Free Touching Silver by Jamie Craig Page B

the city doesn’t want to stop being the biggest,” he countered. “Look. Before last night, everything in my life was just hunky-dory. Then I hook up with you for this missing girls case and all of a sudden I’ve got Gabriel’s people trying to shish kebab my friends and turn my fish into Marie Antoinette. Clearly he’s afraid of us working together. Maybe each of us has information the other needs to finally put him behind bars. I don’t know. The point is, yesterday my fish were alive, and now they aren’t.”
    If she were heartless, she might have told him they were just fish. She would buy him another pair of fish. But she wasn’t heartless. After all, if she came home and discovered…
    Her hand flew to her mouth. “We have to go to my place. Now.”
    Isaac didn’t even ask for an explanation. He simply scooped up his keys, settled his hand in the small of her back and guided her out the door.

Chapter Six
    Isaac watched her over his menu. Olivia wasn’t sure why, but he was definitely looking for something. She lowered her own menu and arched her brow. What do you want? He just smiled and shook his head before pretending to peruse his options again.
    She had agreed to meet him at The Barn for dinner when he dropped her off at the station the previous day. A phone call would’ve sufficed, but dinner was good. They did need to touch base, after all. That’s what she’d told herself all day too. This wasn’t a date, no matter how much Isaac made it sound like one. She’d pointedly not made the effort to change her clothes or do anything out of the ordinary, because the last thing she needed to complicate this investigation was getting emotionally entangled with the man who was going to help her get the collar. This was like any other regular meeting with a colleague.
    A colleague who got upset over his pet fish. A colleague who hadn’t questioned her need to check on her dog. A colleague who had dutifully introduced himself to Tiberius so the dog wouldn’t be frightened or view him as an enemy if he ever came to her home again.
    The waitress—a cute little blond thing who flashed a bright smile at Isaac—approached and asked if they were ready to order.
    “I’ll have the Meat Lover’s platter, everything medium rare, with garlic potatoes.” Olivia passed the menu over to the woman.
    She thought she caught a smile before he turned to the waitress. “Let’s make it ribs, fries, and double sauce tonight, Heather. Gotta save room for dessert.” He was still smiling when Heather took his menu and walked away, leaning back in his chair as he toyed with his fork. “You ever been here before?”
    “No. It’s a little out of my way.”
    “Best ribs in town. You won’t be disappointed.”
    “You haven’t led me astray yet, I suppose.” She sipped her water, wondering how many times per week he ate at The Barn. He’d called the waitress by name. Because he knew her from previous visits or because he was being friendly? More likely the former if the way the blonde kept looking back at him was anything to go by. Focus. “Did you find any more bugs?”
    He shook his head. “Everything else was clean. From the looks of it, he was only interested in my phone. How’s Tiberius?”
    “Good. I promised to bring home some bones and other leftovers. I’ve been neglecting him the past few days.”
    “You should get him a friend. Makes those times when you’re not around easier.”
    Olivia sighed. “I’ve considered it. But I adopted Tiberius from a rescue organization. They warned he might not get along well with other dogs. He loves humans, but dogs, not so much. Have you had a chance to populate your aquarium yet?”
    A shadow passed over his eyes. “No, not yet.” Isaac reached for his water. “I had Sonny and Cher for almost four years. And they were a gift from Nathan. I’ll probably wait until this missing girls thing is settled.” His implied when I don’t have to worry about them