Free Along Came a Spider by Kate Serine Page B

tight nod, then stood and put his hands on his hips. He dropped his eyes to the carpet for a moment, then finally looked back up at me from under those long dark lashes of his, devastating me all over again. “Listen, I really am sorry about last night,” he said, running his hand through his hair. “I don’t usually drink like that. Seriously, if I made a total ass of myself—”
“You didn’t,” I interrupted with a laugh. “You were a perfect gentleman.” Damn it all. . . .
For a split second he looked as disappointed as I felt, but then he gave a nod. “All right, then. So, whaddaya say we get outta here? I’ll buy you something to eat on the way to your apartment.”
I narrowed my eyes. “And coffee? My coffee habit’s almost as bad as Red’s, you know.”
He inclined his head in agreement. “Coffee it is.”
I gave him a terse, satisfied nod and started for the door, but he grabbed my arm as I passed. “Trish . . .” he began, his expression oddly tortured. Then his face cleared and he winked at me, giving one of my curls a playful tug, but the smile that came next was a little sad. “You know, it’ll be strange not having to sneak into your apartment anymore now that the jig is up.”
I laughed, appreciating his attempt to lighten the mood a little. “Yeah, well, Spider, I’m sure you can find some other unsuspecting gal’s apartment to break into. I hear Sleeping Beauty just moved into a new high-rise—might be a challenge.”
“Ah, but you’ve got it all wrong,” he said, casually draping his arm around my shoulders as if it was the most natural thing in the world, and leading me from the room. “The challenge was never the building but the gal inside.”
I sent a sidelong glance his way, a tentative little spark of hope springing to life in the center of my chest.

Chapter Seven
Nicky never left my side the entire time I was in my apartment, his eyes constantly darting around, watching for even a ripple of movement in the air that might signal an attack. I quickly changed clothes and threw together a bag to take with me, then gathered up Sasha’s food and bowl. Last was my laptop and what I could salvage of the various notebooks strewn all over the living room.
“Are you sure you don’t mind me staying at your house?” I asked as we loaded everything into the back of his Escalade.
“Are you kiddin’ me?” he asked. “Forget about it. Like I’m going to let you come back to this place?”
I shoved my hands into my coat pockets and let out a sigh, watching my breath freeze in the air and thinking about the attack on me the night before. “We really should talk to Nate and Red about this.”
Nicky cast a guarded look my way as he slammed the hatch shut.
I cocked my head to one side and narrowed my eyes at him. “You haven’t told Red that you’re back in town, have you?”
“Let’s get going,” he muttered, ignoring my question.
I followed him around to the driver’s side and stood in front of the door, my arms crossed over my chest. “Why not tell her you’re back? Why keep it a secret?”
He zipped his leather jacket, apparently realizing I wasn’t going to be deterred until he answered my question. “It’s complicated.”
I knew Nicky still cared about Red; that’d been clear in the images I’d seen in his thoughts while he was dying. And to see her so happy with Nate—his best friend, by all accounts—must’ve felt awkward at times. Hell, I could relate to that probably better than anyone. Complicated was an understatement.
“Fine,” I sighed. “Just drop me a couple of blocks from headquarters then. I have to check in before someone notices I haven’t made it to work yet. Besides, I need to see what I can find out about our victim from last night, get an ID on the guy.”
Nicky shrugged. “Don’t bother. I know who it is.”
My brows shot up. “How could you possibly—” I didn’t even finish the question. “Who is it?”
“Tim Halloran.”
I