Nowhere to Hide by Terry Odell

Author:Terry Odell
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Terry Odell

Chapter Eighteen

Graham went back to the kitchen. The water had come to a boil, and he opened a package of linguini. He lowered small handfuls into the pot, making sure the water never stopped boiling. Once he had half the package in the water, he gave a quick stir, corrected the heat, and let his mind drift.

Could the man in the dump be Jeffrey? Too easy, too convenient and too much of a coincidence. St. Augustine was in St. John’s County, over a hundred miles away. But he’d call and ask. Colleen’s voice registered, and he turned to see her at the table, watching him.

“Earth to Deputy Harrigan. You here?”

He grinned. “Sorry. Cooking’s an outlet for me. Sometimes everything will click when I’m concentrating on cooking instead of my other problems. Lets the subconscious through, maybe.”

“You’re thinking about Jeffrey, right?”

He nodded and fished a strand of linguini from the pot, testing it with his teeth. “Two minutes.” He took two plates from a cabinet and handed them to Colleen, then found bowls for the salad.

“Silverware’s in the middle drawer,” she said. “And I want to hear all about your day.” Those words were spoken softly, as if she remembered how the evening had begun and wasn’t sure she wanted to go there again.

He got out the cutlery and watched as Colleen laid two place settings. Her color was back, along with the light in her eyes. Satisfied she was all right, he poured his dressing over the salad, gave it a quick toss and passed the bowl to her. While she portioned out the salad, he drained the pasta and mixed it with the sauce.

“I wanted garlic bread, but you don’t have anything but garlic salt. You don’t have French bread, for that matter. Hope you don’t mind hamburger buns. And you should get fresh Parmesan. This carton stuff doesn’t come close, but it’ll have to do.” He fetched the butter and cheese-topped bread from the broiler and placed one piece on each plate, then added pasta. “Dinner is served.”

He watched in anticipation as she twirled a forkful and brought it to her mouth. He thought of his lips being where the pasta was.

Get real. This was not the time. The woman had done a total freak-out and he still had no clue why. “Is it okay?”

She said nothing, merely sat there with her eyes closed. Finally, the tip of her tongue swirled around her lips, and her eyes popped wide. “Okay? Miraculous is more like it. How did you make anything this good come out of my kitchen?”

“I like to think I can rise to any challenge.” He put his napkin in his lap to hide the proof, and picked up his fork. “You’ll have to let me cook a real meal for you someday. I think you’re being too kind here. An onion, some canned tomatoes, and a few carrots is hardly gourmet.”

“Well, compared to my kitchen efforts, this is super good.”

Once they’d finished eating, Colleen insisted on doing the dishes.

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