The 9th Judgment

"Oh my God," she said, panting, then fading, wanting to fall asleep in Rich's arms. But there was something bothering her, something she'd never felt it was okay to ask him until now.

"Rich?"

"Want to go for three?" he asked her.

"Dare you," she said, and they both laughed, and then she just blurted it out. "Rich, have you ever-"

"Maybe, once or twice before."

"No, listen. Did you ever do it with Lindsay?"

"No. No. C'mon, Cindy. She's my partner. "

"So that's what-illegal?"

"I think my arm's dead," he said to her.

Cindy shifted her weight, and then there was a whole lot of looking for articles of clothing and deciding where to spend the night.

She'd spoiled the mood, Cindy thought, buttoning her blouse. And she wasn't even sure he'd told her the truth.

Chapter 25

PETE GORDON WAS standing in the kitchen, whipping up some instant mashed potatoes on the stove while watching the baseball game on the undercabinet TV, when his wife came through the door.

"Whatcha burning?" she asked.

"Listen, princess, I don't need your frickin' cooking tips, and now you made me miss that pitch."

"So why don't you rewind it, sweetie?"

"Do you see a DVR in here? Do you?"

"Sorry, Mr. Cranky. I'm just saying you could save that if you put a little milk in it and turned down the flame."

"For Christ's sake," Pete said, switching off the gas, scraping the potatoes into a bowl. "You just can't let me have a single simple pleasure, can you?"

"Well, I have a surprise."

"Let's hear it." He dialed up the volume and ate the potatoes standing in front of the set. He spit into the sink as the food burned his mouth, glancing up in time to see the opposing team crossing the plate. "NO!" he screamed. "Goddamn Giants. How could they lose this game?"

"My aunt said she'd like to take all of us out to dinner tomorrow. Special treat-on her."

"Yippee. Sounds like fun. Your fat-assed aunt and all of us around a table at the Olive Garden."

"Pete."

No answer.

"Pete," she said, reaching up and turning off the television. He swung his head around and glared at her.

"It's not about you, handsome. It's about the kids having dinner with their family."

"You guys can get along without me. Just wing it, princess," Petey said, not quite believing it when she took the remote off the counter, jammed it down the disposal, and hit the switch.

"Go to hell, Petey," she said as the machine gnawed on the plastic. "No, I really mean it."

Pete shut off the grinder and watched his fucking wife flounce out of the room. He reran the last scene in his mind, only this time he put wifey's hand into the grinder. Yeah. The metal teeth chomping through muscle and bone as she screamed her head off.

He was going to get her.

He was going to get her and Sherry and the stink bomb one day really soon.

WCF, people. Wait for it.

Chapter 26

MY EYELIDS FLEW open at 5:52 a.m. exactly. I know because Joe has a projection clock, a high-tech gadget that shows the time and temperature in red digits on the ceiling.

I like knowing this information by simply opening my eyes. But this morning, I saw the red numerals and thought, WCF.

That goddamned baby-killing psycho had infiltrated my mind, and I didn't hold it against Claire one bit that she was so incensed and freaked and practically murderous herself. The insidious lipstick letters-the clue that led to nothing-were like the freight train heading toward the house when there was no place to run.

I wondered how Chi and McNeil were doing with the phone list that matched those initials. Man, it would be great if it led to the shooter, but a killer signing his work with his actual initials? Forget it.

I closed my eyes, but Martha was on to me. She put her snoot on the mattress, pinned me with her gorgeous brown eyes, and started thumping her tail. Then Joe turned over. He wrapped his arms around me, brought me into a bear hug, and said, "Linds. Try to sleep." It was now 6:14.

"Okay," I said, turning away from him so that he could hold me in the hollow of his body. He was breathing softly over my shoulder, so I sent my mind back to the days when I lived in my own place on Potrero Hill. My life had been very different then, jogging with Martha most mornings, running the squad, coming home to Martha at night. I remembered the microwaved, one-dish cooking, a little too much vino, wondering when I'd hear from Joe. Wondering when I'd see him.

And then my apartment burned down.

And now Joe was living here, and I was wearing his ring. At this moment it felt almost as though he were riding along with my thoughts. He held me closer and cupped my breasts. He got hard against me, and then he ran his hand down to my belly and pressed me to him.

As his breathing sped up, so did mine, and then he was turning me as though I were a tiny thing-a feeling that I just love. I squirmed from his touch, heating up under this new kind of loving that felt so different from the roller-coaster craziness of the time before Joe and I finally committed to a shared life.