The Noding Field Mystery by Christine Husom

Author:Christine Husom
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: minnesota mystery police procedural winnebago county mystery romantic detective christine husom
Publisher: Christine Husom

We carried our bags to our room on the third floor. Smoke swiped his key, swung open the door, and waited for me to go ahead of him. “Well, it’s clean. That’s something.”

“Let’s make a pact. We swear Twardy and Dina to secrecy, and tell no one else in the department that we spent the night in a single hotel room.”

I glanced at the king size bed. “Deal.”

“I’ll call for a cot.”

“That’s silly. It’s a big bed. I promise to stay on my side.” I hung my suit on the clothing rack and dropped my bag on the floor.

Smoke turned to face me. “Your goals are a hot bath and a decent meal. Go soak and I’ll look for a nearby restaurant.”

“It’s almost seven-thirty, take-out is fine.”

“As in Chinese?”

“Sure.”

“Nah, I’ve been thinking about a thick, juicy tenderloin for about six hours. Ever since you mentioned your mother’s cooking. Take your time with your bath then I’ll do a quick shower. We can sleep in until seven if we want.”

“Okay.” I carried my bag into the bathroom and turned on the water. I poured a little of the complimentary shampoo under the stream for some bubbles, undressed, pulled my hair into a ponytail, climbed into the tub, and stretched out. The tub didn’t have the slope my own bathtub did, and wasn’t very comfortable. But I told myself that was on par with the not very comfortable circumstances of sharing a single room with Smoke.

Five minutes immersed in hot water gave me time to reflect on Gage Leder’s death, and what we would learn the next day interviewing Rennie Leder. When Langley Parker’s voice started playing in my head, I drained the water, got out of the tub, and dried off, rubbing roughly on my skin, wishing I could shed Langley from my life forever. Remembering his hands on me caused the skin on my entire body to rise in goose bumps.

I put on clean underwear, jeans, and a tee shirt. Then I brushed my hair and teeth, and applied a little makeup. When I opened the door and stepped into the bedroom, I saw Smoke bent over the desk looking through a city guide. I dropped my bag next to the built-in dresser. “Next.”

Smoke looked at me over the top of his reading glasses. “Looks like the town here is big on barbeque. We can do that if you’d rather.”

“You choose, really. You know I’m about the least picky eater in the world.”

He nodded. “There’s a restaurant not far, a couple of miles, that I hear has a mean steak and great seafood.”

I smiled. Leave it to Smoke. “Who’d you hear that from?”

Smoke stood and dropped his phone on the desk. “The guy I talked to at said restaurant.” The corner of his mouth lifted as he squeezed past me on the way to the shower. My heart speeded up about twenty beats per minute. Stop it, I chided myself. He is my friend and my colleague and my mentor. Nothing else.

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