Just the mention of those incidents made her chest and right wrist ache, which she dismissed as imaginary pain, mentally induced reminders of her past injuries. She blamed Duncan for that. She didn’t need those distractions right now.
“Instead of giving me a lecture, how about congratulating me on making a huge discovery that breaks open our case?”
“If you’d slept last night, you still would have made the same discovery today, except you’d be rested and a lot more healthy.”
“It also would have cost us precious hours we don’t have.” Eve looked past Duncan and spotted Grayson Mumford, wearing an ill-fitting suit and talking to a group of people outside the library.
“Who are they?” she asked, just to change the subject.
He followed her gaze. “That’s Grayson Mumford. The security guard who saved your life.”
“Yes, I know. Who is that with him?”
“His parents, Bill and Karen, and his twelve-year-old sister, Emily, and Maureen Stoker, the mayor of Calabasas,” he said. “You should go say hello.”
“How do you know all their names?”
“Because I went and said hello.”
“And you remember their names?”
“I also remember where I parked my car,” he said, “and that was even longer ago.”
“I’ve already forgotten their names,” Eve said, wishing she had another Red Bull within reach.
“Good, then you’ll appear genuinely unprepared when you go and say hello. Quick, you have an opening now that the mayor is leaving.” He gave her a shove and she reluctantly straggled over to Grayson and his family.
“Pardon me for intruding, I just wanted to say hello,” Eve said, catching Grayson’s eye, “and to thank you again for what you did.”
“I was just doing my job,” Grayson said. There was something stiff and rote about the line now. Eve wondered how many times he’d said it over the past seventy-two hours.
“He keeps saying that,” his mother, Karen, said, as if reading Eve’s mind. “But he went above and beyond. Too far, if you ask me.”
Eve felt the same way. She wasn’t convinced that Paul Colter had to be shot, that she wouldn’t have been able to talk him down.
Bill Mumford turned to his son. “They better give you a fat bonus or a promotion to a command position.”
Eve nodded toward Ethan Dryer, who was sucking up to Sheriff Lansing, who was smiling but clearly scanning the crowd for someone more important to talk to. “You should talk to the guy who is with the sheriff. He runs the security company and writes the checks.”
“I’ll do that.” Bill offered his hand. “I’m Bill Mumford, this is my wife, Karen, and daughter, Emily.”
Eve shook hands all around. “I’m pleased to meet all of you. I’m Detective Eve Ronin. I was in the store that day.”
Emily didn’t let go of her hand. Instead, she drew Eve close. “I know who you are. I’ve seen all your videos. I’m a big fan.”
The compliment made Eve uncomfortable. Emily talked about the videos like they were episodes of a show, or advertisements, that Eve had produced. But they were neither. Eve had nothing to do with the production or posting of the videos.
Having a fan also bothered Eve, who believed that real cops didn’t have fans. Only the fictional ones did. But then she remembered the Ronin script sitting in her hotel room and realized that soon she might be real and fictional, which only made her more uncomfortable.
Bill Mumford took out his phone and gestured to Eve and his son. “Could I get a picture of the two heroes together?”
Eve moved beside Grayson and they turned to face Bill. But before he could take the picture, Karen stepped up to Eve, blocking his view. “When I said I wished Grayson hadn’t done what he did, I didn’t mean to imply I’d be happier if you’d been shot.”
“I didn’t take it that way,” Eve said. “I also wish he’d run out with the customers and employees.”
“But you would have been killed.”
“I could have been,” Eve said. “But I’m paid to take those risks. Grayson isn’t. If one of us was going to risk their life, it should have been me.”
“Move, Karen,” Bill said. She did, and he gave Eve and Grayson some direction. “Smile and look this way.”
He took a few pictures, then Emily handed her dad her phone.
“Can I get a picture, too?” She didn’t wait for an answer—instead she stood beside Eve and took her hand.