Now Jenn wanted to go out with me? What the hell was going on today?

“Go out?” I repeated. “Like just us two?”

“Yeah. There’s a new club that opened near Pioneer Square. I think it would be fun. We haven’t had a chance to get to know each other yet.”

Oh, God, this was the worst idea on earth. Clubbing with Jenn? I couldn’t imagine a greater hell.

“I’m not really much of a club girl,” I admitted as politely as possible, hoping she got the hint.

“Neither am I. I mean, look at me. I’m thirty-one. I’m way too old for that shit, but that’s why it’ll be fun. And then you get to break in your shoes too.”

I’d rather break in my shoes by standing in a pile of Fat Rabbit’s shit, but I didn’t say that. I had to wonder what the hell was in it for her.

She put her tawny hand on my shoulder and gave it a firm squeeze. She looked me straight in the eyes. Hers were all glittery and emerald and doe-eyed. Damn her, was she trying to glam me or something?

“I think it would make our man really happy if we did this,” she added.

I flinched. Our man? This was getting to be too much.

“I’ll think about it,” I said and turned away from her, picking up my bag and heading over to the den before she said something else that made me want to punch her lights out.

I hesitated at the door and listened. I couldn’t hear Dex working away inside. I looked sideways at Jenn, who was watching me, her arms crossed, then I knocked.

No answer. I knocked again.

“Dex?” I said loudly. Suddenly I had an image of him passed out on the floor, blood streaming from his nose, a tragic consequence of having played God with his medication. I pounded harder at that thought, the door rattling.

“Dex!” I yelled.

Finally it swung open and Dex was looking at me, worried as anything, but alive.

“What, what is it?” he said. He looked at me and then over at Jenn, who just shrugged at him and turned her attention to the fridge.

My heart was still beating fast but I gave him a look as nonchalant as possible. “Sorry, I didn’t think you could hear me.”

“I had my earphones on,” he explained and opened the door wider for me.

I walked in and he took his seat at the computer. He was in the middle of editing the footage we took. I paused and gestured to the door.

“Do you mind if I close the door?” I asked.

He was puzzled but didn’t protest when I did so. I was sure Jenn wasn’t going to be too happy about that.

I sat down on the bed as he turned in his chair to face me, leaning forward, elbows on his thighs, hands clasped.

“What’s the problem? Are you OK?” he asked. His eyes roamed my face inquisitively.

“Are you OK?” I blurted out.

“I’m…OK. A bit dizzy, actually, and tired, but I’ve been staring at this fucking screen for the last few hours. Why? Do I look wonky?”

His eyes were a bit droopy, now that he mentioned it. But I was relieved to see that he seemed to be functioning relatively normally. And I knew that the dizziness was just the Valium working through him. He would have had to take another dose of his pills while I was gone.

“You look fine. But I have something for you.”

I reached into my purse and pulled out the baggie of weed. I held it in the air without giving it to him. His eyes lit up.

“Ah, my sweet Rebecca,” he said and reached for it.

I held it back. “No. First, tell me why you’re buying a quarter pound of pot.”

His mouth twisted into a confused smirk. “For the same reason I buy 26 ounces of Jack Daniels?”

“So you quit smoking but you’re smoking pot instead now. How does that work?”

“I don’t know, Perry Mason. It’s something to smoke. Since when did you become a narc?”

“I’m not a narc,” I said, looking down at my feet, but couldn’t find anything to add to that. The truth was, I didn’t really have a problem with him smoking pot. It was the fact that he would be doing so while on Valium, missing meds and taking the rest of his mystery pills. But I couldn’t say anything about that without blowing my cover.

“Perry?”

I looked up at him. He leaned in closer to me.

“What’s wrong?” He reached over with his hand for my knee. I moved it out of the way.

“Nothing, sorry. I guess I’m just weird about drugs now.”

“As you should be. Just don’t worry about me, OK, kiddo?”

I nodded and then gave him his weed. I wondered if he was going to place it in yet another hollowed-out book but instead he just stuck it in the top drawer of his desk. Interesting how it wasn’t as secret as his meds.

“So how was the lunch?” he asked.

“Great. Rebecca is…really cool.”

“I knew you guys would hit it off,” he said with a knowing grin and turned the chair to face the computer. “I’ve been going through our stuff and it’s looking fucking rad so far. Still waiting to hear back from Dr. Hasselback about tomorrow night, though. We don’t have quite enough here for an episode but what we do have is fucked up. Take a look at the handprint.”

I got up and peered over Dex’s shoulder at the screen. His black, shiny hair smelled like shampoo and some natural musk of his. I’m ashamed to admit that I closed my eyes for a split second and breathed it in deeply like a love-struck weirdo.

I turned my attention to the screen before Dex caught on. The handprint that we saw through the screen last night looked really good and bright on the computer. Clear as day, almost.

