I nodded.

“If I called you, would you let me know what happens? If it wasn’t Beau, I’d like to know who the bastard was who killed her.”

“Sure. And like I said, if you can think of anything else, let me know. Thanks.”

I head up to the third floor, where the food court is, and spot Cora right away. Even without the blue hair she would be hard to miss. She’s just sitting there, people-watching. Her look is so far away and lost I wonder what she could be thinking. I’d give my left nut to know what she’s thinking. I don’t know anyone harder to read than Cora. The FBI could do a study on her and train their agents on how to mask their thoughts. I’d hate to play poker with her.

I approach her from the side and her head immediately swings in my direction. Sliding in the chair opposite her, I notice that she’s been biting her left pinkie nail. That habit is the only outward sign that Cora is as flawed as the rest of us. I want to take her hand and tell her everything will be okay, that I’ll fix what’s wrong for her. But I’m not entirely sure what would happen if I did, so I don’t.

Cora straightens in her chair and braces her elbows on the table, leaning forward. “Well? What did she say?”

“She said that weird things had been happening to Cassandra before her murder. Vandalism and things coming up missing, including her cat, which was later returned. Did you know about any of that?”

She sits back in her chair, contemplating. “No.”

“Mindy wasn’t sure if Cassandra had called the police or not, but if she did there would be a record, right?”

“Yeah.”

“She didn’t think Cassandra was seeing anyone new and she had some nice things to say about Beau.”

“You’re surprised?”

“No. Of course not.”

“Yes, you are.” She comes forward in her seat at me and I can tell I somehow hit a sore spot with her. “Why wouldn’t Mindy or anyone else have anything nice to say about my brother?”

“I didn’t mean it that way, okay? I guess I was surprised that she didn’t seem to hate him for what she thinks he did to her friend. Most people want to believe the worst in others. Mindy doesn’t when she has a good reason to. That’s all.”

She eyes me for a moment before settling back in her seat. “Sorry. I’m not really pissed at you.”

“Who are you pissed at?”

“Beau.”

This throws me off guard. Her brother’s so high up on a pedestal for her it’s hard for me to imagine her getting mad at him. “Why?”

“He refuses to meet with you. Stupid, stubborn jackass.”

“What if I wrote to him?”

“I don’t know.”

“Couldn’t hurt. We wouldn’t be any worse off than we are now.”

“I suppose.” She taps her nails on the tabletop…all except the pinkie that she’s chewed down to a nub. “You’d do that?”

She has to ask? I’d do just about anything for her. “Yeah.”

“Okay.”

“You want a smoothie? My treat.”

“No, thanks. I want to go to Cassandra’s apartment.” She stands and pushes her chair in, so I do the same. “It’s up for lease again.”

I’m taken aback by this news. “You keep track of that?”

“I keep track of a lot of things, but yeah, I set up a Google alert for it. They’re having an open house today. Right now. You can drop me off at my car if you don’t want to go.”

“No, I’ll go.” I’m curious to know what she thinks she’s going to discover. “How many times have you been there since the murder?”

“I drive by there almost every day, but I’ve only been inside eight times.”

Again she catches me off guard. I don’t know what to say when she makes admissions like this. Her life has been poles apart from mine. It’s moments like this when the differences between us seem impossible, and I’m overwhelmed by the challenge. I wonder if she even has any room in her life for someone like me or if what I bring is significant enough to matter for her.

Chapter 9 Cora

Leo hasn’t said much since I confessed my obsession to him. I know how strange it is to drive by a dead woman’s apartment every day and to find any opportunity to get inside. I know it’s weird. I wouldn’t have told him about it if he hadn’t asked. He’s the only person who ever has. Maybe that’s why I blurted it out, forgetting to put the filter on my crazy. He asks questions no one asks. He wants to know about things no one wants to talk about. He understands things I find inexplicable. And he seems to accept things about me that put others off.

I don’t know what to do with all of that. It gives me a shaky, edgy feeling I can’t control.

As he drives us to Cassandra’s I realize that he hasn’t asked for directions and he isn’t using the GPS on his phone. He’s been here before. On his own. Without me. I’m overwhelmed. The car is suddenly too small and he’s too close. I didn’t expect any of this when I walked into his father’s agency that day. I certainly didn’t expect to like Leo or to find a partner in him. Or for him to take on Beau’s case as though finding the real killer matters, really matters to him.

Leo reaches out and pulls my hand from my mouth, wrapping his hand around mine in my lap. I hadn’t realized I was biting my nail again. Fixing my gaze out the window, I don’t take my hand out of his like I should. I like how warm and sure and strong it feels. He makes me want to rely on him. He put himself in my path like a tree that took root where it shouldn’t¸ and try as I might, I can’t go around him. Maybe I don’t want to go around him. Maybe I like him there as much as I like my hand in his and the fact that he knows the way to Cassandra’s apartment.

He stops the car across the street from the apartment building and reaches under the steering wheel to turn the car off with his left hand keeping a hold of mine with his right. The air is thick and ripe and I don’t know what is supposed to happen next. He turns toward me. His eyes are darker now than they were earlier. He’s watching me that way he does sometimes when he thinks I don’t know. Only this time he’s not hiding it or looking away suddenly. It’s out there. What he wants. Me. And he wants me to see it.

“You knew the way here,” I blurt out.

“I came by once and checked it out.”

“Why?”

“It’s important.” He touches a finger to my hair, sweeping it out of my eyes. His movements are slow and purposeful. He doesn’t say it, but I feel the words just the same—You’re important.

I don’t know when this happened or why I’m just now noticing it, but I realize that he’s become important. He’s a partner in the battle I’m waging to save my brother. Since the day he joined the fight he’s been there every step of the way. Sometimes, like now, I can’t remember what it was like before he came on board.

“Cora?” He murmurs my name and it floats across my senses, lighting them up.

Leaning across the console toward me, his gaze drops to my mouth. I know what he means to do and I want him to do it. Everything in me leaps and I bow my body toward him. His hand is on my cheek and he’s so close his breath whispers across my skin. I can smell the cologne he wears and the after-coffee mint he popped earlier. My lashes flutter closed and my lips part. I want this.

And then his mouth is on mine. Gentle, so gentle. He’s agonizingly slow and careful. I can hardly move. His hands are in my hair and the kiss changes. I fist the front of his shirt, bringing him closer. Everything spirals. A whirling of sensations I didn’t know existed. He’s good at this, so good. I want it to go on forever and ever. But he’s already pulling away.

Fear spikes within me. Did I do something wrong?

His hands are still in my hair and he’s staring at me like he doesn’t know what happened. His breathing is rough and labored as though he just ran a mile and stopped suddenly to kiss me. Mine isn’t any smoother, and with my heart pounding so hard it hurts, I pull on his shirt, bringing his mouth back to mine. I want more. His tongue pushes at the seam of my lips and I open for him. He changes the angle and that’s when all hell breaks loose inside me. I want him. I want him to not stop. Ever. I want things I don’t have any knowledge of and I want them all with him.