Inspector Rames

Chapter 43

I woke up the next morning tangled in my bedsheets and Alex's limbs. Smiling, I let my eyelids flutter shut again, savouring the moment with him. His chest was warm and firm against my back, his arm thrown around me possessively. He smelled of sex.

He shifted in his sleep, and a weight I hadn't noticed before lifted from our ankles. I cracked my eyes open. Mitzy was standing on the bed, and she held my gaze without blinking.

Alex opened his eyes. "Good morning."

Mitzy jumped into the gap between us, purring.

I scoffed softly. "She sees I'm awake and she gives me a death stare. Then you wake up and she wants a cuddle!"

"It's my charm." A mischievous smile shaped his lips, and my heart flipped. "We're best friends now."

They practically were. Alex had once been wary of my cat, but as the months had rolled by and he'd started sleeping over at my flat, he'd slowly got used to her. In return, he'd become her favourite person.

He stroked Mitzy with long fingers, and she purred louder. I watched her with a small amount of jealousy.

Alex looked up with dark eyes that suggested he knew it, and he reached across to cup my cheek. "I think you'd better leave the room, Mitzy."

Before we could ruin her innocence, my tabphone alarm screeched. I shut it off with a groan. "Time's up. We need to get ready for work."

"There's always later." Alex slipped from beneath the covers and sauntered to the bathroom, leaving me to stare after him.

While he showered, I got dressed and made buttered toast for two. We hadn't eaten dinner the night before, so I devoured my portion in two minutes flat.

Alex came into the kitchen wearing a suit that had, at some undetermined stage, moved into my wardrobe. While he lounged against a counter to eat, I searched high and low for a chocolate bar to finish tackling the gnawing in my stomach. Unfortunately, I'd left the only supply I had back at our office.

I sighed as I closed the final kitchen cupboard. "I'm starving. That's the last of my bread, and all my cereal has vanished."

Alex smiled, knowing full well that he was the reason why my food was diminishing at twice the speed it had used to. "Don't they sell chocolate muffins at Rise & Grinder?"

I cast my mind back to the food display at my new favourite coffee shop. "Yes. Let's go."

The city was quiet so early on a Sunday morning, but even on my little road, the air hung thick with the smell of booze and cigarettes. Oh, Saturday nights.

We ascended the first metal staircase we found to the higher pathways. When we reached the top, Alex took my hand. "So, what's our first move this morning?"

A drunk woman with neon pink hair staggered past, looking like she was only just making her way home after an all-night party. I lowered my voice. "You don't have any updates from the PRBs about the news reports?"

"No. Radio silence."

"Damn. They must not have found anything useful." I followed him up to the next landing, trying not to get left in the dust. "We'll make personal enquiries about Janet's past."

By the time we reached the highest walkway, we were both panting. No wonder Rise & Grinder always looked like it was struggling for funds -- getting there was a terrible workout with no caffeine in my system. Coffee Glitch, by comparison, was much less taxing on the thigh muscles.

But Rise & Grinder was not a bad place, even though it looked like one. It was marked by a flicking neon sign over a door hanging off its hinges. Inside, the full-length windows were speckled with dust, and scratched steel tables for two stood beside them. Synthwave music played over tinny speakers for customers who largely weren't there.