Page 44 of Dirty Valentine
The doorbell rang again.“That must be the pizza,” I said, but when I opened the door Sheldon was standing on my doorstep.
“Sheldon?”
“Did you check your Ring Camera?”he asked.“Burglaries are reduced by as much as fifty-five percent for those who use them.”
“Are you going to rob me?”I asked, confused.
He stared at me like I’d lost my mind.“Of course not.Your gate was open.Can I stay with you?I brought my overnight bag.I think someone is watching me at my house.Maybe Leena.Or Evangeline.Or maybe they drugged me and I’m having hallucinations.Things have been a blur since last night and I can’t put all the pieces together.”
He looked pretty forlorn standing on my front porch with his Dungeons and Dragons backpack.
“I’ll run it by Jack, but I’m sure it’ll be fine.”I ushered him inside and then saw the pizza delivery guy pull up.
Our house felt like Grand Central Station.This is what happened when your circle of friends kept growing.I’d never had that as a kid.My parents had been solitary people—understandably so—and I’d kept my circle of friends small and never expanded it.Marriage had changed things for me in more ways than one, and I moved slow when it came to relationships.I didn’t trust easily and I was always a bit skeptical of people, but I’d slowly adjusted to these new friendships over the past couple of years.
I took the pizzas and then turned to find everyone had come out of the office and was heading toward the kitchen.
“Nice backpack,” Jack told Sheldon.
“Thanks.I only brought clothes for a couple of days.That’s all that would fit.”
Jack looked at me and raised his eyebrows and I shrugged.“He said he only has a couple of days of clothes.That’s promising.”
With the exception of Potts, everyone had been in our home enough that they knew where plates and drinks and anything else they wanted was located.Cops tended to make themselves at home as long as they were in the safety of other cops.I guess it’s encouraging that they feel that way at our place.
“Sheldon thinks someone has been watching him,” I said to the group at large, and then I snagged a couple of pieces of pizza before they all disappeared.
“I know someone has been watching,” he corrected, wiping the sweat off his upper lip before he took a bite.“The name Durkus was feared for generations in Poland.It’s said our lineage descends directly from the Baba Yaga.I think that’s why Leena was interested in me in the first place.She could feel my magical properties.”
Everyone froze where they were and stared at Sheldon.The silence wasn’t a comfortable one, so I felt obligated to fill the space.
“Have you heard from Leena?”I asked.
“She called a few hours ago,” he said.“I hate when pizza burns the roof of my mouth.Did you know that seventy percent of the population has experienced palate burns?”
“Focus, Sheldon,” I said.“What did Leena want?”
“I’m not really sure,” he said shrugging.“She hasn’t really been acting like herself.She’s pretty obsessed with Bridget Ashworth, especially since Thomas Whitman’s body showed up.She asked if I could take her down to the lab and show her.She wanted to see if he had any leftover energy or something.”
“You can’t do that,” I told him, just to make sure he wasn’t planning a nighttime heist into the lab.
“Oh, I know,” he said.“I think I need to break up with her.I hate breaking up with women.”
“You’ve had to break up with women a lot?”Cole asked.
“Oh, sure,” Sheldon said.“I’m not ready to settle down yet, and women get attached to me pretty quickly.”
“Huh,” Cole said.
“Has Leena asked any questions about the investigation?”Jack asked.“Tried to get information from you about suspects or anyone we’ve talked to?”
“Not so much that,” he said, chewing thoughtfully.“But she told me about markings on other graves, and about how she wanted to see the engravings because Bridget might be sending a message and only another witch can read it.”
“Sounds like we’ve got a leak in the department,” Martinez said, scowling.
“Leena hears from the other world,” Sheldon said.“It’s kind of creepy.But sexy too.”
“Did she hear from Bridget?”Lily asked, curious.
