"Doesn't sound so bad." Reegan's own mother had died before he turned twelve, but she'd never been the affectionate sort.

"She's far too interfering, but she has her moments." Saul went quiet, mouth turned up in a half smile of genuine affection, and Reegan found a grin pulling at his own lips. Cammie's moments must be pretty good. What a strange combination, the middle-aged matron and the ex-cop. Before he could ask any more, Saul placed the cloth back over Reegan's cheek. "Keep pressure on that. I'll be back in a few."

Chapter Eight.

Saul twisted the knob all the way to hot and stepped under the water.

That man was hiding something from him. It wasn't even subtle, as if Reegan knew that Saul had cottoned on to the deception and was waiting to be called out for it. Swallowing his frustration, Saul ducked his head so the water beat down on the back of his neck, easing the nagging ache there. He couldn't get a handle on Reegan McNamara, who appeared so intelligent and competent one moment, only to start talking to Saul's bathroom appliances in the next.

Even more troublesome was Saul's inability to keep their relationship professional, because Reegan tweaked his danger gauge. Hell, he buried the needle. Wherever Reegan stood in the mix between this runaway woman and her asshole husband, he wasn't there by choice. Saul felt that deep in his gut. This case was going to bring trouble down on his head, and the more involved he became with Reegan, the worse it was bound to be.

He washed quickly, rinsing the shampoo before it even had a chance to lather, shaved in record time, and stepped back into the front office fifteen minutes later, not exactly dressed, but not naked either. He slid the shirt over his head as he stepped around the door, expecting to see Reegan laid out on the bed, nursing the bump in his head. He'd be no good to anyone trying to function with a concussion, and considering the nonsense he'd been spouting right after the fall, Saul would be surprised if he'd escaped without one.

Instead, he found Reegan sitting up, dressed in his trousers from yesterday and the white T-shirt Saul had left him. He shot Saul a watery smile. "Thanks for the shirt."

"Couldn't have you scaring our witnesses away."

Reegan's had been saturated with blood, but since he looked a little green at the moment, Saul kept that fact to himself. "I figured with your retainer, I can afford it." He pulled on a button-down. "Are you still up to this? Because, as you well know, I'd prefer to do it alone."

"I'm good." Reegan gave him a thumbs-up.

Damn. "Okay." Saul buttoned his cuffs, then came to stand beside the bed. He tilted Reegan's face up and looked closely at his pupils before pressing at the large bump on the back of his scalp.

"Ow." Reegan batted his arm away. "Stop."

"Don't be a baby. Do I need to call my lawyer?"

There it was again. Confusion quickly masked with humor, as if the inside joke, banal as it was, had flown right over Reegan's head. He pulled free of Saul's touch. "No worries." He stepped into his boots, stomping them to comfort, and plucked the white box from Cammie's desk. "I'm taking this."

Saul fought a smile. Damn it, he couldn't let himself be charmed at every turn just because they'd slept together. Yesterday Saul would have said there wasn't a romantic bone left in his body, and now here he was, acting like a thirteen-year-old girl. Annoyed, he hit the lights and gestured Reegan out onto the landing. "Whatever. With your luck, you'll probably slip into a diabetic coma."

He hadn't expected Reegan's face to wash gray. "On second thought." Reegan backtracked to the desk. "I'll save them for later."

"Jesus, I was kidding." Saul tracked Reegan's shaky steps across the floor. "You're not really diabetic, are you?"

"Even if I were, it would be the least of my worries." He perched the safari hat on his head, took a deep breath, and set his hands on his hips while Saul locked the office. "So I take it we're heading to Georgetown."

Why did those words strike such fear in his heart? Saul hated working with other people. He always had, even when Ron had been his partner. Cammie didn't count. She treated their cases like a never-ending mystery novel. Saul didn't mind her presence most of the time. She balanced his tense aggression.

Reegan, on the other hand, was proving to be little more than a clumsy distraction. Saul had never bought in to superstitions, but he sure as hell paid attention to his instincts, and right now they were screaming at him to hand Reegan back his retainer and go hide in his office for a week. Which was about how much longer he'd occupy it unless he paid the rent.

