“Not many could honestly say they do that. And you did have a moment.”
He laughed quietly. “I did. But I wasn’t putting you in the class of all women, just the class of one female partner who caused me a whole peck of trouble. And who uses pecks anymore?”
“Beats me.” She let her head come to rest on his shoulder again. “This seems positively sinful, to be relaxing like this when there’s a killer out there.”
“We worked hard today. Especially you. Right now we’re at a standstill. By tomorrow we might be wishing for one.”
It was true. The instant things heated up, they might not take a deep breath for days. Right now, all she had was a vague suspicion about one man, and until Gage checked him out, there was little more they could do. Gage at least had access to his employment application. She and Cade had already done everything else they could without a warrant.
Part of her wanted to stay exactly where she was, but the itch was coming back. As if he sensed it, Cade let go of her and reached for the two plates of untouched coffee cake.
“Grab the mugs,” he said. “Your obsession is returning.”
She froze. “Is that how you think of it?” She didn’t like the sound of that.
He stood, looking down at her with his patented crooked smile. “I’m the one who just got up. Seems I share the obsession.”
Feeling better, she grabbed the mugs and they headed back to the kitchen table. Maybe Lew had come up with something else. Maybe there’d be a useful email. Certainly Gage hadn’t called yet. He probably didn’t feel he could drag out employment applications or do a background check at night without drawing attention, and considering that he was trying to let as few people as possible know anything, she could understand that.
She just didn’t like it. She understood the need for caution, understood the need for warrants, but when her nose was twitching like this, she hated it. She could blow an entire case by crossing the wrong line. She’d seen it happen. Evidence got thrown out because it wasn’t obtained legally. No, she was not going to risk that.
Her nose would just have to keep twitching.
* * *
A couple of hours later, the night had deepened and no new light had emerged from their investigation. Cade was staring off into space, clearly lost in thought. DeeJay was about ready to give up thinking about anything. She seemed to be running in circles now, studying the same things over and over.
“You know,” Cade said, startling her a little because he’d been quiet for so long, “the guy you met today. Calvin Sweet.”
“Yeah?”
“Maybe he seems trustworthy to the kids because of his job.”
“How so? They wouldn’t know much about the crisis line.”
His gaze returned to her, focusing. “He might have given talks at the school about it. Kids sometimes need someone to talk to. Sometimes they need it even more than adults.”
Excitement crawled across her nerve endings. “Maybe. And since the hotline is under the sheriff’s department, he might seem doubly safe.”
“Exactly.” He sighed. “Dang, there’s so much we need to know. Now I should add to the list whether any of these kids were having the kinds of problems that might have made them feel they could talk to Calvin. Who the hell is going to admit to that now?”