Mayes, Casey - A Deadly Row

That brought him out of his thought process.

“Sorry,” I said.

“Don’t be. I was just about finished anyway.”

“I hope that’s true, and that I didn’t wreck anything for you.” I looked around the room. “Where’s your minion?”

“I didn’t need him today, so I sent him back to the squad room.”

“I bet he wasn’t too happy about that.”

“No, not so much. How did you know that?”

I put my purse down on one of the tables. “I just had a chat with your boss.”

“Funny, I thought that was your title,” he said with a grin.

“No matter how hard I wish it, it still hasn’t come true,” I replied with a smile of my own.

“If it’s not you, then I assume you were chatting with Davis. What did he have to say?”

“It’s funny, but if I didn’t know better, I would think he was grilling me for information about your investigation.”

Zach shook his head, and his smile was replaced with a scowl. “He shouldn’t have done that. When I wouldn’t tell him, he came to you.”

“Well, it’s a cinch he didn’t go to Steve.”

Zach looked intently at me. “What do you mean by that?”

“There’s more bad blood between them than I realized. I’ve got the feeling that neither man likes the other, regardless of what they might say.”

“Not all personalities get along.”

“It goes deeper than that,” I said.

“Woman’s intuition?”

“No, keen observation skills honed over the years.”

“Isn’t it the same thing?” Zach asked.

“Maybe,” I admitted. “Are you at a place you can get away for lunch?”

“Honestly, I can be gone longer than that. I’ve squeezed about all I can out of this information. It’s time to do some fieldwork.”

“All right. Now you’re talking. Before you decide the order we interrogate suspects in, there’s new information you need to know.”

“Slow down, Savannah. I never said you’d be a part of the active investigation.”

“Zach, I know a lot of the players, and some of these people won’t talk to you if it’s a part of your investigation. Trust me, we’ll get more out of them if I’m there with you.”

“And why do you say that?”

“Look at me. Am I the least bit intimidating?”

“Are you kidding me? I’d rather face an angry mob than take you on sometimes.”

I touched his arm lightly. “Thanks, I appreciate that, but these people don’t know me. You’re this big and dark bruiser of a man, and sometimes when you ask questions, it’s like you’ve got a hammer behind your back. Me, I overwhelm them with softness, and then I move in for the kill.”

“Maybe. But even if it’s true, I’m not about to put your life in danger.”

“I was the one the killer took a photograph of, remember? Don’t you think it’s safe to say that I’m already in a little bit of trouble here? Why not take advantage of my offer?”

He paused for a second, and then said, “Okay. You’re right.”

I nearly questioned what I was hearing, but I knew if I got cute at that moment, I’d lose the tiny foothold I’d worked so hard to attain. “I appreciate that.”

“No gloating? No celebratory dance?”

“No, sir. Just my thanks.”

He whistled softly under his breath.

“What?” I asked.

“Just when I think I have the game figured out, you change the playing field on me.”

I shrugged. “What can I say? I like to keep things interesting. Now come on; let’s go eat.”

“I know better than to try to argue with you.” He smiled, and then added, “Besides, I’m hungry, too.”

“Then what are we waiting for?”

Chapter 16

“I’VE MISSED THIS,” I SAID AS I TOOK ANOTHER BITE OFheavenly pizza.

“There are things to be said for civilization,” Zach agreed as he tackled another slice. There was no way we were going to be able to eat the whole thing, but we were going to give it our best shot.

We were eating at our all-time favorite pizza haunt in Charlotte, Luigi’s on South Tryon near Whitehall on the Southside of town. Try as we had, we had found nothing in our new hometown that even came close to their particular take on New York-style pizza.

After we were finished eating, we grabbed refills of our drinks and decided to discuss the case out in our car. The pizzeria was jammed, as it should be, given the great food they served, and Zach didn’t want anyone to overhear our conversation.

“Oh, man, I need a nap,” Zach said as we walked back to our car.

“We could always head back to the hotel for an hour, if you wanted.”

“I’d love to, but we both know that’s not going to happen. Tell me more about Julia Tristan.”

I’d started to tell him what Hank’s sister had told me, but he’d asked me to wait until we could discuss it without anyone overhearing us.

“Well, the first thing she did was break down and cry,” I admitted. “I told her I was sorry for her loss, and that made her fall apart. It appears that no one else has offered her any sympathy for losing her brother.”

“What else did she say?”

I bit my lower lip, and then I began to tell him what I’d heard. “She has Grady at the top of her suspect list after the fight they had.”

“No surprise, there. A great many people saw that fight. Did she have anything else?”

I’d hesitated telling him about his friend, but I really had no choice. “She said that Davis and Hank were business partners in a land speculation deal that went bad. Evidently Davis lost a lot of money, a great deal more than he could afford to lose. Did you know about that?”

“No, this is the first I’m hearing about it.”

“What are you going to do? Julia thinks Davis and Grady aren’t going to be investigated, because of who they are.”

“We both know better than that. I hope that’s what you told her.”

“Oh, yes, I assured her that no one was going to get a free pass on this. Is it true?”

“About Davis? It could be. He was always looking for ways to double his money. I can see him going into business with Hank. He had a reputation for turning things into gold with every venture he became involved with.”

“So, you’ll talk to him?”

“I’ll talk to him,” Zach said as he added a few notes to the book he always carried with him, whether he was on a case or not. I knew that once a note went in there, it would be explored from all angles until Zach was satisfied with the answer enough to strike it out. It might have seemed arcane to people used to BlackBerries, cell phones, and laptop computers, but it worked for him, and I wasn’t about to suggest he change. He’d been too successful in the past for that to happen.

“Who else did she bring up?”

“The women at the ball, as well as their dates. She thinks there’s a chance that Hank stepped on somebody’s toes when he danced with every willing female at the party.”

“Anybody in particular?” Zach asked.

“You should have seen Julia’s face when Lorna walked toward us. It was as though she’d seen a ghost.”

“Did she say anything?”

“Something like, ‘She was one of them,’ I think. She took off before Lorna had a chance to get to us.”

Zach nodded, and then made another note in his book.

“Seriously? You’re putting Lorna’s name down in your Suspect column?”

“Savannah, she was there that night, and she danced with Hank.”

“From what I’ve heard, Hank danced with a lot of women.”

“She also used to date Grady. That ties her to one suspect and one victim. I’d be a fool not to put her name down just because she’s a friend of yours.”