I hesitated, then pulled the door wide. “Come on in. I’m surprised you’re up already.”
“Cleaning out Nicole’s dad’s place before he moves. That man has thirty years of stuff accumulated that isnotgoing to fit into a one-bedroom assisted-living suite.” She raised the shopping bag. “But that makes you, or hopefully Jos, the winner.”
“How so?”
“Comic books.” She followed me as I led them back to the kitchen. “He wasn’t a serious collector, but he had a shit-ton in bins in his basement. We have the bins in the car. You can lug them in yourself. But this is a preview.” She set the bag on the kitchen table.
“Do you want to stay for breakfast?” I’d shopped the day before, so we had lots.
“We’ll take coffee,” Nicole said. “And we brought donuts.” She flipped open the lid of the box.
“You’re goddesses among women.” That solved my French toast question. “Give them here.”
“I’ll trade for that coffee. Not a morning person and we were up way too early.”
I set the box on the table, poured three mugs and was turning to hand the women theirs when Callum jogged in through the doorway. “Hey, Zeke, I used the last of the shampoo—” He put the brakes on, seeing Olivia and Nicole. “Uh, hi.”
Olivia gave him an up-and-down scan, taking in the dress pants, the slightly creased shirt with four buttons open, and his long bare feet, then raised her eyebrows at me.
Nicole, always the one to smooth things over, said, “Hi, I don’t think we’ve met. I’m Nicole, Olivia’s wife.”
“And I’m Olivia. I work with Zeke.”
“I’m Callum. Zeke’s next-door neighbour. I babysit Jos sometimes and Zeke let me crash in the spare room last night.” He threw me a fast look. “Speaking of which, I should probably head home.”
I shook my head subtly. “I’m just about to make breakfast.” Callum running away would only make Olivia certain something questionable was going on. “Have a seat. Hey, do you know anything about comic books?”
Callum hovered. “Not much. Why?”
“Olivia brought over a bunch from her father-in-law’s place. I don’t know if they’re worth anything.”
“You know who would? My old roommate Sully. He likes that kind of thing.”
I quickly dug into the bag, pulled out the top four, and spread them on the table. “Maybe you can send him pictures and ask him.”
“I guess.” Callum glanced between us all.
Steamrollering along, I asked Olivia, “You guys want anything other than coffee and donuts?”
“Nah, but go ahead.” She pulled out a chair and sat next to where Callum stood. “So, you’re Zeke’s neighbour, huh?”
“Yeah. West side.” He gestured west with the phone he’d pulled from his pocket. “Let’s see what Sully thinks.” He grinned at me. “Bonus, I maybe get to wake him up. He used to do that to me, going out running at ungodly-o’clock.”
Olivia watched him as he took pictures of the four covers and texted them to his teammate.
I threw a bunch of bacon in a pan and got out the eggs.
“Hey?” Jos said from the doorway. “I heard voices.” He eyed us, his head cocked, clad again in those too-small sweats. I wondered if they had some kind of meaning for him.
“Yeah, come on in. This is Olivia, who works the same shifts as I do at the department, and her wife Nicole.”
“Wife?” Jos asked.
Olivia leaned back, fingers laced behind her head. “Yeah, lucky me, eh? Your brother and I help hold up the queer end of the Vancouver PD.”
“Oh.” His eye was caught by the comics laid out. “What are those?”
“Come and see,” Callum offered.
