Patchworked Hearts {SAMPLE}

Chapter 13

Unfortunately, Helen had all but forgotten about her suspicions when Dahlia opened the passenger side door of Pat's SUV and said aloud, "Hm. Not the ugliest I've seen; are you single?"

Thankfully, before Helen could even begin to think of interjecting her own opinion, Pat shook his head and said, "I'm happily taken, actually." His eyes shot to Helen over Dahlia's shoulder then, and he smiled crookedly. "Good morning, Helena. How are you?"

Knowing they'd seen one another less than four hours ago made Helen's own smile widen. "Not bad, Patterson—you?"

"Oh, pretty good, pretty good." He shifted his attention back to Dahlia. "Sorry, but that's Helen's seat."

Dahlia made a dramatic show of climbing into the backseat, but Helen ignored her as she hopped into her usual spot. "Is that mine?" she gestured her chin at the to-go cup nestled in the middle console, and Pat nodded.

"Of course." Dropping his voice so their companions couldn't hear, he murmured, "Something sweet for my sweetheart."

Helen's nose wrinkled, but she plucked up the drink nonetheless. "Ugh. Cliché."

Pat laughed brightly, shaking his head with obvious amusement. "Ah, Helena, you make me smile."

Helen didn't even have time to blush with embarrassment before her boyfriend turned to face the pair in the backseat. "You are . . .?" he asked Dahlia, though not unkindly. His smile, however, was strictly polite, and Helen wondered briefly if that was how he acted with most of the people he picked up. They probably only used him once or twice, after all; Helen was one of the only folks she knew who had a specific driver she called upon constantly.

"Dahlia," the woman introduced herself coolly. "A pleasure."

"Sure," Pat replied blithely, before turning to Ivan, who was huddled in the corner of his seat as though the action would make him invisible. "Sup, kid?" Pat's voice was gruffer than normal, and Helen could barely contain a laugh.

Poor Ivan was blind to the joke. "I, uh, nothing, sir. Nothing at all. Ever. Nothing." His cheeks flushed and he sank down in his seat, his mortified eyes trained on Helen's headrest.

"Sounds suspicious," Pat started, only for Helen to interrupt with a scolding, "Patterson, please."

Holding a hand off the steering wheel, Pat smothered a grin and said, "Sorry, sorry. Where to?"

Dahlia jumped in, rattling off the address and everything else about their interviewee, and Helen held back a sigh as she got comfortable with her hot chocolate.

It's going to be a long day.

***

It was, as it turned out, a long day.

Between Dahlia's shiftiness—which Helen firmly believed was related to the constant texting the woman was doing—Ivan's jitters that came from Pat's gruff farewell of, "I'm watching you, boy," and a long, drawn-out interview, Helen was more than pleased when she checked the time on her desk clock and saw the numbers 4:00.

Standing and stretching her arms above her head, she passed a "Bye; have a good night," to Tonya and Ivan before waving towards Crosby and ducking into the elevator.

Pat had shot her a text earlier to warn her that he would be a bit later than normal, since he was taking a client across the city, but Helen didn't mind.

She had a call to make, anyway.

Pacing by the back wall of the lobby, she bit nervously at her thumbnail while the dialing tone sounded in her ear. The phone rang twice before Addy's voice came through: "Hey, Nell. You alright?"