case?”
“Mary Jane loses her license. Is that what you want?”
“ Mary Jane is a big girl. She knew what the risks were when she got into that car.”
“For herself. I don’t think she counted on running that decision through the meat grinder of your celebrity.” She flinched a t that. He felt like he’d kicked a puppy. “ God , don’t look like that. I’m not making things up to make you feel bad, Nixie. But you have to understand. A t this point, you’re more liability than asset. ”
Her smile faded, and those giant eyes went very serious. “ You have no idea what kind of asset I can be. If I’ve done something wrong, I’ll fix it. But don’t freeze me out because of who I am. I’m working like hell to be more than just my name, Erik. Surely you of all people can understand what that’s like. ”
Erik bowed his head until it nearly touched the plastic lid of his coffee cup . He’d spent so much of his own life fighting against a larger-than-life parent to forge his own path. S crew ing with Nixie’s shot at forging her own just because she smelled good and distracted him suddenly seemed incredibly petty.
“Fi ne,” he said. “You can come . But can you dial down the Nixie Leighton-Brace factor a little ? It’s bad enough that you’re coming. I don’t want anybody to recognize you. ”
“Thank you, Erik.” She didn’t hug him exactly . It was more sort of squeezing herself up against his shoulder, but t he feel of her body burned itself into his brain. T he subtle curve of her waist against his elbow , the cool swish of her hair against his chin. It was her shampoo, he knew now, that smelled like lemons. Christ.
“Well, what are we waiting for?” she asked, her eyes shining like he’d just served her up a hunk of birth day cake instead of a grudging invitation . She wriggled like a frisky puppy and Erik smiled in spite of himself. “Let’s go get Mary Jane back from the Dog crew.”
CHAPTER NINE
The sky was a cold and unforgiving blue as Nixie and Erik crossed the bridge into Anacostia. They turned onto Kingston , passed the clinic and parked on the street outside a row of lopsided, grayish houses. The yards were stingy patches of reluctant weeds, separated by bow-legged chain link fences. The occasional window had been replaced with plywood, giving the whole street the vaguely menacing a ir of someone who’d lost an eye under questionable circumstances .
Nixie tried Mary Jane’s cell phone one last time . She watched t he wind swe ep a fistful of dirty snow into a mini-cyclone in the gutter while Mary Jane’s voicemail picked up yet again. She shook her head at Erik and flipped shut the phone. “Well?” she said . “Where do we start?”
He switched off the Jeep’s ignition. “What would you say if I asked you to stay here and guard the car against marauding bands of teenagers?”
“I’d say teenagers don’t maraud at eight a.m. on Sunday mornings. Now quit trying to get rid of me.”
“Right.” He sighed. “Let’s start with the south side of the street and work our way down to the Wash.”
“The Wash?”
“Washburn Towers. It’s one of the newer projects. The Dog Crew is supposed to have a serious presence there. If Mary Jane’s disappearance has anything to do with the Dog Crew, s omebody on this street saw something.”
“And we’re just going to knock at their doors bright and early on a Sunday morning and ask them to tell us what it was?”
“Yep.”
Nixie looked at him doubtfully. “That’s going to piss some people off.”
“I think you’re discounting my immense personal charm.” He smiled at her, and Nixie rolled her eyes.
“ I don’t know if anybody’s mentioned this before, but charm isn’t exactly your strong suit.”
His smile widened. “I haven’t been trying to charm you. You’d feel differently if I had.”
She
“Mary Jane loses her license. Is that what you want?”
“ Mary Jane is a big girl. She knew what the risks were when she got into that car.”
“For herself. I don’t think she counted on running that decision through the meat grinder of your celebrity.” She flinched a t that. He felt like he’d kicked a puppy. “ God , don’t look like that. I’m not making things up to make you feel bad, Nixie. But you have to understand. A t this point, you’re more liability than asset. ”
Her smile faded, and those giant eyes went very serious. “ You have no idea what kind of asset I can be. If I’ve done something wrong, I’ll fix it. But don’t freeze me out because of who I am. I’m working like hell to be more than just my name, Erik. Surely you of all people can understand what that’s like. ”
Erik bowed his head until it nearly touched the plastic lid of his coffee cup . He’d spent so much of his own life fighting against a larger-than-life parent to forge his own path. S crew ing with Nixie’s shot at forging her own just because she smelled good and distracted him suddenly seemed incredibly petty.
“Fi ne,” he said. “You can come . But can you dial down the Nixie Leighton-Brace factor a little ? It’s bad enough that you’re coming. I don’t want anybody to recognize you. ”
“Thank you, Erik.” She didn’t hug him exactly . It was more sort of squeezing herself up against his shoulder, but t he feel of her body burned itself into his brain. T he subtle curve of her waist against his elbow , the cool swish of her hair against his chin. It was her shampoo, he knew now, that smelled like lemons. Christ.
“Well, what are we waiting for?” she asked, her eyes shining like he’d just served her up a hunk of birth day cake instead of a grudging invitation . She wriggled like a frisky puppy and Erik smiled in spite of himself. “Let’s go get Mary Jane back from the Dog crew.”
CHAPTER NINE
The sky was a cold and unforgiving blue as Nixie and Erik crossed the bridge into Anacostia. They turned onto Kingston , passed the clinic and parked on the street outside a row of lopsided, grayish houses. The yards were stingy patches of reluctant weeds, separated by bow-legged chain link fences. The occasional window had been replaced with plywood, giving the whole street the vaguely menacing a ir of someone who’d lost an eye under questionable circumstances .
Nixie tried Mary Jane’s cell phone one last time . She watched t he wind swe ep a fistful of dirty snow into a mini-cyclone in the gutter while Mary Jane’s voicemail picked up yet again. She shook her head at Erik and flipped shut the phone. “Well?” she said . “Where do we start?”
He switched off the Jeep’s ignition. “What would you say if I asked you to stay here and guard the car against marauding bands of teenagers?”
“I’d say teenagers don’t maraud at eight a.m. on Sunday mornings. Now quit trying to get rid of me.”
“Right.” He sighed. “Let’s start with the south side of the street and work our way down to the Wash.”
“The Wash?”
“Washburn Towers. It’s one of the newer projects. The Dog Crew is supposed to have a serious presence there. If Mary Jane’s disappearance has anything to do with the Dog Crew, s omebody on this street saw something.”
“And we’re just going to knock at their doors bright and early on a Sunday morning and ask them to tell us what it was?”
“Yep.”
Nixie looked at him doubtfully. “That’s going to piss some people off.”
“I think you’re discounting my immense personal charm.” He smiled at her, and Nixie rolled her eyes.
“ I don’t know if anybody’s mentioned this before, but charm isn’t exactly your strong suit.”
His smile widened. “I haven’t been trying to charm you. You’d feel differently if I had.”
She
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