Keepers of the Cave by Gerri Hill Read Free Book Online Page A

owned by the Hogan estate. Financially, those appear to be the only assets they have, other than the adjoining acreage. And they’re trying to get records on the medical school guy, Don Hogan. Other than that, nothing.” CJ came closer, inspecting the pile of vegetables Paige had chopped. “So are you just making this up or what?”
    “Unless you want to volunteer to cook, I would suggest you keep your comments to yourself,” she said. “And no, I’m not making this up. It’s a dish I cook frequently.”
    “Vegetables. What else?”
    “Brown rice. And I’ll make a sauce to put on it.”
    “I meant, you know, protein.”
    “Navy beans, kidney beans. A mixture.”
    CJ’s eyebrows shot up. “Beans? I went shopping with you. I saw us buy chicken breasts, fish, a couple of steaks. So beans?”
    “We’re having burgers tomorrow. I thought we’d do a vegetarian meal tonight. It will go wonderfully with that chardonnay.”
    CJ sighed. “I’m going to miss takeout. That’s how I survived, you know.”
    “No doubt. Lucky you, I love to cook.”
    “Yeah, lucky me,” CJ murmured as she plopped down on the sofa. “I get vegetables and rice. And no TV.”
    “So ask Howley for approval to purchase one,” she suggested.
    “Yeah. We should.”
    Paige put onions and peppers into the hot olive oil while she finished slicing the squash. Their first night together was not going well. There was a visible tension between them, and she knew it stemmed from the fact that soon, they would be retiring into the bedroom together, to share a queen bed that was getting smaller by the minute. So now seemed as good a time as any to bring up... that night .
    “Why haven’t we ever talked about it?” she asked. Thankfully, CJ didn’t pretend to not know what she was talking about. CJ couldn’t, however, hold her gaze.
    “Because that’s what we do. We don’t talk about things. We do our job, we see what we see and we deal in our own way. That night, we just happened to deal with it together.”
    Paige was amazed by her honest answer. It was better than any she could have given. But she did feel she owed CJ an explanation.
    “I know you. I’ve worked with you for several years now. You have this persona that you project to everyone—always a different lover. You go out searching, after we’ve had a particularly bad case. You go to the bar, find some stranger, someone you don’t know, someone you won’t have to know after it’s over with. You go home with her and then you leave and forget all about her.”
    “Hey, wait a minute,” CJ said. “I’m not the one who left. You did.”
    “Yes, because I knew you wouldn’t want to talk about it, to deal with it. That’s not your style. What would we have done if I’d stayed? I wasn’t like the others where you could make your escape before I woke up and never see me again.”
    “No. But you made your escape,” CJ reminded her.
    “Yes. I did that so you— we —wouldn’t have to face it. I left because that’s what you wanted. I left because...well, because I knew it would be awkward. And I knew we wouldn’t have any rationalization as to why we did what we did. And I didn’t want us to be uncomfortable at work.” She gave a quiet laugh. “Which, of course, was impossible. We spent the first few weeks acting weird with each other, so much so that Ice and Billy started to notice. It got back to normal, but...”
    “But? What would we have talked about? We had sex. It was one of those things. It was a bad case and...”
    “And what? I was there? I was available?”
    CJ shook her head. “That’s not what I meant.” She paused. “Well, yeah, maybe it is what I meant. You were there. You were someone who could relate. You weren’t a nameless stranger who didn’t know me, didn’t know the job.” CJ met her eyes, finally holding her gaze. “Why did you come to the bar that night?”
    Paige turned away. She knew if she brought up that night, CJ would ask