By the next morning, Rafe had called four more times. Roxy sat at Sarina’s table, wearing borrowed pajamas covered in little cats with wands, and ate a bowl of Fruity Pebbles while looking at her texts.
He wanted to talk. She didn’t. So they were at a stalemate.
“He texted.”
How did Sarina know?
“It’s so sweet.” Sarina had a goofy grin on her face that Roxy was about to slap off.
“Whose side are you on?”
“What side?” Sarina shook her phone. “Cliff was looking for me last night.”
“I thought you two broke up.” Hoped. Prayed. Begged the universe was more like it. Roxy would almost rather her best friend take Rafe’s side than have her talking to Cliff. Almost.
“We did.” Sarina sighed as she dropped onto the chair next to Roxy. “He’s trying to get me back.”
“Is it working?” Please don’t be working. When it came to Cliff, Sarina had made some bad choices in the past. Roxy couldn’t live through another round of heartbreak. Well, she could. She’d get Sarina through it like she always did, but she couldn’t promise she wouldn’t hunt Cliff down. She was already suspect numero uno in one homicide. Why not make it two?
“Please. Give me a little more credit than that.” Sarina giggled as she stared at her phone and grabbed the spoon from Roxy’s cereal. She slipped a spoonful into her mouth and her grin dissolved. “Eww. This is mush.”
“You want me to make you your own bowl?”
Sarina shook her head. “Nah, this is fine.” She ate another spoonful.
Roxy’s phone rang. Rafe. She hit ignore and flipped the thing over onto the other side of the counter.
“What are you doing today?” Sarina asked.
“Checking out the lawyer, Harold Maas.”
“Did you find his office?”
“Not yet.” That was on the list of things to do today. That and ignore her phone. She had a full day planned.
Sarina’s fingers flew over her phone. “He’s over on Mojave. Not a great neighborhood. Are you sure you don’t want me to tag along? Just wait till I’m done working.”
“You’re going in?”
“I talked John into buying me a personal printer yesterday. I should probably go in.”
“When you were distracting him, you talked him into buying a printer?”
“Yeah. Didn’t I tell you?” Leave it to Sarina to find a way to benefit from a covert operation.
“No, you forgot that part.”
Sarina shrugged. “I didn’t want to talk about work. You were dealing with boy troubles and all.”
“Well, at least something good came from yesterday.”
“That’s the spirit.” Sarina poked at her phone.
“I need to get dressed and then let’s hit the road.” Roxy rinsed her bowl out in the sink. It was still early, but she had things to do.
“Why don’t we sit and watch TV before we leave?” Sarina fell onto the couch in her living room. She pointed the remote and the television sparked to life. “Today should be on soon.”
“Don’t you have work to do?”
“Nope.” Sarina’s phone rang in her pocket. She looked at the screen, her finger hovering over the answer button. “Do you know anyone with the number 690?”
“No!” Roxy lunged at Sarina, knocking the phone out of her hand before her best friend could accept the call. She ended up diving onto the floor at Sarina’s feet. Ouch.
“What the heck?” Sarina leaned over and retrieved her phone, rubbing the screen with reverential concern.
“Sorry.” Roxy rolled to her knees and sat on the couch next to Sarina. Her side hurt and she was pretty sure her theatrics would leave a mark. “Can I see your phone?”
Sarina held her fallen comrade just outside Roxy’s reach. Like Roxy would do anything to her precious phone—well, anything more.
A vibrating sound came from Sarina’s hand and she read the screen, angling it so Roxy couldn’t see. “Ah. Rafe. You could’ve just said that.”
“You were going to answer a call from a number you didn’t know. Who does that? I had to stop you.”
“He called yesterday to make sure you were picked up. I knew the number, sort of. Anyway, he wants to know my address.” Sarina stared at the vibrating nuisance in her hand.
“Why?”
“His first question was ‘is she there?’” Sarina smiled but didn’t attempt to text. “I’m thinking he’s looking for you.”
“Tell him I’m not here. Better yet, don’t tell him anything,” Roxy said, heading for the bedroom. “We should leave.” She didn’t know why, but she had a feeling Rafe could somehow triangulate Sarina’s phone just by sending a text. She didn’t want to be anywhere near this place when his stupid truck showed up.
In the bedroom, Roxy removed her cat pajamas and pulled on her clothes. Well, partly her clothes. She’d left a pair of jeans here at some point, but she had to borrow a shirt.
“Why?” Sarina asked, coming into the bedroom.
“I need to pick up my car and get going on this investigation.” Roxy said as she sat on Sarina’s bed and pulled on a pair of socks. “If you get dressed, I’ll even buy the doughnuts.”
“Deal.” Sarina threw on her clothes for the day and, even though she’d done it in record time, still managed to look put together. Sarina picked up her purse and keys. “I’m ready.”
They were off before Rafe figured out where Sarina lived.