"Aaron!" She gasped as the man unwrapped his arms.
"Hey, sorry about the other night, got caught up in the city." She glared at the tall man before her. "Home you don't mind if I brought Cesar along." He gestured to her couch where a gigantic dog had taken up residence. "Oh, and your phone's been ringing, some guy called Garret, said you left your wallet." She groaned.
"You answered it?"
"Well, yeah." She collapsed on a chair, startling the mottled dog.
"You did tell him you were my brother right?" The man grinned.
"I might have forgotten that." She leaned her head back.
"Go get me my bottle of Jack, I need it." She told him, and he retreated to her kitchen.
"It's a big brother's job ti scare off guys." He teased handing her the bottle and a glass.
"Now give me the phone and pray he's still awake." She ordered, and again, her brother obliged. She dialed his number, after scrolling through caller ID.
"Hello?" The gruff voice on the other end of the line replied.
"Hey, it's me." She told him, and there was silence for a minute.
"Nothing you're hiding, right?" He commented and she laughed.
"Only my idiotic big brother." The tension broke. "He sees fit to scare off anyone who even looks like they might want to date me. But that's not the point." She curled into her chair.
"You left your wallet in my car." He told her and she nodded.
"I've heard. Do you have Woody's number though?" She heard a small chuckle.
"Was the date that bad?" She laughed.
"No, but there's something I think the cops missed in that house. You can keep a secret right?" He groaned loud and clear into the phone.
"You didn't go in there, did you?" She grinned.
"Yes, I did, and I found the murder weapon in the dishwasher, and well, not even going to mention what's in that freezer." She heard the silence again on the other end of the line while Garret processed what she told him. "If it gets out that I was in there though, that's bad. But I trust you. I'm starting to like this place, don't want to get given the boot just yet." She grinned.
'I'll call Woody right now, he knows how to keep things quiet." She laughed.
"Good. My brother didn't scare you off, did he?" She looked at the other man sitting next to his dog. "Big tough longshoreman from New York."
"No.But the more you keep talking about him the more he sounds like someone I don't want to mess with."
"Not even for me?" She said injecting every ounce of sweetness she had into her voice. "He's a big softie just like his dog. Looks big and scary but wouldn't hurt a fly."
"Maybe for you, but that's only if he scares me. I'll tell Woody about this. See you tomorrow."
"See you tomorrow." She repeated.
"If not sooner." She yawned.
"I'm going to collapse if I don't get some sleep though."
"So sleep." He told her. "I'll call you if we need you." She grinned. "Night." She hung up and turned to her brother.
"I can crash here, right?" She rolled her eyes.
"Sure. You're the only sixty year old man out there who still acts like you're twenty though." She told him and he laughed.
"Maybe. But you ever see a ninety year old man who acts like that?" She shook her head.
"No and I don't want to. Goodnight."
"You broke into a crime scene?" Her brother asked as she started towards her bedroom.
"If I knew you were in town I would have asked you to do my dirty work for me." He grinned the same cockeyed toothy grin that she had. "Now I'm going to bed because the evidence from that may result in me getting called in in a few hours."
"Night sis." He kicked the large dog off the couch and sprawled out on it, and she found herself with a furry bedmate as the great dane took up the unused half of the bed.