Kate swore under her breath as she kicked off her shoes while holding a large brown box. “Stupid no-shoe rule.”
Seconds later, she walked into the living room in her socks. “Hey, babe,” she said to Luke.
“What’s that?” he asked as she dropped the heavy box near the TV he was watching. The news was on, by the sounds of it.
She walked over to the couch. “Well, I made a lot of progress at Kenny’s house yesterday and today. I dumped a bunch of old, worthless stuff and I packed a few boxes’ worth of items I want to go through. Photo albums, tax papers, letters, trinkets…”
“You have more?”
Kate nodded. “Lots more.” She left the room and put on her shoes again.
“I’ll help you,” he said as he joined her in the entrance.
Ten minutes later, the two of them stared at the mini wall they’d built between the TV and the couch.
“Can’t believe you managed to cram all of these in your Subaru. Good packing! But you should have called me. I’d have helped you load your car.”
“Nah. I needed some alone time. It was good.” Kate looked around, surprised that Mrs. O’Brien hadn’t once appeared to check that Kate was adhering to her no-shoe rule. “Where’s your mom?”
“She’s still at church.”
“Ah! I’ve been getting up so early I didn’t realize what time it was.” She eyed the room, then Luke. “She’s not going to like seeing these boxes here, right? Where can I put them?”
Luke’s lips twisted as he brought a finger to scratch the growing stubble on his chin. “My office?”
“You won’t mind the clutter?”
He shrugged. “I don’t spend that much time in there.”
“I promise I’ll go through them as fast as I can. I won’t keep all of it. I just wanted to clear Kenny’s house so I can list it and start showing it.”
He wrapped his arms around Kate and rested his chin on top of her head. “I know.” He inhaled deeply as he squeezed her closer to his chest. “Since Mom isn’t around, what do you say we move those boxes fast, then make the most of our alone time? We have…” Luke checked his watch. “Thirty minutes?”
Kate moved out of his embrace to look him in the eyes. “And we wouldn’t have to worry about being quiet?”
“We can be as loud as we want,” Luke said, his eyebrows bouncing up and down as he grinned.
Kate got on her toes to kiss him but her phone brought a swift end to their embrace. It was the ringtone she’d assigned to Detective Lieutenant Fuller. She could not ignore it.
“Sorry, babe. We’re understaffed right now.” She rushed to the entryway and brought the device to her ear. “Detective Murphy.”
“We’ve got a body. Young woman, no obvious signs of struggle at the scene, but the death is very suspicious. Most likely a homicide.”
“I’m on my way. What’s the address?”