Ties That Bind

Chapter 35

MADISON WAS IN THE PASSENGER SEAT. "Okay, so first you insist on driving and then you pick the spot. How is that fair? You know how nauseous I get when I'm not the driver."

"Do you think I bought that?" He said it with such intensity she laughed.

Nothing escaped her brilliant, no, genius partner. The thought amused her. "Oh really? Well, you should, it's the truth."

"Yeah, I'm sure," he said sarcastically. A smile was on his lips.

He pulled into the parking lot of Sammy's. It was a locally owned and operated franchise. There were three locations, but they were only in the city of Stiles. It offered Greek fare including souvlaki and gyros. They had the best Tzatziki sauce Madison had ever tried, but why give Terry any satisfaction?

"So, I tell you dinner and you interpret it as fast food."

He pulled the car into a spot and turned it off. "Hey, you never specified the location, that's your fault."

"You've probably got coupons." She was having a hard time not smiling, and her attempt to act serious about it was flawed from the start. She didn't care if they ate here, as she loved their food.

He pulled down the visor, shuffling through some papers that were there.

"Oh, you do. Leave it to you to be frugal. Your little lady have you on a budget?" Terry shot her a look that spelled out it was none of her business. Apparently, the subject of his wife was still a sore spot. Fortunately for her, he quickly got over it.

"Next time you might want to specify where, picky. You said dinner, not gourmet cuisine from an award-winning restaurant."

She smiled at him and started to get out of the car. The thought of her in a high-end restaurant made her feel more of an outsider than running naked down the city streets would. She was a simple sort of woman at heart. She couldn't imagine sipping fine champagne while dining on escargot or caviar. She had only moved to the city to pursue her career.

Her thoughts traced back to Laura and Heather and their families. She wondered where the DMV search results were. Was the killer's information on her desktop now? Patience. She had to shake it and give her mind some time off, some time away. She needed to let herself relax and converse with Terry. The thought made her fend off a yawn as she realized how tired she was. When this was all over, she had plans to sleep for a month.

There was a line in the restaurant five deep. Not that bad, but the longer she was here, the longer it would take to get back to the DMV results. Her attempts to drown out the case were futile.

Terry took a seat across from her and referred to the Greek salad which served as her main course. "So what? You're getting all healthy on me now?"

The truth was, she wasn't that hungry, she was more tired. She wasn't going to admit that she had a Hershey's bar after Heather's parents left. "I thought I'd take it easy on you. I know this must hurt the budget." She waved her fork over the plate of food. "Taking me out like this."

He rolled his eyes before stuffing a large forkful of food into his mouth. He swallowed it before speaking. "I was going to pay you back, too."

"No way." She laughed.

"But you just blew it. Blew it good-bye."

"Oh really? You don't want me to get hostile on your ass, do you?"

"Oh, I'm scared."

She laughed. She could sense people watching them, maybe wondering if they were a couple. How absurd that would be. Terry was more like a brother.