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door squeaked. I gasped even before he called my name again. “Christina, are you here?”
    Rivera jerked toward the door, pushing me behind him as he did so. I was pulling on my shorts and swearing and panting all at the same time. I'm a real humdinger at multitasking.
    “I do not mean to bother you.” I could hear his footsteps in my living room. “But—” He stepped into thekitchen just as Rivera Junior pulled on his shirt. I threw my underwear in the nearest drawer, zipped my fly and jerked my head up just in time to see their gazes clash.
    “Gerald!”
    “Senator.”
    There was a moment of hot silence, then: “I am sorry. Christina's door was left unlocked. I worried that something was amiss,” said the elder of the two.
    As for me, I was peering past Riveras arm like a tipsy cockatiel.
    “That why you came by?” he asked.
    They stared at each other. “As far as I am aware, there is no law against me visiting a friend.”
    Rivera glanced back at me. “You two buddies now, are you?”
    I stepped out beside him, cleared my throat, and resisted checking myself to make certain my garments were firmly in their allotted positions. “Hello, Senator.”
    “Good evening, Christina.” He gave me a stately nod. “I am sorry to disturb you. As I said, I worried that your door was unsecured and thought I had best check on your well-being.”
    “Oh.” I wondered a little dimly if it was possible for a face to burn right off its head. “That was very thoughtful of you, Senator.”
    He made a dismissive motion with his hand. “It was nothing. I was in the neighborhood, after all.”
    “Really? Well, it's so nice of you to worry on my account, but as you can see, your son was kind enough to—”
    “Cut the crap!” Rivera snarled. “What the hell's going on here?”
    I shifted my eyes from one to the other, a million thoughts cruising drunkenly through my hormone-washed head. I didn't want to cause more problems between them by blurting out the senators earlier proposition to me. Neither did I want to break a trust with the older Rivera, and I wasn't all that crazy about the idea of admitting that I had agreed to horn in on a situation that some might consider the business of the police department. “Nothing's going on,” I said. “Your dad just stopped by to—”
    “You sniffing after her, too?” Rivera asked, turning to his father. “That what this is about?”
    The senator's back stiffened. “I'll not have you using that profane—”
    “Wasn't Rachel enough? How 'bout Salina? Hell, you got her killed. I would think that would just about—”
    “You blame me for her death?” The senator's voice was deadly low.
    Rivera laughed. The sound was coarse and nasty. “She sure as hell wasn't
my
fiancée anymore, was she?”
    “Still looking for others to blame, aren't you, Gerald? It is so like you to be unable—”
    But suddenly Rivera launched forward, grabbed his father by the lapels of his blazer, and thrust him up against the wall. “What the hell are you doing here?”
    They glared at each other, eyes spitting, lips snarling.
    “My whereabouts are none of your concern,” rasped the senator.
    “They are if you're in this damn house.”
    “I believe Christina can decide which of us—”
    “Oh, for God's sake!” I said, stepping forward and grabbing Rivera's fist. He had a death grip on his father's coat,but adrenaline or just plain pissiness made it possible for me to pull his hand away. “He just came by to ask me for a favor.”
    “Christina!” hissed the senator, but I ignored him.
    “Yeah?” Riveras mouth jerked. “Is this the kind of favor where clothing is optional?”
    “What are you?” I asked. “Twelve? He wants to talk.”
    A muscle jumped in his cheek. “About what?”
    I faltered.
    “We have a mutual friend,” said the senator, and smoothed his jacket into place. “I but came to inform Christina of her condition.”
    “Really.” Rivera didn't turn toward his father