Part 6 (1/2)
Sadie planted her feet farther apart and willed the world to stop spinning.
”I'm fine. Ate too much fish stew.”
”That's why I never touch the stuff.”
He waved the other detective over and the two chatted briefly before Petrovich took a statement from Owen Sorkin and then Sadie.
”Sorry, but we're going to have to impound your car for a couple days,” he told Sadie. ”Ask your boyfriend to give you a ride.”
”He's not my-,” Sadie started, but Petrovich had already turned and walked away.
Owen put his hand on her shoulder.
”No problem. I'll drive you.”
They had to walk all the way back to Etta's because Owen had been able to find parking for his snazzy BMW M6 coupe directly in front of the restaurant. He opened the door for Sadie and she slid into the plush pa.s.senger seat.
After he'd started up the car she told him her home address and he punched the information into his GPS.
”Sorry you got tied up in this.”
”I'm not sorry at all. As a matter of fact, this entire thing was an elaborate setup so that I could have the opportunity to drive you home.”
Sadie laughed. ”Really? You chopped off someone's finger and put it on my dash?”
”Well, no . . . it's a fake finger . . . got it from a gag shop,” he joked. ”If I'd known you were going to get all serious and call the police, I would've just flattened your tire or something.”
Sadie appreciated that Owen was trying to take her mind off the seriousness of the matter. She glanced over at this handsome man at home in the c.o.c.kpit of this gorgeous automobile and had to ask: ”So how come a guy like you is single?”
”Who says I'm single?” he countered, accelerating smoothly into traffic.
”I just a.s.sumed because you've been flirting with me like a s.e.x-crazed rock star,” Sadie remarked. ”Of course, maybe you're just like that with everyone. Probably the senior ladies crowding the Safeway deli department swoon at your compliments.”
He tossed back his head and laughed. As he brought the car to an easy stop at a red light he turned and offered Sadie a look that could only be described as smoldering.
”The old ladies are safe. I'm very select in my attentions.” He turned his eyes back to the road as the light turned green. ”You fascinate me, Sadie Novak. I'd like to get to know you better. Unless, of course, you're attached. I did ask Rosemary and Rick if you were single. Rick said you were involved and living with someone. Rosemary told me you'd broken up and were no longer together with this guy.” He glanced her way. ”Which is it?”
”It's . . . complicated,” Sadie replied, squirming a little in her luxurious leather seat.
Sadie was uncertain if she was heating up because of the s.e.xual tension, or if it was because the seat warmer was heating her tushy to a toasty temperature. She figured it would be best to just keep quiet the rest of the way. Owen Sorkin had other ideas.
”So what's your story?” he asked.
”What do you mean?”
”I'm sure you didn't grow up telling everybody that you wanted to do trauma cleaning when you got older.”
”No. I wanted to be a primary school teacher. And I was.”
”What happened?”
Sadie turned and looked out her window as if the sidewalks of Seattle were fascinating.
”My brother shot himself.”
”I'm so sorry to hear that,” he said sincerely.
”Thanks. It was a number of years ago,” she said and didn't add, but it still hurts like h.e.l.l every single day. ”Detective Petrovich did the investigation. Afterward I found out that it's the family's job to clean up the mess left behind. Police and EMTs? Not their job. Most people don't realize that until they're faced with their own personal h.e.l.l. So I cleaned up after my brother because there's no way a parent should ever have to wipe their son's gray matter off the bathroom walls of his house.” She shrugged and turned to face him. ”Then it became my calling. I didn't want other families to have to be traumatized twice when a family member dies. I researched trauma companies, took all of the extensive training required, and opened Scene-2-Clean.”
”Wow.” He whistled. ”That's quite a story. What about the rest of it?”
”What do you mean?”
”The psychic stuff. Your work with the supernatural and Madam Maeva's Psychic Cafe?”
”Maeva's my friend. I already told you that,” was Sadie's only response. ”Now, tell me what's your story? If that house on West Halladay and this car are any indication, the downturn in the economy isn't biting you in the a.s.s like the rest of us. What do you do?”
”You know what I do.” He smiled at her as he cornered onto her street then steered into her driveway. ”I buy places, fix them up, and sell them for profit.”
”You finished high school and decided to start flipping houses?”
”Well, no. I trained as a software development engineer. Worked a number of years at Boeing.”
”A techno geek? No way?”
”Way.” He winked at her. ”I enjoyed it, but lots of stress. Then one year I used my savings to buy a fixer-upper. Made more profit on that house than I did in six months' work and I enjoyed it more, so . . .” He trailed off.
”So you dropped one career for another. Like me.”
”Something like that.”
”And Gayla Woods? You work with her a lot?”
”Nope.” He cornered sharply and accelerated into Sadie's neighborhood. ”Never had a partner before, but we both put bids on the house on Halladay Street and decided that rather than compete on it and drive the price up, we'd share the expenses and profit.”
Sadie felt more a.s.sured that he confirmed what Gayla had already told her. Still, she got the feeling there was more to his story. He pulled into Sadie's driveway then, and she thanked him for the ride. She was about to invite him in for a drink but then thought better of playing with fire. She shouldn't give him any encouragement.
”Are you sure you're okay to be alone?” he asked, turning his body toward her in the small s.p.a.ce of the car. ”Somebody left you a pretty strong angry message tonight.”
”The finger?” Sadie raised her eyebrows. ”It wasn't necessarily a threat directed at me. It could've just been meant as a way to taunt the police.”
”Really?”
d.a.m.n him! Now she was getting a little freaked about being alone. Then again, she was slightly more freaked out about being alone with Owen.
He reached out and placed a hand on her leg. ”You want me to come inside and look under your bed?”
”No.” She pushed his hand off her leg and opened the door.
”Fine, but I'll wait until you go inside and check all the rooms before I leave, okay?”