“Beyla had nothing to do with this,” I reminded her. As they laid a white sheet over Drago’s face, I remembered his last, labored words.

A couple of the paramedics went back to the ambulance to get a stretcher and I hurried over to the head paramedic, whose nametag identified him as Sean. He was a muscular guy with a serious face and buzz cut. He had a clipboard in his hand, and was filling out a report.

I stepped around the white sheet and the shape beneath it. “He was asking for someone,” I said. “A woman, I think. Are you going to be able to find out-”

He put a hand on my arm. “You were here, right? You’re the one who called us?”

“That was me.” Eve moved up behind me. “I did do the right thing, didn’t I?”

Sean stepped back and looked Eve up and down. “Oh, yeah. You did great. It takes one amazing woman to keep her head when something like this is happening.”

“It was nothing.” Eve sighed. “I just couldn’t stand by and watch another human being suffer and not take action. You understand. I’m sure you do. I know that’s exactly why you chose your noble profession.”

I figured I had to put an end to things before the flirtation got out of hand.

“Let’s not forget Alba,” I exclaimed. They both looked at me like I was nuts. “Alba. The woman Drago mentioned right before he died.”

Sean checked his clipboard. “Drago. Yeah, Drago Kravic. That’s the name on the driver’s license in the guy’s wallet. I’m a little mixed up. You knew the deceased?”

“We don’t.” Eve piped up before I could explain about the cooking school or how we’d heard Beyla and Drago argue. “He told us his name. Right before he breathed his last,” she murmured, heaving another sigh. I turned to her in disbelief, ready to protest, but she gave me her bestkeep your mouth shut-or else! look, and plowed ahead. Luckily, Sean was still looking at his clipboard. “We didn’t know him at all. We were just walking through the parking lot and there he was. It was…” She blinked rapidly. “Well, I don’t know if I’ll be able to sleep tonight.”

“Maybe Alba won’t either, when she learns the news,” I suggested. I turned to Sean. “Alba Stru. I think that’s the name he mentioned. Will you be able to find her?”

He consulted the clipboard again. “We found his wallet. That means we’ve got all his vitals. Name. Address. Phone. If this Alba is next of kin, you can be sure we’ll find her. In the meantime…” He signaled to his crew, and they lifted Drago’s body onto the stretcher and slid it into the ambulance. Sean gave a wave as if to say that he’d be right there.

“There’s going to be a police officer here in a couple minutes,” he said. “Just routine. They always send out a patrol car when something like this happens. Actually, they should have been here by now-there must have been some delay. If you could just stick around and give the officer your names and addresses…” He looked at Eve when he said it, and I thought he was going to ask for her phone number, too, except one of his buddies called to him, and he turned toward the ambulance.

“There’s the officer now,” Sean said, as he hopped in. He pointed toward the green-and-white patrol car just pulling into the lot. “Thanks for your help, ladies.”

“Oh, no. Thankyou!” Eve put a hand up to wave.

I slapped it down. “This isn’t a speed dating event,” I told her from between clenched teeth. I figured we didn’t need one of Arlington’s finest to find us fighting. “And why did you make up that story about how Drago told us his name as he breathed his last? Why didn’t you just tell him the truth about Beyla and the argument-”

“Now, hold on.” Eve straightened her shoulder, posing, no doubt, in preparation for meeting the police officer who had stopped the patrol car. “You’re the one who insists that Beyla didn’t have anything to do with Drago’s death. So why mention it? Besides, it made for a better story, don’t you think? The dying guy breathing his last words to the women who came to his aid.”

“Woman,” I reminded her, preparing to launch into a speech about the consequences of lying to a paramedic. But then I realized Eve wasn’t listening. Which wouldn’t have worried me so much if I hadn’t caught a glimpse of the expression on her face.

Eve’s gaze was fastened to the patrol car that had just pulled into the lot. The door swung open. Eve’s jaw dropped. For a moment, I couldn’t tell if she was surprised or angry or-

She grabbed my arm. Tighter than she had when we first found Drago.

More bruises. Just what I didn’t need.

I glanced from my friend to the officer just getting out of the car. It was a woman, and though she was wearing a standard uniform hat, I could tell she was a redhead. She also just happened to be gorgeous. The officer was a few years younger than Eve and me. She had a thin nose, high cheekbones, porcelain skin, and a body that didn’t have an extra ounce of fat anywhere on it.

“Eve? What’s wrong?”

Eve’s muscles clenched. She raised her chin and pasted a smile on her face that reminded me of the one I’d seen her use in every beauty pageant she’d ever been in over the years.

The officer closed in on us. Eve spoke, adding a dollop of Southern accent to her voice until her words were as thick as hominy.

“Why, if it isn’t Kaitlin,” she said. “Officer Kaitlin Sands.”

And the pieces fell into place.

I SHOULD EXPLAIN RIGHT HERE THAT EVE HAS HAD what might be called a checkered love life. Or maybeinteresting is a better word.

Remember Clint? And Joe? Michael? And Scott? Well, that’s nothing new.

The thing is that guys love Eve, and Eve loves them back.

She also loves being engaged. She currently was what I charitably calledbetween engagements, but I had no doubt there would be another big announcement sometime soon. As always, it would be followed by a flurry of wedding plans that included me getting fitted for a matron of honor dress that was cut too skintight/was too clingy/showed way too much décolletage for my round figure. But I never worried.

I knew I’d never have to march down the aisle in any one of those dresses.

Why?

Because I knew the engagement would be called off. Or more specifically, that Eve would call off the engagement.

Just like she’d done five times before.

But here’s the kicker… If my memory serves me correctly (and it always does), Eve’s been engaged six times.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to do the math. Or to figure out that it was the One Who Got Away who had gotten under her skin and was still causing her to itch.

His name was Tyler Cooper, and at the time of their engagement, he was an Arlington patrol officer. Tyler was smart and cocky. He was dedicated to his career, a real up-and-comer within the department. In fact, I’d heard through the grapevine that since their break up, Tyler had been promoted to detective and was working homicide.

I’d also heard that he was newly engaged to another cop.

A woman by the name of Kaitlin Sands.