Page 39 of You Can Make Me
“That’s right,” I said. “Cooper told me you went into producing?”
“Sure did. I like being behind the camera and calling the shots, but I think that made me evenmorenosy. When I meet new people, I’m always curious about the story of their lives, or if I see something happen, I’m looking for the details, the angles.”
I swallowed too much smoothie and got a bit of brain freeze. Would he turn that curiosity on me? Shit, had he already? And why was I so damned nervous about what they thought?
“Yeah, and Frank eavesdrops all the time,” Deb said, rolling her eyes. “I have to remind him not to stare.”
“Like father, like son,” Sam said. “Cooper and I are the same, and when we’re with Gene, it drives him nuts. He’s like, ‘Don’t you two know how to be stealthy?’”
“That’s rich coming from him,” I said, shaking my head. “More than once his overzealous nature nearly ruined a stakeout.”
“Ooo, stories,” Cooper said, rubbing his hands together. “I love hearing your stories.”
I chuckled, but a wave of unease ran through me. What a strange situation.Hey, Mrs. Harris. Yesterday, I held your son naked in the shower after trimming his beard and kissing him senseless. Last night, he asked for a second chance. Today, I’m having breakfast in your RV while you wash my underwear, and did I mention I’m a 52-year-old, twice-divorced, newly minted bisexual man?
I hadn’t done the whole schmoozing-with-parents thing with Emma. Renee wasn’t close to her parents, so while I’d met them a few times, we’d eloped and spent holidays with friends or alone. I was out of practice, but more than that, I wasn’t good at it. I didn’t want to seem standoffish, but it had been so long since I’d spent time with only non-sworn folks, I had no idea how to act. So I sat quietly, eating and observing, and hoped I wasn’t being rude.
We munched on muffins and drank our smoothies while the others chatted about people and events that were unfamiliar to me. Cooper wasn’t quite as animated as I knew he could be, but he was engaged and contributed occasionally to theconversation. I tried to appear just as interested, but my mind was going a mile a minute.
Sam’s comment about there being a development, and Gene’s departure without saying goodbye, had me on edge. I’d been paranoid ever since taking Cooper from rehab that one of Evans’ henchmen would come after him, or Evans himself. It felt as if nowhere was safe, so I’d turned this place into a fortress. I’d stocked us with food that first month and didn’t leave Cooper for a minute.
But then I’d needed to go out to get him more of a variety to eat, to make sure he was getting enough nutrition, and to get his medications…
I’d been terrified the whole time I was away. A couple of times I’d even done some evasive driving, because I had that sick feeling I was being followed.
Would this development in the case mean I should lock things down again? Stock up and hunker down? I trusted my best friends to catch these guys, but I knew it wasn’t good for Cooper to be isolated with just me. He was doing so well having Sam here, and his parents…maybe it was time to leave. But where would we go? Back to his place in Hollywood? Sam and Gene had offered their townhouse in Manhattan Beach. Maybe he’d want to go to Vegas?
Movement distracted me from my thoughts as Cooper stood and moved out of the booth. He grabbed his cane and smiled at me.
“You okay?”
He gestured with his thumb to the restroom. “Be right out.”
His smile was downright wicked, and I couldn’t look away until he closed the door.
“Earth to Denny? Hello?”
I snapped my head around as Sam and Deb laughed at what was probably my dopey expression. I didn’t even try to speak,just folded my hands in front of me on the table while my face was on fire.
Cooper yelped a moment later—and I was out of the booth and at the bathroom door in two steps.
“Cooper?”
“Stay out.”
Strangled cries filtered through the door, and I looked over to see his parents climbing out of the booth, wide-eyed.
Then I heard a loud bang.
“Baby, open the door,” I said, as evenly as I could.
He didn’t respond.
I tried the handle but it was locked.
“Can you all please wait outside?” I pulled my Leatherman out of my pocket and selected a tool to pick the lock.
“Dennis—”
