Free Every Move She Makes by Robin Burcell

coloring was dark, his expression closed, Mathis was more the golden Adonis, with a broken nose that saved him from being too pretty.
    "Where's Torrance?" I figured that was more polite than "What the hell are you doing in my apartment?" and would net me the same results. "He had to leave early." That was all he said. I digested this while I went out to get the paper. The landlady usually tossed it up for me when she picked up hers first thing every morning. I couldn't find it anywhere.
     
    Not under the steps, not in the ivy, not in the driveway.
     
    When I returned to the kitchen, I stopped, looking at Mathis sorting through his reports. Something seemed odd, but my brain wasn't totally functioning. No caffeine.
     
    "Lose something?" he asked.
     
    "You see the paper when you came in?" "No," he said. "Maybe Torrance grabbed it on his way out." I'd find it later. In the meantime, I had to leave for work. I assumed Mathis and Torrance had changed places sometime during the night. I also assumed he was leaving when I was. I fished my keys from my purse and opened the kitchen door, waiting expectantly for Mathis to rise from his seat at the kitchen table.
    "Ready?" I finally asked. And that's when it struck me. He was sitting there, doing paperwork like he owned the place. He wasn't leaving.
    "Change of plans," he responded. "We thought it might be better to keep someone posted inside your house in case Scolari breaks in again." I gave him a smile that I hoped spoke volumes.
     
    "You won't even know I'm here. Promise."
     
    "I already know you're here. Why wasn't I included on this decision?" He shrugged. "Talk to Torrance." Give IA an inch, they'll take a goddamn mile. "Do me a favor, try not to burn dinner." Somehow I managed not to slam the door in his face. Torrance outranked him, so I couldn't very well take my anger out on Mathis. But I could on Torrance, and by the time I paid the toll on the Bay Bridge, I was fuming. I punched in his office number on my cellular. His secretary answered, advising me, "Lieutenant Torrance will be coming in late, if at all." He'd already put in a full twelve hours playing bodyguard. Once in my office, I poured myself a cup of coffee, disguising it with as much creamer as I could stir in without turning it into nondairy mud. It would do in a pinch. I called Leslie's extension. She wasn't at her desk, so I left a message about the Forty-Niner tickets on her voice mail. I hung up as the secretary poked her head in the doorway. "Andrews wants to see you, As I walked into the lieutenant's office. The door was open, the morning paper on his desk. Behind him, football trophies glinted under the fluorescent lights. I hated being called in here. "What is this-" he asked softly, a bad sign. The hotter his temper, the quieter his voice.
    I told myself it was okay. Nothing to worry about. But when he didn't look at the newspaper, just at me, my throat tightened. I was an emotional person, and hiding that particular vulnerability from those around me did not come easy, especially when taken to task by those I respected and admired. I'm sure there was something Freudian about the whole thing, but when it came down to it, I'd rather face a man with a gun. Now was not the time to bring up the suspected press leak. Not without proof. He had every right to be upset that I spoke to Beth Sk-yler, and bringing up my unverified suspicions about that leak would make it appear as though I was trying to focus his attention elsewhere.
     
    "I blew it. I should have kept my mouth shut."
     
    "We have a Press Officer, Gillespie. Let him do his job. You understand?" This last was said so softly, I had to strain to hear him, which was precisely why he did it.
     
    "Yes, Sir."
     
    "I understand that before all this went down, Scolaii was about to canvass the Twin Palms Motel for potential witnesses in the drug ODS.
    You need a partner. Call Zimmerman."
     
    "What?"
     
    "He's experienced. I'll have him temporarily