“Hello, officer. Something I can do for you?”
Three pairs of eyes swung my way, and Eva leaped to her feet. “Ay, Dios, what happened? Are you all right?”
Chuch tilted his head to peer out as I closed the door. “Where’s Chance?”
My smile felt too tight. “He had business in San Antonio. He’ll make his way back when he’s ready.”
I could tell Chuch wanted to ask about the Mustang, but under the circumstances he restrained himself. Officer Moon looked me up and down, a faint sneer curling his lip. “You look some worse for the wear, Miss Solomon. Maybe you’d like to clean up before I ask you a few questions.”
He knew my real name from the police report; that was never good. Still, I pretended to accept his faux politeness as the real thing. I inclined my head. “Thank you. That would be lovely.”
I held my purse to me as I went down the hall to Chance’s room. “You stay,” I whispered to Butch. “I’ll be back later.” He gave me a supercilious stare and gazed pointedly toward the bed. “Okay, fine.”
Hoping I wouldn’t get caught with the victim’s dog, I went on down the hall and took the world’s fastest shower. Then I realized I didn’t have any clean clothes. Oh, ugh. I hate when I have to do this. . . .
With a sigh, I went through my bag and smelled my laundry, found the least offensive outfit, and put it on. Of course, my skirt and blouse looked wrinkled as hell from being wadded up at the bottom of my bag, and the knot on my forehead was turning purple. Peering into the mirror I counted two other scrapes on my face and several more elsewhere. I knotted my hair into a quick braid and gave up.
Well, I was as ready as I ever would be.
I tried to smooth my clothing as I went back into the living room, where I found the three of them sipping coffee in uneasy silence. Eva had set out a plate of butter cookies too, but nobody touched them. Seating myself on the end of the couch, as far from Nathan Moon as possible, I tried to look harmless.
With a forced smile, I asked, “What would you like to discuss?”
“Well,” he said with deceptive mildness, “for starters . . . why don’t you tell me why Lenny Marlowe’s neighbor described you as one of his recent visitors?”
Damn, I didn’t know what Saldana might’ve told him. I decided I better stick close to the truth.
“I’m helping a friend investigate his mother’s disappearance. We discovered that Lenny Marlowe found her purse at the warehouse where he worked and went over to ask him some questions about what he saw. He’s in the book.”
All true, as far as it went. Don’t let me start sweating. A sour feeling roiled in my stomach as I remembered all the other times I’d been interrogated, usually in a bile green room downtown somewhere. Even if they don’t charge you with anything, they can hold you for a day, and I wouldn’t wish those twenty-four hours on anybody.
“Discovered how? Did you employ a private investigator?”
It’d serve Saldana right if I rat him out after he sicced his a**hole partner on me.
If he did.
Maybe Moon was here for his own reasons and had his own agenda.
Somehow I couldn’t bring myself to say anything that might get Jesse in trouble. He was my main link to the gifted world, and I didn’t want to burn my bridges.
“I wasn’t aware I needed a license to ask a few questions, officer. If I was charging for my services, it would be different.” After I said that, I sensed Eva’s glare, but I didn’t meet her eyes. I could stumble off this tightrope any minute and without help. I hoped she wouldn’t lose her temper.
“Yeah, interesting you would mention that,” Moon said with a tight smile. “According to your record, you did, in fact, run a racket, charging for your ‘services.’ In our database you show up in four states under three different names. Does that strike you as the behavior of an upstanding citizen?”
That set Chuch off. “Look, unless you’re going to charge her with something, I think you’ve taken advantage of my hospitality long enough.”
I held up a hand, not wanting to provoke the guy into hauling me downtown. “No, I’m happy to answer his questions. I’m just sorry I can’t be of more help.”
The cop smiled, but it wasn’t pretty, the way it flattened his pale mouth. “Is that what you told the Arnett family in Madison when you took their money and couldn’t find their son?”
I swallowed hard, trying to staunch the tears that stung the back of my throat. That failure still haunted me.
“I refunded the money,” I managed to say.
“I don’t know what the hell you’re doing in my town,” Moon said, getting to his feet. “Or why you’re hanging around Saldana, but I do know this. Trouble follows you like stink on shit, and I’ll be there when you step in it.”
“If you say so.” I didn’t have the energy for anything clever. “I’m glad Laredo has such a devoted officer looking into Lenny Marlowe’s death. He seemed like a good man.”
As I got to my feet to see the officer out—courtesy always confused them—headlights beamed through the front windows. I didn’t think it could be Chance. The lousy bastard was probably still twined around Twila.
“It’s Grand Central around here tonight,” Eva muttered.
“No kidding.” Chuch pushed himself out of the recliner. “A guy can’t even watch TV. I’m gonna go mess around online.”
