Page 71 of Heartsong
“Back from lunch?”
“Out for a walk,” she replied, relieved to have the desk between them.
He pulled out a crisp, cream business card. “Whenever you have time to take another long lunch, let me take you out. Call me.”
His smile widened as Anna gawked at the business card on the desk, and with a nod of that sandy blonde head, he left to walk through the museum.
In his wake, Anna stared at the little cream card with foiled gold lettering. She poked it with a fingernail, watching how the light caught and shifted over the Tree of Life insignia. It wasn’t a university or organizational business card, either. It just included his title, name, and a phone number.
Weird.
Anna had just typed out an email telling Carrie that Glendower was in the museum again when another unfortunately familiar figure came striding through the front doors.
“Good afternoon, Detective Ramirez,” she greeted with false sincerity.
“Hello, Miss Kincaid. How are you today?”
She and the detective exchanged pleasantries, neither of their hearts or interests in it. Finally, with the social niceties covered, Ramirez said, “I have an interview scheduled with Mrs. Gwyneth. Would you be able to show me to her office?”
He certainly already knew the way, but biting her cheek, Anna did her best to hold onto her accommodating smile. Putting out theBe Back Soon!sign, she ushered the detective further into the museum.
She could barely hear him over her pounding head, each pulse of pain like a mini thunderclap against her skull, but when he asked if she’d seen or heard anything of interest recently, Anna couldn’t help thumbing the business card in her pocket.
When they reached the corridor to the Gwyneths’ office, Anna turned to face the detective and handed over the card.
“There’s a regular here, Professor Andrew Glendower. I hadn’t really noticed him before the theft, but afterwards, he always stops by to talk.”
Ramirez took the card, looking at it before Anna. She knew what this probably looked like, the iffy employee with a checkered past trying to shift the blame onto a squeaky-clean professor.
“Can you describe him for me?”
Anna did, a little heartened to see that Ramirez actually wrote down what she said.
“And has he given you any reason to be suspicious?”
Besides his smarmy vibe?“Nothing specific, I guess. Just…nobody hangs around and talks to me like that, you know? He asks weird questions.”
Replacing the leather notebook in his pocket, Ramirez gave her another long look. “He’s not the first middle-aged guy to hit on a younger woman.”
Anna’s stomach curdled. “It’s not like that.”
“All right.”
Turning on her heel, she took the detective the rest of the way without a word. She knocked lightly on the door, announced Ramirez, and then left them to it. She’d said her piece. Had she really thought the detective would take her seriously?
Anna finished her shift without taking time off—mostly to stick it to the universe. Her righteous rebellion wasn’t much of a comfort, though, and she watched her feet as she walked home, needing to concentrate on putting one in front of the other. The night was dark and foggy again, matching her mood.
She didn’t care if someone was following her. She didn’t care that Frey was going to have a hissy fit when she got back. She just wanted to take her shot and lay down.
Days like today had a way of wearing a person down. Unfortunately for her, she had more crappy days than good. At least…she had before Frey.
But now all of that was over. She was sure of it. After last night, it was obvious some ground rules needed to be set, including putting the breaks on whatever he thought was going to happen with his mate bond ideas. She didn’t mind letting him stay, and he didn’t have to do so much around the apartment, but he did need to butt out of her business.
She’d just turned onto her block and was trying out things she wanted to say to him in her head when the fog shifted.
Buffeted with a blast of air, Anna gasped.
Her head jerked up in time to behold a pair of giant wings spread wide and coming right at her.
