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I tilted my head. “He grew up today, what can I say?”
She opened the fridge. “Are you guys available to watch him next weekend?”
I couldn’t tell if my sister was being serious or not before Dennis answered in the affirmative, and we were locked in to another Saturday with our mini chaperone.
Dennis pressed a key into my hand. “I’m going to stop by the store for some steaks. I’ll see you back at the beach house.”
“Thanks again,” Ramona added as Dennis headed for the door. “What do you say, Bill?”
Billy stopped playing with the TV remote. “Thank you.”
“See you next weekend,” Dennis said on his way out.
Ramona sidled up to me. “If he can get Billy to drink his milk, I like him.”
“Bill,” my nephew yelled from the couch.
“It’s probably time,” I told her.
She shrugged. “It’s just that he’s growing up so fast.”
“I need to get some clothes and get going.”
“Do I need to plan on taking him to school every day now?”
I placed a hand on my sister’s shoulder. “It’s just the weekends. I’ll be here during the week.”
I meant it, but her expression said she didn’t believe it would stay that way.
Chapter 30
Dennis
Monday morningI squinted into the bright sunlight as I drove east toward the office. The lack of coastal overcast this early in the morning pointed to a warmer than usual day today. But even that couldn’t match the heat Jennifer and I had created between the sheets this weekend.
It had started out slowly, but enjoyably, with Jennifer’s nephew keeping us from devouring each other, and quickly progressed to red hot that night and all day yesterday.
The woman was a balm to my soul. In her arms, I could let go of my Cartwright obsession and unwind the tension that had built all week long.
Since I was in early, I made coffee for Cindy and put it on her desk. Back in my office, while the computer booted up, I watched the city come alive out my window.
Cartwright was out there somewhere, but it wouldn’t be long before he showed himself and appeared on my doorstep for “the talk.” It would start out innocently enough, but progress to the veiled threats he was so good at.
I’d read up on him, and last week I’d gotten the chance to debrief two of his previous victims. With a basic understanding of his modus operandi, I now figured he had a plant or two in the company feeding him information, and would soon be ready to make his next move.
“Do I have you to thank for the coffee?” It was Cindy from the doorway.
I spun my chair around. “The least I could do.”
“Thank you. Did you have a good weekend?”
I couldn’t hide the wide smile that came to my face. “Yes, thank you. What about you?”
“We survived a dinner with my mother-in-law.”
“One of those dinners, huh?”
“I swear my husband must have been adopted. George isn’t much of a complainer, but his mother… My yard needed sprucing up, the house wasn’t properly decorated, the vegetables had too much salt, and… Well, it just went on and on.”
