“Look, Sarah, I shouldn’t have—”

But she cut him off when she leaned over and kissed him on the lips.

“God, I’ve fancied you for so long,” she said.

He meant to push her away and tell her that he wasn’t that sort of bloke, but she bit at his lip . . . and she smelled delicious.

The next morning, Liam’s alarm awoke him at six-thirty. He picked up his mobile phone and ran his thumb over the smooth screen. He was about to text a message to Evans when the woman in the bed next to him stirred.

“Don’t get up yet,” she mumbled and pulled the blankets over her head.

“I have to get to work, Sarah. I’m on an important case right now.” He found his clothes in a pile beside the bed and dragged the whole lot with his feet into the bathroom. And what the hell was he supposed to do with the car? Was he supposed to meet Sophia at her flat? He knew he should just ring her but he felt ashamed.

He turned on the shower and climbed in. The cool water jolted him awake. As the water warmed, he quickly soaped up. A few minutes later, Sarah joined him.

“You don’t mind, do you? I should have enough time if you drop me off at home to change and get to work.”

Yes. That would be a bother. He had to make it to Sophia’s flat before she left and he wouldn’t have time if he took Sarah to her flat. And he really didn’t want Sophia and Sarah to meet. How did it take only hours for life to complicate itself? “Actually, I’m not going into the office this morning. I have something to do first. But I can give you money for a taxi if you like.”

He thought he could see her heart sink in her chest. “Yeah, sure, I understand.”

He kissed her on the forehead. “But don’t you worry, I’ll see you later today.”

“Really? You mean tonight?”

“Well, I meant at the office. But, if you want more beer . . .”

Sarah laughed. She hadn’t even got through a third of the first bottle. The liar.

“You can come round my flat. I’ll cook something you like. What do you like to eat?”

“You can cook?”

“Of course, silly. I make a mean stuffed pepper. How about that? I might be able to wrestle up some beer. They have beer stores near my flat too.”

He leaned over and kissed her. “What time do you have to be at work?”

“Nine,” she replied.

“Hmm,” he replied, kissing her neck, taking in the smell of the soap and shampoo. “I think we have time.”

Liam tied a half-Windsor and looked himself over in the mirror. He needed a haircut, and when he rubbed his hand over his chin, he realized he could do with a wet shave as well. An indulgence he hadn’t had in three weeks. More time than money, for his case load had doubled due to cutbacks. Still, he felt he looked presentable and his ability to bring a fine lady home when he cared to only boosted his self-confidence.

His buzzer rang.

Liam went over to the intercom and pressed the talk button. “Who is it?” Sarah came and stood beside him, putting in her earrings.

“It’s Sophia. Can I come up?”

Shit.

“Yeah, yeah, come up.” He pressed the button to open the door and then focused his attention on Sarah. “Sophia’s here. Please stay in the bedroom. I don’t want us to be the talk of the office quite yet.”

“Sophia? Sophia who? Is she one of the . . .” She snapped her fingers trying to remember. “Computer people.”

“Computer people? She’s an analyst.” How was she ever recruited for government work? Turning her round, he pushed her into his room and grabbed the Merc keys off the chest of drawers. “It’ll just be a minute. Please keep quiet.” He shut the door behind him just as he heard a knock at the door.

“Evans.” With all his might, he tried to keep back a smile but she wore a long pink puffer jacket and a knitted hat. “Is it really that cold outside?” Turning to the side, she walked past him into the entrance of his flat. She looked around.

“Not outside, but I’ve been cloistered in a flat that would freeze the North Pole. I’m not wearing blue lipstick; I’m just suffering from hypothermia. Anyway . . .”

“Ah right, you want your Merc back.”

“No. That would mean I would have to drive it back to that neighborhood. No, I came to give you the keys to your car and the code to my underground car park. Please, return my car sometime today. Your car is sitting in space C19.” With another look in the living room, she continued, “I better be going now.”

“Yeah.” He ran his hand across the back of his neck.

A bang came from his bedroom. It wasn’t a loud bang and though Sophia looked toward the wall between her and his bedroom, she didn’t say anything. Why couldn’t Sarah just stay still for a few minutes?

“My neighbor upstairs makes so much noise in the morning,” Liam shot off quickly. “How do you think I rise so early? He’s my morning alarm. Just ignore it.”

She didn’t look impressed. “If I were you, I would’ve ignored the sound instead of making the excuses of a guilty man. Besides, the pair of woman’s heels are a dead giveaway. Unless there’s something I didn’t know about your kinky extracurricular activities.”

“Look—”

Sophia patted him on the cheek. “Liam, do something that surprises me. I expect this of you.” With that, she left.

Shit. He was a bastard.

“Is she gone?” Sarah whispered and poked her head from behind the bedroom door.

“Yeah. You can come out now.”

“How did she know I was here?”

“Because you couldn’t keep quiet in the bedroom.”

“I didn’t make a sound. I swear! The noise came from upstairs.”

“Then she’s smarter than either of us put together.”

Chapter Sixteen

The bloody bastard.” Sophia slammed her hand down on the steering wheel of her Fiat 500. She really couldn’t blame him for sleeping with other women. How the hell did he find time to meet women? Must be someone from the office. The only person she could think of was Sarah. Sophia knew that woman had her eye on Liam for a long time. She made it apparent by her frequent stops at his office for the most trivial reasons. But Sophia felt so stupid. Why did she have to walk in on them?

Her mobile phone rang. Liam. She threw the phone on the seat beside her. She had a job to do, and she was determined to get it done and done fast.

What she needed was a boyfriend.

A text message came through on her mobile and although tempted to ignore it, she couldn’t resist reading what Liam had to say. Only, it wasn’t Liam. It was from the last person she expected to hear from: Theo Blackwell.

I could use your professional opinion. Would it be too much bother?

Theo had moved up from Detective Inspector to Detective Chief Inspector after their last case together. She had wanted to congratulate him but couldn’t gather her nerves. On the one occasion she stopped by his house, he was just leaving with his wife. They looked happy and she didn’t want to interrupt, but in the end, she never returned.

Now he wanted her help. Her professional opinion. What could that mean? She knew he was working on the Tipring case, and she knew the name sounded familiar. Perhaps there was something she missed in her search. She had the day to delve deeper.

Where shall we meet? she texted back.

He texted an address and a time—eight.

Chapter Seventeen

Theo had agreed to pick Dorland up from his flat, his new flat, and arrived at nine on the dot. The flat wasn’t much better than his last poorly managed building. Paint peeled off the exterior walls and screens, perhaps torn open in attempted burglaries, flapped in the wind.

From the moment he pressed send, he regretted texting Sophia. What was he thinking? What information could she possibly provide? It would become clear he was only trying to find a way to meet her.