“Addie, are you calling to tempt me with phone sex, because I’m still hard from thinking about your offer earlier.”

“What offer?” she asks, sounding a little preoccupied.

“Giving me your mouth if I stayed home?” I remind her.

“Oh… hah… I kind of forgot about that,” she whispers.

“You forget about it and my dick won’t go down. Doesn’t seem fair, Princess.”

“I’ll take care of him when you get home in the morning.”

“I like the sound of that,” I tell her, and hell, I do. How Addie can make that damn apartment of hers feel like a home, I don’t know—but, she does. I’ve been happier there the last two days than I ever was in Dallas, and I thought I had everything I wanted there. Now that Addie is in my life, everything has changed.

“Me too,” she murmurs in a sleepy sounding voice that does nothing to make my dick soften. I’m going to be doomed with a permanent hard-on the rest of the night.

“Were you needing something, sweetheart?” I ask, when the line goes silent for a minute.

“Oh! Yeah. Sorry I forgot, I was thinking about you and giving you—”

“Addie, please. I’m begging you here. If you talk about giving me head right now, I’m probably going to come in my damn pants and I’m not going to be able to hide that from Tani who is already in the office.”

“She working again tonight?” Addie asks.

“Just two more nights, then the regular girl comes back.”

“Oh… Okay.”

“You were about to tell me you needed something? Besides my dick that is,” I joke.

“You’re so full of yourself,” she laughs.

“I rather you be full of me, but…”

“Whatever. Anyway. Remember my friend, Lynn?”

“Lynn?” I question, because at first the name doesn’t ring a bell.

“Yeah, she’s the one I met when shopping with Petal and CC and then later, she was at the store when my tire went flat?”

“Oh, yeah. What about her?”

“It’s the weirdest thing, Black. She showed up outside, just a minute or two after you left.”

“She did? She knows where you live?”

“Well, yes, she drove me home with my groceries remember? And then later to Hank’s.”

“Yeah, sorry. What did she want?” I ask, because I can finally decipher what I heard in her voice earlier… fear.

“She was angry…”

“Angry? At you? What on earth for?”

“Because you were staying here I think. It was weird, Black. She was like… over the top. She said you were turning me into your whore, even.”

“She what?” I growl.

“I told you. Something about it just felt completely wrong and…”

“And what, Addie?” I ask when she breaks off. I’m mad as hell right now and I got a feeling whatever she says is only going to make it worse.

“She said I’d live to regret letting you… Well, I don’t know what she meant, but her face was so cold. It has me on edge. Do you think she’s… dangerous?”

“I’m not sure. I do know she doesn’t sound stable. I need you to promise me something, Addie.”

“What’s that?” she asks and I hate that I hear that fear leak into her voice again.

“Keep all the doors and windows locked, just to be safe.”

“Already done. Black, I’m sure it’s fine. She was extremely nice the other day. If she meant to cause me harm she had the chance then.”

“I know, but it’s better to be safe rather than sorry. You call me if she shows up again, and whatever you do, don’t open the door for her.”

“I won’t. You sure are bossy,” she complains, but I can tell that talking to me has eased her worries a little bit and I’m glad.

I’m worried enough for both of us.

Things happened in Dallas that have taught me never to take things at face value. I’ve never been witness to anything bad happening in Mason, but I don’t want to take the chance that Addie would be the first.

“I’m only bossy because I care about you, sweetheart.

“I… care about you too, Black,” she confesses quietly.

“I know baby. I’ll see you soon. You call me if you need me, okay?”

“Okay,” she agrees. “Talk to you later.”

“Later, Addie.”

I click off my cell with a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. Feelings like this, is what kept me alive as a detective. I look at the clock and it’s late, but Hank is probably still in the garage. I pick up my radio to call into Tani.

“Dispatch,” she answers over the static.

“Tani, I’m on duty, but I’m headed over to Hank’s. I need to talk to him about something that happened. If you call and can’t get me on my radio, I have my cell.”

“Got it, Black. It’s quiet so far, so you’re good.”

“Thanks,” I answer, distractedly. Intent only on talking to Hank and seeing exactly what he thought about her tire and spare tire. Addie downplayed the flat, but now I’m just wondering. It seems like an awful big coincidence that both her flat and her spare were cut and Lynn just happened to be waiting for her outside…

And if being a cop has taught me anything, it’s to not believe in coincidences.