Crazy in Chicago by Norah-Jean Perkin Page A

right?”
    â€œRight.” Roberta mentally reminded herself to leave that aspect of Cody alone. He was her neighbor, and the subject of her investigation. That was all. His love life wasn’t her concern.
    Cody turned off the car and Roberta got out. She looked around. After regular business hours, the downtown street of store fronts, small businesses and the odd warehouse was deserted, save for the odd car and two men standing on the sidewalk a half block away. “So where do your friends live?”
    â€œThere.” Cody nodded to the building in front of them, then reached into the back of the car for the gift bag. A pink and white teddy bear peeked out the top.  
    â€œBut that’s a warehouse.”
    â€œRight. It was. Now it’s renovated into a combination of studios, offices and apartments. Their apartment is actually a huge studio with a kitchen and bathroom.”
    Roberta followed Cody through the front doors. They entered a utilitarian lobby and took the elevator to the fifth floor.
    A door down the hall opened as they got off the elevator. An auburn-haired woman stuck her head around the door. “I’m so glad you’ve come. I was wondering when you’d get here.”
    She sprang down the hall and flung her arms around Cody. He hugged her back with an equal show of warmth. A twinge of jealousy took Roberta by surprise; she frowned.
    The woman stepped back, then regarded Roberta with open friendliness. Her warm smile dispelled Roberta’s feelings of discomfort.  
    Allie looked from Cody to Roberta. “And this is?”
    â€œBobbi. Bobbi Vandenburg. My next door neighbor.”
    Roberta bit back the correction on the tip of her tongue. Only her family and childhood friends called her Bobbi. But she’d likely never see these people again so it didn’t really matter.
    â€œWell, come in.” Allie bounded down the hall ahead of them to her open door. She wore shorts and a loose cotton top, and despite the fact the baby had been born only ten days earlier, looked fit and slim.  
    Inside, the large, airy, studio-apartment glowed with warmth and brightness. Windows lined the dark green street-side wall, and the three other walls were exposed brick. A kitchen area filled one end. At the other stood a tall Japanese divider that Roberta assumed hid the sleeping area from view. A single door, partially open, led to the bathroom. An eclectic mix of posters and paintings covered the walls. Roberta noted two paintings portraying the kind of strange and distant worlds she related to science fiction novels. She hoped she’d have a chance to look at them more closely.
    A tall, well-built man, whom Roberta assumed was Erik, stood at the windows with his back to them. At the sound of the shutting door, he turned around.
    Roberta blinked. In his arms, Erik held a tiny, blanket-wrapped bundle that made him appear almost comically large.
    But it wasn’t the contrast between the size of the baby and the man that surprised Roberta. Nor his unusual good looks resulting from a combination of chiseled Slavic features and dark hair streaked with silver. Nor the gray eyes of an odd shade she’d never seen before.
    It was the way he looked at his visitors, with an absolute absence of expression. It chilled and fascinated her at the same time.
    â€œThis is my husband, Erik. And Erik, this is Cody’s neighbor, Bobbi Vandenburg.”
    Erik nodded. His lips turned upwards in a wintry smile that affected no other part of his face. Roberta understood why Cody might think this man didn’t like him.
    â€œSit down, please.” Allie gestured to a pair of couches placed around a glass coffee table. She settled in one, pulling a bare foot under her. Erik, still holding the baby, sat down beside her while Roberta and Cody arranged themselves on the opposite couch.
    â€œSo how’s parenthood?” Cody addressed Allie. “You look