“Of the few million people who live in Copeland, she has two obvious lovers. This seems kinda personal, so it’s probably a safe bet to think it’s one of them. Stanley, the baby’s father, seems like a solid kinda guy. I can’t finger him for it, which automatically puts more weight on the ex-husband. Anton was possessive. Controlling. No one has said he waspissedabout the divorce, but it’s easy enough to assume—to think he wouldn’t be pissed she slept with someone else is naïve. So we have a whole bunch of gut feelings about Anton, but as of right now, no physical proof. The M.E.’s office,” he looks to me and grins, “has found nothing to link Anton or anyone else to her body. No transferred DNA, no pubic hair, no skin under her nails, nothing sifted from the dirt beneath her body. We don’t even have an official cause of death. There’s just nothing.”
“We don’t have tox back yet.” I raise a hand and force him to stop and look into my eyes. “My lab is overworked and understaffed. I’ll get it sorted as soon as I can, but in the meantime, we’re not saying we’ve found nothing. I’m saying whatever we might’ve found is currently sitting on Doctor Raquel’s to-do pile.”
“And in the meantime, it’s possible—not probable,” he insists, “butpossible—that she had her baby, had a heart attack, stripped naked, and fell into a bush at the park.”
I purse my lips as though to ask,Really?
“I said not probable,” he repeats defensively. “But we’re hunting a killer right now, when we don’t have definitive proof a killer exists.”
“So what do you want from me?” Frowning, I watch as he flips a pan onto the stove and drops a glob of butter in to melt. “To tell you to stop? To tell you it’s okay to give up on her?”
“No. I don’t…” Scowling, he slaps a slice of cheese between two pieces of bread and drops them into the pan. “I don’t know what I want.”
“What’s the issue? Archer?” I reach out and drag him closer to cup his face. “What’s wrong?”
“Anton had this wife he loved,” he breathes out. “In his mind, they were happy. They were content. They were gonna spend the rest of their lives together. And then she decided she was done.”
Leaning closer, he presses his forehead to mine. “He’s probably a crazy son of a bitch I’ll soon slap cuffs on, but right now, he’s a grieving husband who only wanted to make her happy. And somewhere along the way, she was dealing with her feelings in silence. She came to her decision on her own. Then she up and left.” His breath hits my tongue. His words weave into my soul. “She made that choice on her own and didn’t give him a chance to make it better.” Pulling back, he studies me. “You’d tell me if you were unhappy, right?”
Stunned, I sit ramrod straight. “What?”
“You wouldn’t wrestle with it in silence and leave me out of the loop? You’d tell me early on so we can work on it, right?”
“Are you seriously asking if I’ll tell you when you’re annoying me? Like I don’t already do that on a daily basis?” I choke out a soft laugh, but it fizzles away when his eyes remain fearful. “Jesus, Archer. I thought I was the only one freaking out about this stuff.You’reinsecure?”
“I’m terrified,” he exhales. “Shitting myself that you’ll change your mind and leave me to hang. I’m petrified you’re gonna tolerate me for as long as you can, and then you’ll just go. Maybe you’ll meet a fuckin’ Stan who makes you happier.”
“Uh… I thinkyou’remy Stan,” I snigger. “Minus the baby. Keep the one-night stands. We were literally a one-off that just never went away.”
“Well, if she had the potential to be to Stan what you are to me, that makes this so much worse. She called him, Minka. He made a promise to save her if she needed it. She tried to call him, and he didn’t answer.”
“So now you’re afraid you can’t save me? You think if I don’t lose interest first, I might end up dead?” Pulling him in as the crackle and pop of hot butter makes the kitchen smell amazing, I run the pad of my thumb along his bottom lip. “You worry about so much. About things that haven’t happened. Things thatwon’thappen.”
“You give me something to worry about.” Dropping a kiss on my chin, he steps away to flip the grilled cheese. “How about we make a deal?” Standing at the stove, his jeans sitting casually on his hips, his chest broad and sexy and everything I kinda want to grow old resting on, he glances back. “You promise not to get bored, andifyou do, you promise to tell me about it so I have a chance to fix it.”
“Okay.” I drag my lip between my teeth and smile. “As long as you make the same promise in return.”
“And you promise not to die.”
I snort. “As long as you promise that too.”
“And since Stan is the father of Melissa’s baby, he probably has a right to view her body, so you have to swear, when he comes by, you’re not going to fall in love and run away with him.”
Barking out a laugh, I glance across to the living room when my phone rings. Then sliding off the counter, I rest my hand on Archer’s arm for just a moment before heading toward the trilling device.
“I assure you, one guy is already more commitment than I can deal with. No way am I searching for another. Oh! And that reminds me.” I spy Aubree’s name on the screen, her flashing demands, but before I answer, I look back to Archer. “I met this guy today. He was a little weird and stare-y.”
Archer turns to me, hands on his hips, brows pinched tight together. “What?”
“I dunno. Some guy.” Answering, I bring the phone to my ear. “Yes, Aubree?”
“Minka?” Her voice is a panicked whisper, while in the background, music thumps. “I need your help.”
Frowning, I pull the phone away for a moment and check the screen. Then bringing it back, I ask again, “What?”
“I did somethingbad. Now I need to invoke the rules of the Neutral Cube of Truth-Telling and Fantasy-Living.”
“You…” I shake my head. “Are you at the George Stanley?”