strong the impulse.
I was in my bathroom, pulling off my clothes, when I heard Adam come into the bedroom. I didnt want to have him see how agitated shed made me, so I just continued to get ready to shower.
Three days since Christy got here, and weve made no progress, Mercy. Adams voice came, slightly muffled, from the bedroom. Its not that Juan Flores doesnt leave tracesits that none of them mean anything. Its starting to look as though he might really be someone dangerous. My connections with the DEA tell me that they have ten Juan Floreses on their watch listnone of them up high enough in the money to be Christys Juan Flores.
He neared the bathroom, and I heard him open a drawer. They say it might mean that hes not a drug trafficker, or that hes so big no one talks about him. Ive worked it out with a few of my people so I can work from home until we find him. He paused, then said in a low voice, You should know that Christy asked me to stay home because she doesnt feel comfortable with the wolves if Im not here.
I turned on the shower to let it warm up as well as give me a chance to think about what I wanted to say to Adam. But when I turned, I was confronted by a large plastic seethrough box covered with sparkly pink rhinestones that held a huge collection of makeup. Christys makeup was in my bathroom, on my counter, next to my sink. At least, I thought, she hadnt put it next to Adams sink.
Dont we have another bathroom upstairs that Christy could use to store her makeup? I asked.
There was a long silence, then Adam said, There wasnt room for her stuff and Jesses stuff in the smaller bathroom. Another pause. I told her you wouldnt mind.
I got in the shower and stuck my head under the hot water, so I couldnt say anything I would regret. Coyotes werent as territorial, as a rule, as werewolves, but we still had our hard lines. Having Christy flouncing in and out through my bedroom into my bathroom crossed one of my hard lines. I washed my hair and tried to let things, the ugly, unpleasant things I was feeling, slide down the drain with the rest of the grime that had covered my skin.
The shower door opened, and Adam stepped in.
Im sorry, he said.
I shook my head and leaned against him. The feel of his skin next to mine went a long way toward restoring my equanimity.
She probably asked you if Id mind, I said. And managed to imply that only a smallminded, petty person could possibly object to her husbands exwife moving her makeup into the larger, brighter bathroom. If you told her she couldnt, then youd have been implying that I was a petty, meanspirited person.
And jealous, he added. Im sorry.
I shook my head. I love you, I told him. I love the man you are. But her makeup is not staying here. I wont have her in our bedroom. In our bathroom. But I will take care of it. I smiled at him. I dont care if she calls me jealous or petty. Not your worry. So still no real information on Flores?
No, he said, soaping up his hands and starting to wash himself off briskly. The Reno pack sent a couple of wolves to talk to the hotel where Christy met Flores. Turns out he comes there every year about the same time, checks in under different names for which he has IDbut that is apparently not unusual despite government regulations. Theres an actor who regularly checks in there under the name of the secret identity of the last superhero he played. But the staff remembers him because of the dogsand confirmed that whatever name hes registered as, he still goes by Juan Flores.
I had followed Adams example and scrubbed myself down as he talked. I even managed to soap my hair and condition it before the magnetic draw of Adams skin forced me to touch him.
He can speak nativequality Spanish, but his accent is weird, Adam told me, but his voice was a little unsteady, and he braced himself against the corner of the shower. Not from Spain, Puerto Rico, Cuba, or Mexico. The Argentinian maid said he sounded Colombian. The Colombian maid said maybe Venezuelan, and he used very oldfashioned
Oldfashioned what? I asked, letting my mouth follow my hands.
Mmmm, Adam answered.
Someone knocked on the bathroom door. Hurry up, Mercy, Auriele said briskly. Christys made her famous Szechuan chicken, but it needs to be eaten right now.
I backed away, and Adam snarled soundlessly.
Yeah, I said. Me, too.
On the way down for dinner, I collected Christys things and set them down in front of her door.
You arent going to talk to her? Adam asked.
I dont need to, I told him. Shell get the message. If I had to give it again, shed be buying new makeup and a new case. But I was pretty
sure this would be enough.
I always start work earlya habit formed in summers when the afternoon sun can heat the garage ten degrees hotter than the tripledigit figures outside. But Thursday morning, I had left home while the sky was still dark just to get away from the breakfast Christy had been in the process of making. Nothing horrible had happened at dinner, but I didnt want to repeat it, either. Tad didnt show up at work until almost an hour after I did.