Say Goodbye (Romantic Suspense #25) by Karen Rose

            “I ordered the pizzas,” Rafe announced as he came through the door to the studio apartment he and Mercy shared. “Double anchovies for everybody, right?”

            Liza looked up from where she sat on the floor painting Abigail’s nails to catch him wink.

            “What’s anchovies?” Abigail asked.

            “Salty little fish,” Liza said.

            “Ew!” Abigail cried, scrunching up her face. “That’s gross, Rafe.”

            “He’s teasing,” Mercy told her softly. Then she looked uncertain. “Aren’t you, Rafe?”

            “He totally is,” Sasha Sokolov said, her hands soaking in a bowl of warm, sudsy water. Rafe’s sister lived upstairs but was hanging with them on the lower floor for girls’ night.

            “I totally am,” Rafe assured Abigail, tugging on her braid. “I got liver flavor instead.”

            Abigail rolled her eyes. “You’re teasing again.”

            “He is,” Daisy said firmly. She was painting Mercy’s nails, taking special care because Mercy was going to be guest of honor at her birthday party. Everyone thought it was still a surprise, not knowing that Mercy had figured it out. “We’re eating pepperoni and sausage and all the good things. And you don’t even have to finish your supper to have ice cream.”

            Liza perked up. “What kind of ice cream?”

            “All the flavors,” Erin Rhee said from the sofa where she sat next to Gideon, who was watching them with silent, semihorrified fascination, as though if he asked them what they were doing, they’d somehow drag him into their little salon.

            Gideon hadn’t originally been invited, but his brush with one of DJ’s bullets that afternoon had left him shaken and wanting company. Daisy was equally shaken, although she was wearing a brave face. Gideon’s presence crowded them a bit in the small studio, but no one faulted the two for not wanting the other out of their sight, and Rafe couldn’t manage the stairs. So they crowded in close on the ground floor, Liza finding comfort in their company.

            “All the important flavors, anyway,” Erin amended. Sasha’s girlfriend had been shot by Ephraim a month ago along with so many others, and although she’d returned to desk duty in SacPD’s homicide department, she was still in pain from her injuries. She couldn’t sit on the floor with the rest of them but didn’t want to miss the party. “Look in the freezer, if you want.”

            With a squeal of delight, Abigail ran to the freezer. “It’s like an ice cream store!”

            “There’s even rocky road,” Erin said. “For Liza.”

            “Because we are here for you, girl,” Sasha said, because apparently everyone knew that Liza and Tom had argued. “No boys allowed in our clubhouse. Except for Rafe. He can stay.”

            Rafe mock-sneered at his sister. “Gee, thanks, considering it’s my apartment.”

            “What about me?” Gideon asked.

            “You can stay, too,” Daisy said. “You can even be the next client in Daisy’s nail salon.”

            “That’s not necessary,” Gideon assured her. “I’m just here for the pizza.”

            And the support from this tight-knit group of friends. No one had mentioned the shooting, but it was on everyone’s mind.

            Liza had heard about it from Karl’s driver after she’d climbed from the box he’d used to smuggle her into his truck. The family was shaken, he’d shared. So was Liza, but it seemed they were getting very skilled at pretending that everything was all right.

            Liza looked up from shaking the bottle of topcoat for Abigail’s nails when she noticed that the room had grown quiet. And that Rafe was looking uncomfortable. “You okay, Rafe?”

            Rafe made an awkward face as he scratched the back of his neck. “Liza, can I talk to you for a moment?” He pointed at the front door. “Out in the hall?”

            Liza gave him a wary look. “Now?”

            “Yeah.”