"That's right. Georgetown."

Teeth clenched, he led Reegan down the street to the car. Never before had he felt so conflicted about a case, both craving it finished and wanting it to stretch. He needed to cut Reegan loose before his feelings grew any more complicated.

Reegan had fallen behind, and Saul glanced back to check his progress. No one should have been able to shake off a fall like that, but except for a slight limp, Reegan looked unaffected by the tumble. Clearly, though, his serotonin-fueled high had worn off. A series of deep creases lined his forehead, and he walked with head bowed, bottom lip between his teeth. Saul made himself look away before he spouted something inappropriate. They hadn't talked about the night before, or their encounter this morning, but both times they'd connected deeply, not as strangers but as something more rounded and solid. Which felt both exciting and unnerving as hell, and Saul couldn't decide if it warranted a verbal mention.

Reegan beat him to it, but had the decency to wait until they were off the street and in the privacy of the car. "Last night and this morning. It was good. Really good. Thanks."

Busying himself with getting the car into traffic safely helped Saul control his pleased blush. "I don't make a habit of that sort of thing."

"I figured." Reegan met Saul's surprise with a wink. "You didn't treat it casually. I'm glad. It wasn't casual for me either. That's why I needed to say something."

Because he regretted it? Saul had never been good with these conversations, lacking the skills to understand what they meant to other men. He watched Reegan from the corner of his eye as he drove. "It was good," he offered quietly after several blocks. Turned away as Reegan was, staring out his window, Saul couldn't see his expression, but he gave a single nod.

And no matter how much I want it, we're not doing it again, Saul's conscience added. Silently, thank God, because it had been good. Too damn good, and he might have a strong work ethic, but he wasn't a saint. Separation and distance. That was the best course of action here. He needed to stay focused. Reegan wasn't the average client. Hadn't been since he'd pounded on the door last night. But the less attention called to that, the better.

"Georgetown isn't exactly small. How familiar with it are you?" Reegan folded one knee over the other, posture casual, but the tap tap tap of his boot against the door betrayed a hint of his agitation.

"I know most of it. You want to come clean about why she'd go there?" Saul clocked Reegan's obvious unease and filed it next to his other observations of the man. His evasiveness could easily lead them astray. "I know initially you said she didn't know this area. She obviously does. Or has some kind of connection with it. Give me something. I'm not going to be pissed." Well, maybe a little. "We need to be on the same page here."

Reegan ground his teeth. Back and forth his jaw shifted. "She knows the area, but it's been a while. It'll feel familiar to her, though. She used to sing at a bar near the university." He licked his lips. "I don't know if it's still there."

"What's it called?"

"The Tabby Kitten."

It didn't ring a bell, but at least they had a lead. "Never heard of it. But you said something last night that got me thinking."

Reegan raised an eyebrow in question.

"'Once in a blue moon.'" He risked taking his eyes off the road. "That is the name of a bar on M Street."

He saw the moment Reegan made the connection. He drew in a quick breath, and eyes alight, he turned to face Saul, fully engaged for the first time since they'd left the office. "That makes sense."

"It does? Why?"

Reegan's expression closed off at first. Then, to Saul's surprise, Reegan pulled a deep breath, sat straighter, and confessed. "It's the kind of thing she would have done. Thrown a clue like that into a conversation. I remember that about her. She loved words. She could create masterpieces out of the simplest conversations and put them to music. It was...she had a talent. Has a talent."

More truth. There'd been a new quality to Reegan's words, a depth that had been missing before. Whatever had convinced him to open up, he wasn't holding back now. Saul nodded and turned the car toward Georgetown. "All right, then. That's where we'll start."

Chapter Nine.

Once in a Blue Moon had just opened its doors to the early lunch crowd when they parked across the street, Saul shoehorning the Rover into a metered spot just inches longer than the car itself. Reegan stepped out and, once on the curb, spun in a slow circle, hands on his hips, eyes tracking the groups of people who passed. Most were university students, and those seemed to be the individuals who held Reegan's interest. Nostalgia swirled in his eyes, the slight trace of a smile hiding below the surface of his stoic expression.

