of her brother, blood, and a strange, evil man. As her feet hit the carpet, she decided she definitely needed to take her mind off all that for at least a little while.

Later, they would go and get her car, and then maybe she’d have a name to give the police. She hoped like hell they’d be able to find something to tie him to the murder. If they could place him there, then she had a chance at her freedom.

Justice came up the stairs an hour later, just as she pulled the omelets from the stove and set the plates on the kitchen table.

“Perfect timing,” she said, smiling.

He looked at the spread—vegetable omelets, cut fresh fruit, bacon and sausage, coffee, and fresh-squeezed orange juice.

“Would you like some coffee?” she asked, worried because he hadn’t said anything. Maybe he would turn out not to be a breakfast eater. It definitely was her favorite meal of the day.

“Yes. Thank you.” He sat down at the table. “This is amazing, Holly.”

“It’s the least I could do.” She poured the coffee with one hand and gave his bicep a squeeze with the other. It felt like a rock under her touch. “You’ve done so much for me already.”

“This is really nice, and something I didn’t expect,” he said, taking a bite of his omelet. “And delicious.”

A moment later, he softly moaned. “This is damn good.”

Pride welled within her. She may be a lowly corporal, but she’d just made a lieutenant groan in appreciation with a couple flips of a spatula.

After a few moments, he spoke up. “When did you want to leave to get your car?”

“Well, I’d like to take a shower.”

“I’ll clean up the kitchen while you do.”

“That would be helpful. Thanks.”

How did she broach the subject of his very wealthy, very well-connected friend? She’d never been one for dancing around a subject, so she decided she wouldn’t change now. “Have you heard from your friend yet? About the guy in my apartment building?”

He shook his head and brought the paper napkin to his mouth. “I haven’t. He said it would most likely be sometime today.”

“Okay.”

She wanted to get moving, to find her way back to legal freedom, and put that son of a bitch away. It would be her word against his, but somehow, somewhere, there had to be evidence in the apartment that would lead to him.

As they ate, she caught glances at Justice. His strong body, jawline, high cheekbones, and dark eyes oozed confidence, and she felt good about him being on her side.

“Do I have something on my face?” he asked.

The heat in her cheeks traveled throughout her body, sending each nerve ending on fire. It seemed almost unbearable as she stared at her plate. “No. Why do you ask?”

“Because you keep staring at me, Holly.”

Oops.

She raised her gaze to his, trying to ignore the gentle throbbing between her legs. “I’m sorry, lieutenant.”

Their stares locked.

“You need to stop calling me that. I told you, Justice is okay.”

She nodded and got to her feet, bringing her dirty dish to the sink. “Are you still going to do the dishes?”

“Of course,” he murmured, coming up behind her.

Their bodies didn’t touch, but she felt him as if he lay over her shoulders like a coat.

“I’ll go take my shower.”

A delicious chill ran down her spine as she descended the stairs.