Moon stepped out, and I walked along with him, more to make sure he really went. We met his partner coming up the drive. Jesse raised a brow. “What’s going on, Nate?”
The other cop planted his feet. “I might ask you the same question.”
“It’s none of your business what I do in my off hours.”
So I hadn’t imagined the tension between them the other day. Maybe Saldana hadn’t set this guy on me. God, I’m glad I didn’t say anything about him. I had a mean streak, like Chance said, but I tried to make sure people deserved what they got.
“Fine,” Nate snarled. “But remember I warned you. This girl’s bad news, and I’m going to take her down, one way or another.”
I watched him stalk down the drive and get into his car. Damn, it was nice. I wondered in passing how an investigator could afford a silver BMW convertible. A ride like that would run over a hundred grand, easy, but maybe he squatted at night in a shack. Some people would rather drive their disposable income than live in it.
To be safe, I watched until his taillights receded from view. Moon would be back. His type hated me instinctively. If there was such a thing as reincarnation, he would’ve been an inquisitor in another life.
Jesse looked at me. “Can we talk a minute?” Honestly I didn’t feel up to a conversation with Jesse, not after the way he went off on me earlier. Then, as if it had just registered with him, he murmured, “You’re hurt . . . and exhausted. Let me see. How bad is it?”
“I’m okay,” I muttered.
Not that my protests made any difference. He dogged my heels back into the house. The living room stood empty, so I guess Eva had gone with Chuch to make sure he didn’t download p*rn or something. Then again, maybe they were doing something else entirely. Muffled thumps and giggles came from behind the closed office door. For all of fifteen seconds I considered the ruined rug. I hoped they’d scrubbed up the black junk.
Jesse cupped my face in his hands, and with careful fingers, he brushed the damp hair from my forehead. “I’ll get you some ice.”
This morning, Saldana had treated me like his worst enemy, and now he whistled in the kitchen, making me a cold pack for my sore head. Last night, Chance told me he still loved me, and this evening, he was making the beast with two backs with Twila. What with the conflicting signals from men in my life, I was about ready to become a lesbian.
Fucking men. Chuch was the only good one, and he was married. Eva’s laughter underscored that point. It would’ve been nice if they’d asked me if I was okay before disappearing for the slap and tickle, though. I scowled.
I still needed to do laundry, damn it.
I sat there brooding until I heard Butch scratching at the bedroom door. Oh, yeah. As I didn’t want him to pee on the carpet, I hurried to let him out. He went straight out, did his business, and then came back in. The little dog leaped into my lap and curled up, as if he knew I needed a warm body.
When Saldana emerged from the kitchen, he drew up short, ice pack in hand. “Tell me that’s not Lenny’s dog.”
Butch growled.
“It’s not,” I said obediently.
“Is there no end to the trouble you’ll get into?” He sighed and came toward us.
“It hasn’t ended yet.”
As Jesse sat down, the Chihuahua lifted his head and snarled low in his throat. Honest to God, he sounded like a much bigger animal.
“Is that dog for ‘touch her and I bite your nuts off’?”
Butch barked once.
Briefly I considered explaining the exchange and then decided that puzzlement was better than comprehension. It wouldn’t do to share all my secrets. Hell, half my secrets typically sent guys running, and this one had something I wanted. I reached for the ice.
“He’s a little unsettled,” I said instead. “I’m sure he’ll calm down once he gets past his recent bereavement.”
Jesse’s look said, It’s a dog, but he didn’t speak the thought aloud. “I came by to apologize. I shouldn’t have said what I did. I was mad at myself and I took it out on you. There’s no excuse. I’m even sorrier I found you hurt and being hassled by my partner. Guy doesn’t know when to cut somebody a break and he’s not much on the people skills.”
“You don’t like him.” It wasn’t a question.
He hesitated a moment and then answered, “No. Not really. When he makes up his mind about a case, he doesn’t much care about the facts. And I’m sorry he’s got a hard-on for you. I’m also really feeling like shit about this morning.”
I put the damp towel on my head and closed my eyes. “Don’t worry about it.”
“No, I overstepped, and it matters that you forgive me.”
“Why?”
His tone gentled. “Because you’re just getting to know other gifted, and I’m supposed to make it easier for you, not blame you when things go wrong, sugar.”
“It’s okay.” The apology warmed me. I didn’t often hear those words from people who meant them.
“I also came over to tell you something else. I don’t want you to be alarmed, but Kel Ferguson slipped his leash in Louisiana.”
Shock washed over me in a shivery wave, knotting my insides like a macramé rug. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, if he was after me, I couldn’t run far enough. In the courtroom that day, his eyes said he’d never give up.
“So he might be coming for me.” Yes, I stated the obvious.
After what I’d been through this afternoon, however, Ferguson didn’t scare me quite as much. That made a nice change.