Saul tipped his sunglasses over his eyes and leaned against the hood of the car. "Miss your university days?"

Reegan swung around. "Not at all."

The man took bad liar to a new level. And to what end? It had been a totally innocent question, having nothing to do with their search for Silvia. Saul filed the untruth away with all the rest, hoping that soon he'd find a pattern in the mishmash of information. A year ago the mystery would have intrigued him, and he might have found hours of pleasure in deconstructing it to find the answer. Now all he felt was an involuntarily flinch and more of that conflicting desire to both push Reegan away and pull him close.

"You sure? 'Cause you look like a little lost puppy who's finally found his home."

Reegan pursed his lips, dropping his gaze for several seconds before meeting Saul's eyes over the car's hood. "You're very perceptive."

The horrible, painful irony of Reegan's statement nearly buckled Saul's knees. Being unperceptive had been the root of his problems in the first place. That stubborn ability to miss the facts right in front of his face, and at the expense of so much. "I'm afraid that's not really true," he said, keeping most of the shake from his voice. "Not at all."

People swarmed by on the sidewalk, but Reegan's attention shifted. Hands planted on the hood, he studied Saul with narrowed eyes. "I know what I see. You don't have to agree. We'll just call it a difference of opinion."

Saul shoved trembling hands into his pockets. "Ready?"

Side by side, they crossed the street to Once in a Blue Moon and stepped through the heavy wood-paneled doors into the dim interior. Six steps led up to the main floor, where an expansive bar sprawled across the middle of the room. In the rear, a low stage flanked by burgundy velvet curtains stood dark and empty. Pairs of plush chairs faced the stage, small tables between them, barely big enough to fit a drink or two. To the right of the bar and down another short flight of steps, Saul found restaurant seating. Dark wood tables dotted the center of the room while booths lined the wall. He and Reegan were the first customers of the day.

A waitress, dark hair in a sloppy bun, appeared out of the shadows. "Two for lunch?"

Reegan looked to Saul, deferring the conversation. At least he wasn't trying to play amateur sleuth. A refreshing turn of events. Cammie would have gotten right to the point. Subtle, she wasn't. "That would be great." Saul smiled as she gestured them forward. "It's quiet here."

"It's early yet." The waitress led them to a booth tucked into the back of the room. "Come back tonight. You won't recognize the place."

"No?" Saul's knee bumped the table leg as he slid into the booth, and the waitress caught the bottle of ketchup that threatened to topple. Her long red fingernails glittered as she lit a globe-shaped candle and set in on their table.

"You should stop back by. We've got some great entertainment lined up." A stack of cocktail napkins appeared magically in her hand, and she slapped two onto the table. "What can I get you?"

"Just water," Saul said.

She gave him a thumb's down. "And for you, sir?"

Reegan's head swiveled like a kid's in a candy store, taking in the paraphernalia on the walls, the jukebox set into the corner and the bottled condiments, as though he didn't know which treat to sample first. Saul nudged him. "Something to drink?"

Focusing on their waitress, Reegan folded his hands on the table. "What do you have?"

The waitress blinked her blue-shadowed lids. "We've got everything, honey. Just pick."

"Do you have," Reegan leaned forward, "lager?"

Nonstop entertainment. Saul set his chin in his palm and waited for the waitress's answer. She smacked her gum a few times. "We've got Sam Adams and Foster's. And Blue Moon, of course."

Reegan looked to Saul. "I don't know any of them. What do you suggest?"

He swallowed the sudden flood of saliva and sat back. "They're all good."

He couldn't have given anything away. Seven months into recovery and he'd spent every day of those months practicing for this situation. His poker face was solid, impenetrable, but even so, Reegan's eyes widened slightly before falling away. "I think I'll stick with water too. Thanks."

She graced them both with a put-upon sigh, and pushed two laminated menus across the table. "Be right back."

Reegan grabbed the menu as though he hadn't eaten in years and buried his nose inside.

Saul took his more slowly. "You could have had a beer."

"I know." Reegan didn't look up. "I just realized it might not be the wisest choice, considering."

