Waking Nightmare by Kylie Brant Page A

purse and handed it to him for her share of the bill. He waved it away, and handed the check and payment to the waitress, who’d stopped by his side again.
    “The sample has already been delivered to the lab. It’s not a complicated test. They’ll probably run it first thing in the morning.” At Abbie’s raised brows, he gave a sardonic smile. “I don’t know what strings Dixon pulled to get this case stamped high priority, but I’m not complaining. The district attorney’s office has already drawn up the paperwork for a warrant on Juarez’s apartment, so we’re ready if the results come out the way I expect them to.”
    He stood, and she followed him out of the restaurant. The street beyond the diner’s parking lot was nearly deserted. It was after midnight. If Savannah had a bustling nightlife, it was located far from here. “If and when a search is conducted on Juarez’s place, I’d like to be there,” Abbie said as they stopped next to her car.
    “No problem. You’ve earned that, after today.”
    She nodded, satisfied. If it had taken the events of the day to gain a measure of the man’s respect, the hours had been well spent. Even with the stiffness settling in one knee, warning her that she hadn’t escaped the scuffle with the suspect unscathed.
    “Why don’t you give me your cell number, in case I need to reach you after hours.”
    As she rattled it off, Ryne punched the number into the directory of his cell. She watched him complete the action, feeling for a moment like a high school girl giving the most popular boy in school her phone number. She shook her head to rid it of the mental flash. She definitely needed some sleep. She hadn’t spent her high school years dating, and if a guy anything like Ryne Robel had approached her, she’d have run in the opposite direction.
    “Got it.” He flipped the phone shut and slipped it in his pocket, extracting his card and handing it to her. “You’ll want to program yours with my numbers, too.” Seamlessly, he switched subjects. “Did the glass company get to your place today?”
    She took the business card and slipped it into her purse. “They’re coming tomorrow. Security company will be there at the end of the week.” He didn’t look pleased by her answer, but she hadn’t been able to arrange anything faster. “I doubt the intruder is coming back anyway. They’ve already seen there’s nothing there to steal.”
    “I could call the security company for you. Sometimes they need a push. . . .” At the look on her face, he held up his hands, as if to stave off an argument. “Okay. End of the week it is.”
    She started the car door. “Thanks for the meal.”
    As he opened his mouth to reply, his cell phone rang. Abbie paused, looked back. If this was a new lead reported in the case, she wanted to hear about it. If it was something more personal, well, she could always apologize for eavesdropping.
    Ryne turned half away as he answered with a curt “Robel.” She noted the sudden stillness that came over him as he listened for a few moments. Then he threw her a glance, his expression a mask of grim satisfaction.
    “Good work. This might be the lead we’ve been waiting for.”
    Her pulse jumped. The call had to be about the case, but from whom? CSU? One of the other detectives? With mounting impatience, she tried to discern an answer from the one-sided conversation, but he was maddeningly reticent.
    “You thought right. I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”
    As he tucked the phone away, she demanded, “What is it? Did CSU find something else in the vehicle search?”
    “You could say that. Balkins said they would have missed it completely if they hadn’t pulled out the backseat. It was wedged down pretty tightly. . . .”
    He had to be doing this on purpose. “ What was? What did they find?”
    He grinned at the impatience in her tone. “A syringe. And it’s full. Looks like we’ve finally caught a break.”
    “If the contents