“Millie, Toby, Pawpaw, get back. Come on, move out of the way.”
Max’s chest pounded. He ran a hand through his hair and rapidly tried to plan what he was going to say.I’m sorry, Jules. I’ve been such a prick but I swear I—
The door swung back to reveal a young woman in a fluorescent green kimono and moccasins, an unlit cigarette dangling from her lips. “Yeah?”
Max blinked. Her eyes were blue and her hair was dyed blonde, but other than that she and Julia were the same. Same delicate chin, same long fingers, the same slender dancer’s body…
“Help you, buddy?” she asked irritably.
“Sorry. You look so much like—”Nope, not a good idea.
The woman smirked. Max decided to begin again. He cleared his throat. “Hi, I’m Max. I’m a friend of Julia’s.”
The woman looked distinctly unimpressed. “And?”
“Uh, how are you? You’re Ashley, right? Julia’s sister?”
Ashley produced a lighter from one of her kimono’s pockets and ignited her cigarette. “Yeah.”
Max waited for her to continue. Ashley didn’t continue. In fact, she seemed content to lean against her doorway glaring at him for the rest of her life.
He shoved his hands in his pockets. “May I please speak with Julia?”
Ashley exhaled a cloud of smoke. “Why? She in trouble?”
“No, I just want to talk to her.”
“So you said.” Ashley turned and yelled down the corridor. “Julia! Some cop is here to see you.”
Her gaze returned to him, eyeing him up and down. “If you're actually a stripper, now would be the time to take your pants off.”
Max huffed out a laugh, unsure if that was a joke. No response came from inside the house.
“Hang on, buddy.” Ashley stomped down the hall, moccasins slapping against the floorboards.
Max loitered in the doorway, feeling big and awkward and very much like a cop. Eight dogs blinked up at him with distrustful brown eyes. From his position, he could see the living room. A purple beanbag sat in front of the TV and what looked like every gaming console ever made. Fuck, he wanted to see her. Fuck, he wanted everything to be okay again.
Ashley returned in a cloud of tobacco and girly body spray. Max wondered how Julia could stand to live with her. She didn’t strike him as a clean freak but a thousand dogsanda sister who smoked inside? In a wooden house? The evidence room had smelled better.
Ashley resumed her post at the doorframe, pushing Max back out onto the front step. “Jules wants to know if you’ve made up your mind.”
Max grimaced. He’d never been good at ultimatums. “Can she just come out and talk to me?”
Ashley released a thin stream of smoke in his direction. “No.”
“Can you tell her I’m sorry about what happened and I’m thinking about her?”
She inspected her nails. “I can try.”
Max almost drove his forehead into the side of the house. “Well, thanks for your help. This has been great.”
She smiled menacingly. “You’re right, it has.”
At her feet, a one-eyed Maltese terrier growled.
“I hope these dogs are registered,” Max said, more out of instinct more than anything else.
Ashley’s eyes narrowed. “No, they’re not. What the fuck are you going to do about it?”