I felt my cellphone buzz in my pants pocket again and checked it, but the text message wasn’t from Brooke this time. It was from my wife, Avery. She was asking me to pick up a gallon of milk on my way home. Malcolm loved having a cup ofchocolate milk every night before he went to bed and I was going to be sure that little nightly ritual of his continued without fail.
I texted a thumbs-up to Avery to let her know I’d get the milk and then waved down the waitress for my check. After paying for my meal, I told the group that it was time for me to leave the party. When I stood up from the table, Stevie did too; then she stepped around it and came up to me.
“It was a pleasure meeting you, Zac,” she said, standing so close that I could smell the sweet scent of her breath.
“The pleasure is all mine.”
“Thank you again for feeding me.”
“You’re most welcome. You’re a kinswoman and that holds a lot of weight with me.”
“Same here, kinsman. I’ll see you in court on the Ferguson case next week.”
“Looking forward to it,” I said, glancing down at her mouth. Her pouty, glossed lips made it hard not to.
I reached out to shake Stevie’s hand and she immediately received mine. As I was letting go of her, I had a strange sensation come over me and I was still feeling it. It was apullto Stevie that I was experiencing. A physical urge to keep touching her that I didn’t understand or need to follow through with.
Before I turned to leave, I said, “Be careful driving home, Sinclair.”
“You too, Buchanan.”
I glanced at Stevie’s lips one more time and then started heading toward Mystic Bar’s exit. Right before I reached it, I looked over my shoulder. The jovial group, which I greatly enjoyed being part of, had gone back to talking and laughing. Every person except for Stevie. She had her eyes on me while sipping on her second Hendricks and tonic with extra lime. The same way that I preferred mine.
7
#backgroundcheck
Stevie
“OKAY, BROOKE. WHATis Zac’s story?” I asked her. She was driving me back to the D.A.’s office so I could pick up my car and go home.
“A complicated one. Why do you ask?”
“Between seeing him last Saturday at the running trail, officially meeting him tonight, talking with him, drinking and eating with him, reading his body language, picking up on the vibe that he was giving off, and also listening to his conversations with others—well, things aren’t adding up. Not to me anyway. Although Zac is certainly a lot of fun to be around, his spirit is restless and conflicted about something. I sensed a major tug-of-war going on inside that man.”
“So that’s the reason you couldn’t take your eyes off him! You were trying to figure out his story just like he was trying to figure out yours, and that’s the reason why he couldn’t take his eyes off you. That and also his obvious attraction to you. Would your attraction to him happen to be another reason why you kept staring at him?” Brooke cut her eyes over at me and grinned.
“I was just trying to make sense of what wasn’t adding up about him.”
“So you’re not attracted to Zac? Did I really just read everything wrong back there at Mystic Bar?”
I sighed out a smile. “I cannot deny that Zac is a very attractive man, because he is. I’m divorced, Brooke. Not dead.”
She chuckled. “I know you’re not. I’m just teasing you about all of this.”
“Seriously though… I was mainly trying to figure out what Zac’s deal was. I hope I didn’t come across as rude with the way that I kept watching him.”
“You both came across as being innocently curious about each other. And about Zac’s story? I’ll tell you exactly why his spirit is restless and also what he’s conflicted about, if you’re really ready to hear it.”
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
“You’re about to find out.”
“I’m listening.”
“As you know, Zac is married and has a little boy.”
“Yes, Malcolm. I remember Zac mentioning his name.”