Then Dex zipped the edits back and showed me the shots that the camera got from being propped up on the sink inside the room. You could clearly see the doorknob turning back and forth. Of course, even though we knew we were the only ones there, it was one of those shots where the audience would probably assume it was faked.

Hence why we would need to get more footage. We just didn’t have enough to go on.

“What about the EVP, have you listened to that yet?” I asked, my mouth close to his ear. He shivered slightly at my breath and I took a little bit of pleasure in that.

“Not yet,” he said. He turned his head to look at me out of the corner of his eye. Our faces were so close that I could count the pores on his nose. “I’d say we could give it a listen now, but we don’t have enough time.”

I stood back. “Why, where are we going?”

“I’ve got some errands to run and then we’ve got dinner plans tonight with some friends.” He pushed pause on the footage and saved all of his work before shutting off the monitor.

“Am I included in these dinner plans?” I asked wearily, sitting back on the bed. The thought of having to go out for dinner with more strangers was tiring. I just wanted to hang out here and keep an eye on Dex.

“Of course you are. You’re my prisoner this week, don’t you remember? Personally, there are a million other people I’d rather introduce you to. Sarah and Jorge are really Jenn’s friends more than mine, but, you know, compromise and all that bullshit.”

“Dex Foray knows how to compromise?” I said. “You learn something new every day.”

“Yes, you do,” he said, and got up. He saw the shoes in the bag. “You went shopping with Rebecca?”

“Yep,” I said, pulling the shoes out of the box.

His brows went to the heavens. “Wow. Those are like…Jenn shoes.”

“These are not hooker shoes,” I said defensively.

“Well played,” he said. “You going to wear those to dinner?”

I told him no. I wasn’t even going to change since I already looked nicer than usual for the lunch date. But I didn’t mention the whole clubbing thing with Jenn. I was afraid there was a small chance he might think the whole thing was a good idea.

Unfortunately, Jenn didn’t keep her mouth shut about it. She was in the middle of parking the Mini near the restaurant when she brought it up to Dex.

“Did you see Perry’s shoes?” she asked him as she ran the back wheel onto the curb. Worst driver ever.

“I did. Dangerous looking things.”

“I want her to wear them clubbing later. She needs to break them in.”

Dex’s hand flew out and caught Jenn’s arm as she straightened the wheel and attempted parallel parking for the second time. “Hold up. What? Clubbing?”

He looked behind him at me. I tried to shake my head as subtly as possible but Jenn said, “Yes, I thought some girl time would be great for us.”

“Is Rebecca going?”

“No,” Jenn said, scrunching up her nose in distaste. “Why would she? It’s just Perry and me. I thought it would be great to let our hair down and get to know each other. Isn’t that right, Perry?”

Now she had turned in her seat to look at me. Both of them were waiting for some sort of reaction. I could see that Dex knew how uncomfortable I felt but he didn’t say anything. A “oh, let Perry stay home tonight” would have been a sufficient touch from him, but no.

“Yes,” I said monotonously. “Girl time.”

Dex shook his head, “You girls are fucking nuts. It’s a Wednesday night. Who goes clubbing on a Wednesday?”

“Aww, Dexy Poo, are you jealous that we are leaving you out?”

Dexy Poo? Excuse me while I vomit.

“Ha!” he said, slapping his knee. “I sure wish I could get hit on by douchebags all night, dance to asinine monkey beats and drink $20 beers… Jesus Christ, woman, you want me to park the car for you?”

Jenn was now going back in for a third attempt at parallel parking. She glared at Dex but managed to do it this time. Third time’s a charm.

I got out of the car, squeezing out between the seats and looked around me. I had no idea what part of Seattle we were in, maybe Bellevue? It was quite a smart-looking area with lots of little cozy-looking cafes and posh boutiques that were done up in twinkling Christmas decorations. It was another reminder that the season was upon us and Christmas would be here before we knew it. I just couldn’t get into the spirit for the life of me. It seemed like my whole life had boiled down to just this one week in Seattle. Looking beyond this trip seemed impossible.

It had stopped raining, too, which was good, but the wind was picking up and for once the air was fraught with winter chill. The kind of chill that smells like snow, like a massive breeze had stormed down a snowy mountainside and danced in and out between the city buildings. I held my coat close around me, stuck my hands deep in the pockets and joined Dex and Jenn on the sidewalk.

“We’re a few blocks away, but at least it’s not raining,” Jenn said as we walked down the street together.

“Heaven forbid you try to find a parking spot close to where we need to be,” Dex sniped from behind us.

Both Jenn and I turned and gave him a look that probably matched. Maybe mine looked more concerned than Jenn’s.

“What the hell is up your ass tonight?” she asked.

“Nothing,” he shot back but as he did so, he winced considerably.