said.
“Take another ginseng and gingerroot bath,” Marge said.
“At last!” Brecht piped up. “Someone with good advice!”
Lilah said, “Peter—”
“Sergeant Decker,” Marge corrected. “What is it, Miss Brecht?”
“My brother …” She let out a deep breath. “He has a little satellite office in Burbank.”
“His abortion mill,” Freddy Brecht clarified. “Hourly rates—”
“He’s doing a service—”
“The mad butcher of Burbank—”
“No one has ever died—”
“No one you’ve heard about!”
“Hey!” Decker shouted. “Don’t you two ever quit? Enough! So Dr. Merritt has the office in Burbank. Why should he be there?”
“He’s not answering the phone,” Lilah said, “but I know he had a few morning appointments there yesterday—he told me that. I’m sure that’s one of the reasons he was coming to meet me. Burbank isn’t too far from the ranch. I guess he figured as long as he was in the area …” She sighed. “Can’t you just take a look for me?”
“What good would it do if I couldn’t get in?” Marge said.
“I don’t know …” Lilah looked down at her lap. “I’m just worried. I know something’s wrong. I just know it!”
Marge checked her watch and looked at Decker. “What do you figure? Forty-five minutes tops if nothing’s there?”
“That sounds about right.”
Lilah peeked sheepishly at Decker. “Will you look for Kingston?”
“I’ll do the honors,” Marge said. She cocked a thumb toward the front door. “Now if you two could kindly make an exit?”
Brecht took Lilah’s elbow and guided her to the door. Before he left, he turned and said, “Again, I’m sorry for the intrusion.”
“There you go again. Apologizing for me! I’m not sorry!”
“Lilah—”
“Don’t Lilah me!”
Brecht steered her outside and shut the door. Decker could hear them arguing until one of the cars finally roared off. He let out a slow stream of breath. “You’re sure you want to do this, Marge?”
“S’right.”
“Want me to go with you?”
“Nah. A guy not answering his phone calls doesn’t scream foul play. Why shouldn’t at least one of us get some sleep?”
“You’re making me feel guilty, Marge.”
“You better believe it, Pete.” Marge pushed limp blond wisps out of her eyes and smiled. “I left an empty California King. You might as well make the most out of the situation.”
Decker smiled back. “Not so bad.”
“Not so bad.”
Rina emerged from the bedroom. “Is it safe?”
Marge laughed. “You can come out now, Mrs. Decker. Poor Rina. What did you ever do to deserve this?”
“What did I ever do to deserve this?” Decker said.
Marge pointed a finger at him. “Hollander warned you. He offered to take the case.”
Decker glanced upward, studying the ceiling. “Is that coffee I smell?”
“I’ll get you a cup, Peter,” Rina said. “Marge?”
“I’ll get the coffee, Rina,” Marge said. “You deal with Detective Sergeant Innocent Bystander here.” She walked into the kitchen.
“I didn’t say I was an innocent bystander,” Decker called after her. But she was already out of sight. To Rina he said, “You actually made her coffee?”
“It gave me something to do with my hands while I dodged her questions.”
“I really am sorry.”
“You don’t choose your cases.”
“Truth be told, Marge is right. Hollander did warn me off. But you know me. I get stubborn.”
“It’s called perseverance.” She stood on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. “It’s what makes you a good detective.”
Decker smiled. “You can say the right things when you want to.”
“Meaning I don’t always want to?”
“No, I just meant—”
“Forget it, Peter.” Rina tousled his hair.
Marge returned, carrying a mug stenciled with dinosaurs. “I’m off.”
Rina looked at Peter. “You’re not going?”
Marge scowled. “Who needs ’im? Good night, folks. I’ll call if something’s amiss.” She sipped coffee and looked at the cup. “I’ll give this back to you in the morning.”
“Keep it,” Decker said.
“I can’t be bought off with stegosauri, Pete.”
“How ’bout if I throw in a year’s supply of coffee, sugar, and whitener in individual packets?”
“The temptation is overwhelming.” Marge wiggled her fingers and left.
“You owe her,” Rina said.
“Big.” Decker raised his brow. “You want to salvage the night?” He slipped his arms around Rina’s burgeoning waistline and kissed the nape of her neck. “I’ll even carry you across the threshold.”
Rina turned and slipped her arm around his waist. “Speaking of being turned on, your damsel in distress got quite excited when you yelled at her.”
Decker dropped his arms. “She’s not my anything—except my supreme pain in the ass.”
“I know.” Rina picked up his hands and kissed them. “I was just being … hostile. But what I said was true. She likes your anger.”
“Okay. Thanks for telling me. I won’t get angry around her anymore. But there was no friggin’ way I was going to let her get away with speaking to you like that.”
“I appreciated your support, Peter.” She kissed his hands again. “You know, I was just thinking—”