Considering what? He was sitting next to an alcoholic? There had been a time in the past when that assumption, and the pity behind it, would have made Saul seethe. Now it barely registered on his emotional radar. That it bothered him at all proved just how much he wanted Reegan's respect. He shrugged, flipping through the slightly sticky pages. "Whatever."

Reegan sidled a few inches closer and studied the menu as though there'd be a test when their waitress got back. He tilted his hat over his face and spoke from the corner of his mouth. "So what's the plan?"

Saul swallowed his groan. When this was all over, he'd have to get Reegan and Cammie together so they could bond over their private eye fantasies. "We're here, so we eat. Kill two birds with one stone. The place should be busier by the time we're done. That's when I'll go ask around after Silvia."

"Oh."

He ducked his head before Reegan's dejected reply made him smile. Distance. It was natural to feel sappy over the first person to touch him in over a year. Especially when those touches had been as tender as they'd been electric. It wasn't natural to believe there was any substance to those feelings. On either side of the equation.

Reegan ordered a hamburger, then ate it making the most obscene noises Saul had ever heard. Unless he counted Reegan's moans from last night. And this morning. These, however, were more entertaining than arousing, and Saul abandoned his own sandwich to fully appreciate Reegan's orgasmic enjoyment over his.

Reegan took another huge bite. He rolled his eyes back and groaned again. "So good."

He'd used almost those exact words last night. The reminder killed the last of Saul's appetite for his patty melt. He crossed his legs, resting his hand over the growing bulge beneath. "How good?"

That stopped Reegan mid-chew. His eyes dropped to Saul's lap, before climbing slowly to reconnect with his gaze. He deigned to set the burger down before-deliberately, Saul was sure-licking the juices off his fingers. "A good hamburger's a treat."

"Glad I could oblige." Saul's hand moved without conscious command, stroking over the sensitive ridge of his erection, controlled solely by the deep rumble of appreciation in Reegan's voice.

The waitress appeared, pitcher in hand, and refilled their drinks. "Everything okay?"

"Perfect, thanks." Reegan gave his burger an adoring sigh, and Saul decided to flee before his arousal got out of hand. He crumpled his napkin, threw it on the table and scooted out of the booth. "Be right back."

He hit the men's room, then sidetracked to the side of the bar that faced the stage. A tall, pimply-faced boy was sweeping the area with a wide push broom. None of the tables were occupied, but several people now sat around the bar. Mostly businessman, by the look, ties flipped over their shoulders while they nibbled chicken wings and watched the sports highlights from last night. Saul slid onto a stool near the end and waited for the bartender to notice him.

The guy approached rag-first, swiping it over the area in front of Saul before setting a cocktail napkin in front of him. "What can I get you?"

"What's on tap?" The words felt wooden in his mouth. Foul. But he made himself smile.

"Bud. Michelob. Amstel-"

Saul cut him off with a gesture. Christ, that was enough. "Amstel, please."

The light amber beverage appeared before him in seconds. Saul watched the condensation drip onto the napkin before reaching out to close his fingers around the glass. The cold cut straight to the bone. "Thanks. Hey, maybe you can do me another favor."

The bartender slapped the rag over his shoulder and waited. Saul made himself release the glass of beer and dig the picture of Silvia out of his pocket. "Any chance you've seen this woman?"

Yes. Saul knew his answer before the guy even spoke. His pupils dilated slightly in recognition, and he sucked in a shallow breath. Saul held the picture while the guy pretended to study it, but it was for show on both their parts. The bartender's posture had gone stiff, guarded. Not wanting to heighten the confrontation, Saul made sure his stayed loose and relaxed. Finally, the guy shrugged his beefy shoulders. "Don't think so."

"You sure?" Saul bit his lip. "Damn it. I'm really worried about her."

"I-I don't know. You could ask Marty. He was in here last night."

Bingo. Silvia had made her way to Once in a Blue Moon the night before. Adrenaline surged through him. He loved the chase. The puzzles and the mysteries. He'd been driven to solve mysteries since childhood, to find what had been lost or taken. He'd nurtured that desire through adolescence and young adulthood. Had used it to become a cop, and then later, a detective. The rush never faded.