Part 21 (2/2)

”Do you think you should?”

Honestly, she had no idea. It seemed silly, but she also knew the severity of the situation she had been in. Looking back on it was like h.e.l.l itself, really.

”And is Sophia Lesbrook still texting you?”

”I haven't gotten a text from her in three days. I think she finally wants to put it all behind her.”

Sophia had texted Avery almost continuously during the first week. Avery was pretty sure it was probably Sophia's way of trying to rationalize what had happened to her. Sophia had not been as fortunate as Avery; when all was said and done, she'd suffered three third-degree burns on her right arm, one on her back, and a second-degree burn on her scalp. She had been overly thankful during those first few days and had texted Avery as if they had been lifelong friends who had endured a trauma together.

”You okay?” O'Malley asked.

”Yeah,” she said, blinking the thoughts away.

But really, she was scared. She'd almost died. And it was hard to accept.

Avery felt the scar still itching under the table. The scar scared her, too.

And so did Ramirez.

She'd tried denying it all week long but she was becoming fairly certain that she was falling in love with him. If she'd needed one final thing to drive it home after all of their time together, it had been the surge of relief and utter trust that had swept through her when she'd heard him speak her name in that smoky cellar when she had been blinded.

She felt the need to tell him but knew it would be a bad idea. It would change not only their personal relations.h.i.+p drastically (perhaps, she thought, even end it) and would wreck their working relations.h.i.+p.

Thinking of him, she suddenly did not want to be in the conference room with O'Malley. She stood up and looked thoughtfully down at O'Malley.

”I appreciate the opportunity you've given me, but I'm not ready for it yet. But thanks for the trust and the respect.”

”You've earned it,” O'Malley said. ”Now get out of here. I'll check in on you tomorrow. And I hope you'll make an appointment with Sloane.”

”I will,” she said as she headed for the door, walking on a leg that she was starting to think might itch for the remainder of her life.

One thing she'd learned while in the hospital was that her first reaction had been correct: the man in the house had been Roosevelt Toms. He had been living under the alias of an old roommate, Jason Inge, for about eleven months-apparently around the time he had started to prepare himself for the killings.

He'd died from Ramirez's gunshots. One to the center of the head, the other a bit higher. He'd also been shot two other times by Avery's gun, once in the shoulder and once in the thigh. His body had been pulled from the wreckage after the fire department had extinguished the fire. He'd been very badly burned but not nearly as badly as the people he had killed.

Avery hated that she thought of Roosevelt Toms whenever she saw Ramirez now. It was currently happening as they sat in her apartment and had dinner. Ramirez had brought Chinese takeout. They had plans for an intimate night later on, but she wasn't sure it was going to happen.

Yes, he was scaring her, too. She didn't know if she had the energy to love someone right now. But G.o.d, it was nice to be around him.

What's a girl to do?

”What are you thinking about?” he asked her over their Moo Shoo Pork.

”Roosevelt Toms,” she admitted.

”You've got to stop that,” he said.

”I know. But I can't help it. I almost died and you had to kill him. I mean, he was...he was a-”

”He was a man with a very unfortunate history. We've been through this. His father died and was cremated when Toms was young. Toms resented his mother for it, especially when she made him scatter his ashes. I can recite it over and over again, Avery. I can even recall the grandmother that spoke to us and gave us the information.”

She smiled at him, appreciating how well he knew her. He was running through the bio they had compiled on Toms because he knew it would take logic and the repeating of information to finally get her unstuck from thoughts of Roosevelt Toms.

”Thanks for sticking with me through this,” she said. ”I know it's a lot. And I know that I haven't always treated you the way you should be treated.”

”Avery?”

”Yes?”

”I care a lot about you. And unless I hear it from your lips that you don't want anything to do with me, I'll always be here for you. However you need me. That's a promise.”

Yeah, I'm falling in love with him.

She reached out and took his hand. ”Thank you,” she said, looking into his eyes. She thought the night might end up in the bedroom after all and- Her cell phone chirped from the living room as a text message came in.

”One second,” she said. She got up from the table and retrieved her phone. Her heart soared a bit when she read the name above the text display.

Rose.

Beneath it was a simple message that made Avery wonder what she had done to deserve the good fortune that seemed to have stuck with her after coming out of Toms's house. The potential promotion (which she had turned down), Ramirez sticking by her side, and now this.

The text message read: I figured it's time to see you somewhere other than the hospital. Sorry I've been a b.i.t.c.h. I'm lonely and bored and Marcus-less tonight. Wondering if I could come over for wine and a cheesy movie.

While she was pretty sure she was falling in love with Ramirez, it wasn't even a close call. She took her cell phone to Ramirez and showed it to him. He chuckled when he was done reading it, wiped his mouth with a napkin, and stood up. As he started to box up his remaining food, he said, ”Say no more. Girls' night. I get it.”

”Do you?” Avery asked.

”Yeah. I know how much you want things right with her. I know it's been killing you that she hasn't reached out since she came by the hospital to see you. Have fun.”

He means it, she thought.

She smiled back at him and covered the few feet between them. She cupped her hand to the back of his neck and kissed him hard. Within seconds, the fierceness of it dissolved into something softer, something more pa.s.sionate. When it broke, they were looking into each other's eyes.

And she saw that he was scared, too.

NOW AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER!.

CAUSE TO FEAR.

(An Avery Black Mystery-Book 4).

”A dynamic story line that grips from the first chapter and doesn't let go.”

--Midwest Book Review, Diane Donovan (regarding Once Gone).

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