not much they can do. They’d need a confession or an eyewitness. You admitted that everyone has access to your dressing room and the police aren’t going to take fingerprints from your apartment in the absence of a major crime. There wasn’t even forced entry. Your landlord let the person inside.” “Yvette saw the woman. She’ll identify her.” “Maybe. The woman can say your place was trashed when she got there. She let herself out, according to Yvette. There’s no one to refute that.” Crystal scowled. “So unless there’s an assault or a body, I’m screwed. The police won’t do more than ask questions.” Tomas hated to admit she was right, but replied anyway. “Yeah.” “Fuck.” “Yeah. That too.” She looked up again at Marv. “The least you can do is put a lock on my door so nobody else can get in without a key. I’ll keep one and you take the duplicate. Deal?” Marv acted like she’d just driven a hard bargain. “Okay,” he sighed. “Jesus. What a day.” He shoved his hands in his pants pocket and walked off. “See you on the set,” he said over his shoulder as he strolled away. Tomas rubbed Crystal’s tense back muscles. “I’m off this weekend and so is my brother. Want to take a ride to Annapolis? He’s staying with Lisa at her place. He said they have something to show us.” Lisa Gibson, Antonio’s girlfriend, owned a Saltbox house near the bay that she shared with a roommate. Crystal liked Lisa, though they were different types of women. Lisa was a conservative, all-American type and a computer geek who earned a comfortable living in the electronics field. Crystal had been a stripper at the Tongue and Cheek when they’d first met at Tomas’ graduation ceremony from the Naval Academy. Lisa had come into town graduation weekend to break up with her cheating boyfriend, Rick Bennett, who was also graduating from the Academy. She met Antonio on the way to axing Rick and they’d been together ever since. In an ironic twist, Tomas and Rick had been roommates and Tomas knew what kind of rat Rick had been. Rick “The Baller” Bennett was a notorious womanizer who’d deserved to get the boot. It remained a mystery to Tomas why Lisa hadn’t found out sooner what kind of cheating jerk he was. When Lisa broke up with him, Rick tried to enact revenge by threatening to post a sex video of her on the Internet. Antonio and Tomas hatched a plan to get the video back. “A trip out of town sounds great. I could use a break.” “On Monday, I want to bring Yvette to the set before your weather segment. Have her look around. Maybe she can identify the woman who came to your apartment. There’s nothing stopping me from getting to the bottom of this.” Crystal kissed his mouth. She tasted like cherry lip gloss and smelled like heaven. “Remind me to suck you off later for being such a good guy.” Tomas kissed her back. “Believe me, I won’t forget.” * * * * * When they returned to her apartment that night, the reporters were gone. Earlier in the day, several had called WCNT to request interviews while others had asked for a statement. Crystal finally complied when she realized the press wouldn’t go away until she talked. After her segment, she’d conducted a press conference and allowed pictures to be taken. Her story would make the eleven o’clock news and tabloid headlines for who knew how long on the Internet. Crystal took Tomas’ hand and brought him into the kitchen. She pointed to the table in the center of the room. “Sit on the edge.” Tomas chuckled and hoisted himself up on the table. “Planning a late snack?” “Damn right. I’m going to eat you .” “Aren’t you going to kiss me first?” He reached out and pulled her to his chest with a laugh. “I’m not just a cheap piece of meat.” Crystal tweaked his chin. “Oh poor baby needs foreplay.” She giggled and the sound was so unlike her that Tomas leaned away to study her face.