“As soon as you get off your shift tomorrow night? Or will you be too tired?”
“I’ll be tired, but I still want to go. The sooner we get this resolved, the better I’ll feel. And I’ll ask if I can leave a couple of hours early if that would help.”
“It would. So around 5:00?”
“Okay. I don’t think it’ll be a problem.”
“Yo. Brandon, my man, what up?”
Sonya jerked at the voice to her left. She turned to find a tattooed young man with more earrings in his ears than she had in her jewelry box.
Brandon stood and held a hand out to the kid. “Spike. Haven’t seen you in a while. How are you?”
“Hanging, dude. Just hanging.”
“Staying out of trouble?”
“Of course.”
Sonya almost had to laugh at his attempt at an innocent look.
Brandon rolled his eyes, but the smile on his lips was genuine. He turned to her. “Sonya, I’d like you to meet Landon Olsen, aka Spike. Landon, this is Sonya.”
“Pretty lady, dude.” He elbowed Brandon and winked. Sonya could feel the flush inching its way up her neck and into her cheeks. Brandon gave a gentle slap to Spike’s head. The boy laughed and said, “Sorry. I’m kidding you.” He made a formal bow in Sonya’s direction. “Pleasure to meet you, ma’am.”
“Well, thank you, Spike. It’s nice to meet you, too.” She shot a glance back and forth between the two. “So how do you guys know each other?”
Spike stuck out his well-muscled chest. “I’m one of his more successful projects.”
Sonya lifted a brow at Brandon and he groaned. “He’s a pain in my side most of the time.”
Spike grinned. “Dude, you know you’re my hero.” He looked at Sonya. “I’m gonna be a detective like him one day.”
“That’s a wonderful goal, Spike,” she said. “I have a feeling you’ll be one of the best and brightest.”
Spike’s eyes lit up and she could see he took her compliment seriously. Just the way she meant it. He turned to Brandon. “I like her, man. Don’t mess it up.” Before Brandon could say anything, Spike announced, “Hey, I gotta go, dude. See you Saturday?”
“I’ll be there.”
“I’m going to beat you so bad, you’re going to need a doctor to put you back together.”
“Don’t count on it. Your head’s getting so big, it’s going to weigh you down.”
Spike barked his laughter, gave a two-fingered salute and slipped out the door.
Sonya sat back. “What in the world? Beat you?”
Brandon blew out a sigh. “I help out at Parker House. It’s a place that takes in young men who’ve had some brushes with the law and rehabilitates them. Or at least tries to. It’s part that and part recreation center. When he said he was going to beat me, he meant he was going to win our game of three-on-three this weekend.”
“Basketball?”
“Yes.”
“Sounds like fun.”
He studied her. “You like basketball?”
“Love it.”
“You want to come watch?”
She did. “What time?”
“Nine o’clock.”
She groaned. “As in a.m.? On a Saturday morning?”
He laughed. “Not a morning person?”
“Not in the least. I mean, I have to be for work, of course, but on my days off...”
“You almost smiled.”
She frowned. “What?”
“You don’t smile much.”
“I haven’t had much to smile about lately.” She tried to force her lips into one and he shook his head.
“I’m not talking about a fake smile. I’m talking about a real one.” Before she had a chance to respond or even try to find a “real” smile, he said, “But you’ll come?” His voice softened and he leaned forward. She caught a look in his eyes that made her gulp.
“Sure. I’ll come.”
He nodded and looked away. She wondered what he was thinking, but couldn’t tell. Did he regret asking her? He cleared his throat. “Anyway, tomorrow after your shift, we’ll go see Heather’s parents.”
So it was back to business. “Yes. That’s fine.”
* * *
Brandon studied Sonya and wondered what had come over him that he would invite her into a place that he kept as his. His home was his haven. Parker House was his escape, his passion. And he’d just invited Sonya to come. He must be more tired than he thought. “I wanted to talk to you about something else. Someone broke into my house last night.”
She gaped at him. “Broke into your house?”
He nodded and told her what had happened.
“But why?” she asked.
“To tell me to stop looking for Heather Bradley.”
She paled and sat back. “What?”
He took a sip of his coffee. “I think it’s extremely weird that you were shot at yesterday and then someone breaks in my house the same night. It could be just a crazy coincidence, but I’ve been in this business a long time and I’m just not sure I’m going to buy that theory.”
“I don’t know, Brandon. The shooter wasn’t really going for me personally. He was shooting at others in the park, too.”
“True. I’ve thought about that. And maybe I’m just grasping at straws trying to link the two things.”
“What else did the person say?”
He shook his head. “Nothing. Whoever it was didn’t get to stay long enough. When he realized I had a weapon, he took off. The cops got there and we searched the area, but came up empty.”
He saw her swallow. “I’m so sorry.”
“I am, too.”
“Do you have any enemies?”
“I think a better question is, do we have any enemies in common?”
“But we’ve only known each other a couple of weeks.”
Brandon lifted a brow. Had it been such a short time? It seemed as if he’d known her a lot longer. “Exactly. The only thing we have in common is your case.”
“Heather Bradley.”
“Yes.”
“So someone doesn’t want us looking for her? But who would even know?”
He shrugged. “I honestly don’t know, but it’s the only reasonable explanation I can come up with. But most likely you’re right. The two incidents probably aren’t connected.”
“You don’t have an alarm system?”
“I don’t.”
“I’m surprised.”
He gave a low chuckle. “I never really felt the need for it. I don’t have anything worth stealing and I have a gun on my nightstand and know how to use it.” He paused. “After last night I might reconsider, though.”
“So