“If Hobbes doesn’t hurry the hell up, Ghost is going to end up with a new girlfriend,” Wolf drawled.

Wasn’t that the truth?

During the last couple of hours everyone on the line had a ringside seat to the

byplay between Kayden and The Dragon’s bartender, Teresa. Kayden’s warm

laugh rang in my ear and my teeth lost another layer of enamel. Although my internal, green-eyed monster painted a very unflattering picture of the woman, I

couldn’t really blame her for trying. Kayden made a lasting impression. More than his looks, it was the way he moved, so sure of himself and conscious of his

surroundings. And when he focused that attention on you? It was a very

provocative lure to all things female.

Even you?

The question snuck under my irritation, and poked at something I didn’t want

to face. Not yet. I reached up and snagged my half-empty second cup of coffee

from the edge of the planter. I took a sip, grateful for whoever figured out how to

turn beans into ambrosia. My earlier headache had finally called it quits, but now

my thigh muscle had chimed in with a complaint about my position. Trying to ease the persistent ache, I straightened and rubbed the heel of my hand in short,

deep circles, trying to loosen the tension.

“He always gets the tough jobs.” Bishop’s comment was dry. “It’s not like you or I could go in and blend with that crowd.”

His comment made my mind whirl as I tried to picture Wolf. All that came

together was another Bishop.

Wolf chuckled. “Maybe we should have Arden go in and switch with him.”

“Please,” I scoffed, eyeing the creased slacks, collared shirts, heels, and saran wrap masquerading as dresses, that replaced the earlier crowds of shorts and T-shirts. I used my cup to hide my lips and continued to scan the sidewalks.

“They’d never let me in. Besides, I don’t think Teresa would be as forgiving of

my appearance as she was of Shaw’s.”

“She wanted to kiss his boo-boo,” Wolf said.

She wanted to kiss a hell of lot more than his boo-boo.

Male chuckles filled my ear, and I realized my last comment had actually slipped out. Dammit. “Found anything interesting in those notebooks, Bishop?”

Not the most subtle of topic changes, but whatever worked.

“A few names rang some bells,” he said, his earlier humor gone. “A couple

of dates were familiar. I sent them over to Delacourt. We’re going to have to get

these to her soon, so her people can dig a little deeper.”

“Anything that would make someone nervous?” Kayden joined the

conversation.

Guess Teresa had a cocktail to shake.

There was a distinct pause from Bishop. “Maybe, but until I hear back from

Delacourt, I don’t want to say anything.”

My stomach tightened at the almost imperceptible note in Bishop’s answer.

Unable to stand still, I picked up my cup and began to stroll down the sidewalk.

It wasn’t hard to dodge the laughing, beautiful people too caught up in their phones, to pay attention to me. I crossed at the light, only to pull up short as three young men streaked by on skateboards, leaving exclamations and a few curses in their wake. I raised my camera and snapped a shot, catching one in mid-flight as he flipped his board in front of a four-pack modeling the latest in

Abercrombie and Finch. The skater’s total disregard of their disapproval made me smile.

“Head’s up!” The warning came from behind me.

I jumped out of the way of a fourth skateboarder as he blew past me.

Somehow, he managed not to run anyone else down as he raced after his friends.

I checked behind me for any stragglers, and my foot stuttered in mid-step as an

unexpected face caught my eye. Wary excitement rose as I moved closer, aiming

for the planter ahead. Reaching my target, I set my coffee down on the cement

edge, and then fiddled with my camera.

One of the benefits to using a digital camera was not needing to put your eye

to finder to get your shot. With my head down as if I was adjusting the camera’s

settings, I angled the lens to the line of storefronts behind me and pressed my finger on the shutter. A near-silent, rapid-fire series of images flickered across the screen. Praying one of the shots had what I needed, I brought the camera up,

and aimed at the little coffee shop-bookstore combo sitting across from The Dragon. Then, I quickly scanned through the shots I’d taken. On the fourth shot,

I found it.