Baltimore 03 - Did You Miss Me?

know how that is.’
    ‘I do. I hate it.’ He so hoped he was done settling for time passers.
    ‘I know. Me, too.’ She raised her glass and her brows. ‘To the end of time passers.’ She winked. ‘To Daphne.’
    He couldn’t fight the smile that took over his face and didn’t even try. ‘Hear, hear.’
    Zoe looked surprised. ‘No denials?’
    ‘No.’ He drew a breath, remembering that last kiss. ‘It’s too important.’
    She smiled at him. ‘Good. It’s long past your turn, Joseph.’ She settled back in her chair, sighed contentedly. ‘It’s so quiet. But it smells like burgers.’
    After the day he’d had, the burger had hit the spot and the quiet was a balm.
    ‘Dad made me a late dinner, then Mom came back from driving Holly’s boyfriend home. I, um, sent them up to bed.’ He winced. ‘At least I won’t walk in on them up there.’ His father had obvious plans to take up where he and Joseph’s mother had left off when they’d been so rudely interrupted.
    Zoe snorted. ‘You walked in on them? Where?’
    ‘In Dad’s office. Oh my God.’
    She grinned. ‘I hear you also met Dillon.’
    ‘How’d you know that?’
    ‘Holly texted me. She was afraid you’d be mad.’
    Joseph frowned. ‘She said the same thing to me. Why did she think I’d be mad?’
    The look she shot him was wry. ‘Because you threatened to make her last three boyfriends eunuchs. And because you often seem mad,’ she added quietly.
    Joseph blinked, taken aback. ‘But I’m not mad.’
    ‘I know that, Joseph.’ She sipped her wine, watching him.
    ‘But Holly doesn’t? Is that why everyone knows about Dillon but me?’
    ‘I think Holly knows you’re not really angry with her.’ Zoe’s words came carefully. ‘She worries about you.’
    ‘What, about those bullets today?’
    Zoe’s brows went up. ‘No, but we’ll come back to that. She worries about your heart. She remembers what it was like when you came home, broken-hearted. She’s worried that seeing her happy will break your heart even more.’
    ‘Oh.’ He frowned, hating that his little sister had seen him that way. Hated that he’d been that way at all. ‘But that’s not true, not at all.’
    ‘I know that, Joseph. Maybe you should tell her.’
    ‘I will. I don’t want her to worry about me.’
    ‘That’s going to happen, whatever you do. Like those bullets today. I saw it live. I didn’t breathe until you stood up.’ She paused, studying him. ‘Are you all right?’
    He didn’t pretend to misunderstand. ‘I had a bad moment or two.’ He fixed his gaze on his glass so he didn’t have to see the concern in her eyes. ‘Daphne had blood all over her blouse. Took me back to Jo. Those last few minutes.’
    ‘Oh, Joseph. I’m sorry. But you got through it.’
    ‘Didn’t have a choice.’
    ‘We rarely do.’ Leaning over, she pulled a spiral notebook from her backpack. ‘I have to be in court tomorrow, so let’s talk about your killer so I can go to sleep.’
    ‘His name is Doug. Last name unknown. He’s twenty-nine, Caucasian, and completely ordinary. He wants to hurt Daphne and I don’t why.’
    ‘Start at the beginning.’
    He did and she took pages of notes as she listened, her expression growing more troubled with every detail.
    ‘Daphne was abducted as a child? That is too damn weird, Joseph.’
    ‘I know. I tried to look it up, but I don’t have enough information. I know the year was 1985, that it happened somewhere in West Virginia. I know that Daphne was eight, and that her cousin’s name was Kelly and that Kelly was seventeen. The newspaper archives I searched didn’t go back far enough.’
    She blew out a breath. ‘I can write you up a profile, but that abduction is what you have to focus on.’
    ‘I will tomorrow.’ He could have tonight, but he hadn’t. A piece of him was afraid to ask, afraid of what he might hear. Afraid of what you’ll have to relive? No. He was sure it wasn’t any reason so shallow.
    She was watching him. ‘If you need me to help, I will. I feel like I know Daphne well enough by now to offer.’
    One side of his mouth lifted. ‘All those major mojito nights? Dad told me he played bartender for you girls.’
    Her smile didn’t reach her eyes. ‘You got it.’ She looked down at her notes, circled a few things, underlined a few others. ‘Okay. I’ll give you the bare bones profile I see right now. Tomorrow I’ll type it up and make it pretty enough for you to