fifteen years they’d been friends. “What did Jasper
do?”
“Left me with the check as he ran off to a client for the very last time.”
Olivia once again marveled at how smart women could be so stupid when it came to men.
Present company totally not excluded
. “Filet and a hundred-dollar bottle of wine?”
Paige shrugged. “Close enough. Speaking of dinner, when did you eat, Emo-girl?”
Olivia shot her a dirty look. “Dinner.”
“Which was?” Paige pressed.
Olivia closed her eyes, digging deep for patience. “Salad.”
Paige pulled a PowerBar from her pocket. “You need protein, even if it’s not meat.”
Olivia took the bar, knowing it would taste like cardboard. All food tasted like cardboard since the Pit. Meat was especially
hard to stomach. Just thinking about it brought the memories back. Flesh falling off the bone. She shook her head to clear
it.
“What are you doing here?” Olivia asked again.
“A little bird told me you were here, knocking the stuffing out of Jasper.”
Olivia looked over her shoulder to the man behind the counter who had muscles on his muscles. Caught watching them, Rudy suddenly
developed an interest in the sign-in sheet. “Son of a gun,” Olivia muttered. “Freaking little weasel.”
“I prefer to think of him as my confidential informant,” Paige said archly, then sniffed. “You smell like an old fireplace.
What happened tonight?”
“Fire. Two dead,” Olivia said briefly, sharing no more than the reporters knew.
But Paige had known her a long time. “You had to inform the families.”
“Just one. So far anyway.”
Paige winced. “The other’s a John Doe?”
“Jane.” Olivia swallowed hard, remembering the girl’s ashen face. “Just a kid.”
Paige squeezed her arm. “I’m sorry, honey.”
“Me too.” She cleared her throat. “I’m not going to have time to work out later, so I stopped by on my way home for just a
few minutes. I was going to call you.”
“You’ll call me. Famous last words of Jasper.” Paige pointed at the Nautilus equipment. “You’re warmed up already, so let’s
get started.”
Olivia hesitated. “That’s okay. You don’t have to stay.”
“I know. But if I don’t, you’ll keep avoiding me like you have for the past few months. So get to the leg press, Detective.”
Sulking, Olivia obeyed, giving Rudy a dirty look as she passed him. “Traitor.”
“Leave him alone,” Paige murmured. “He’s worried about you. So am I.”
Olivia flopped onto the first machine. “Let’s get this over with.”
Paige said no more of a personal nature, simply counting reps. They moved through the rotation as they had a hundred times
before, Olivia mindlessly going through the motions. It wasn’t until they were near the end that the wall crumbled.
“She was expecting us.” Olivia was lying on her back, staring at the tiled ceiling.
Paige was sitting on her heels, next to the bench. “Who?” she asked, unsurprised.
“The widow.” Olivia never gave names and Paige knew not to ask. “The daughter saw the fire on the news, knew it was dad’s
shift. She went to sit with mom and wait for us, the bringers of great joy to all people.” Her words were bitter. “He’d been
a cop.”
“Oh no. Liv.”
“Yeah. Did his twenty-five years and retired. Never took a bullet. Tonight he did. And all I had to say was ‘I’m sorry for
your loss.’”
“What else could you say?” Paige asked logically.
“I don’t know. All I know is I’m damn tired of saying it.”
“You’re just damn tired. Your boss offered you a vacation. Why don’t you take it?”
A vacation.
Right
. “I tried,” Olivia spat. “It was too quiet. All I could see was…”
“The bodies in the pit,” Paige finished for her.
Olivia sat up, glared at Paige through narrowed eyes. “And then
he
shows up.” Which was what she’d wanted to say all along and been afraid to, all at once.
Paige’s black brows
do?”
“Left me with the check as he ran off to a client for the very last time.”
Olivia once again marveled at how smart women could be so stupid when it came to men.
Present company totally not excluded
. “Filet and a hundred-dollar bottle of wine?”
Paige shrugged. “Close enough. Speaking of dinner, when did you eat, Emo-girl?”
Olivia shot her a dirty look. “Dinner.”
“Which was?” Paige pressed.
Olivia closed her eyes, digging deep for patience. “Salad.”
Paige pulled a PowerBar from her pocket. “You need protein, even if it’s not meat.”
Olivia took the bar, knowing it would taste like cardboard. All food tasted like cardboard since the Pit. Meat was especially
hard to stomach. Just thinking about it brought the memories back. Flesh falling off the bone. She shook her head to clear
it.
“What are you doing here?” Olivia asked again.
“A little bird told me you were here, knocking the stuffing out of Jasper.”
Olivia looked over her shoulder to the man behind the counter who had muscles on his muscles. Caught watching them, Rudy suddenly
developed an interest in the sign-in sheet. “Son of a gun,” Olivia muttered. “Freaking little weasel.”
“I prefer to think of him as my confidential informant,” Paige said archly, then sniffed. “You smell like an old fireplace.
What happened tonight?”
“Fire. Two dead,” Olivia said briefly, sharing no more than the reporters knew.
But Paige had known her a long time. “You had to inform the families.”
“Just one. So far anyway.”
Paige winced. “The other’s a John Doe?”
“Jane.” Olivia swallowed hard, remembering the girl’s ashen face. “Just a kid.”
Paige squeezed her arm. “I’m sorry, honey.”
“Me too.” She cleared her throat. “I’m not going to have time to work out later, so I stopped by on my way home for just a
few minutes. I was going to call you.”
“You’ll call me. Famous last words of Jasper.” Paige pointed at the Nautilus equipment. “You’re warmed up already, so let’s
get started.”
Olivia hesitated. “That’s okay. You don’t have to stay.”
“I know. But if I don’t, you’ll keep avoiding me like you have for the past few months. So get to the leg press, Detective.”
Sulking, Olivia obeyed, giving Rudy a dirty look as she passed him. “Traitor.”
“Leave him alone,” Paige murmured. “He’s worried about you. So am I.”
Olivia flopped onto the first machine. “Let’s get this over with.”
Paige said no more of a personal nature, simply counting reps. They moved through the rotation as they had a hundred times
before, Olivia mindlessly going through the motions. It wasn’t until they were near the end that the wall crumbled.
“She was expecting us.” Olivia was lying on her back, staring at the tiled ceiling.
Paige was sitting on her heels, next to the bench. “Who?” she asked, unsurprised.
“The widow.” Olivia never gave names and Paige knew not to ask. “The daughter saw the fire on the news, knew it was dad’s
shift. She went to sit with mom and wait for us, the bringers of great joy to all people.” Her words were bitter. “He’d been
a cop.”
“Oh no. Liv.”
“Yeah. Did his twenty-five years and retired. Never took a bullet. Tonight he did. And all I had to say was ‘I’m sorry for
your loss.’”
“What else could you say?” Paige asked logically.
“I don’t know. All I know is I’m damn tired of saying it.”
“You’re just damn tired. Your boss offered you a vacation. Why don’t you take it?”
A vacation.
Right
. “I tried,” Olivia spat. “It was too quiet. All I could see was…”
“The bodies in the pit,” Paige finished for her.
Olivia sat up, glared at Paige through narrowed eyes. “And then
he
shows up.” Which was what she’d wanted to say all along and been afraid to, all at once.
Paige’s black brows
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