Coming Soon / Hidden Gems: Coming Soon

“Don’t know. I asked, but then someone came in. She never answered me.”

“Did she give you any specifics about the pictures?”

“She implied they were of Danny and someone else. A man. She said they would prove that he was the killer.”

“Unless they show him with the murder weapon, or actually killing Geiger, I doubt that. But they sure could point to motive.”

“If she’s telling the truth.”

“You didn’t believe her?”

She hadn’t wanted to tell him this, not after being such a snot with that comment, but she had to. “She was drunk.”

“When?”

“This morning. When she got to the hotel. It’s crazy, too, because she was going to lunch with Piper and Trace.”

“Trace is the attorney, right?”

“Yes. Piper’s husband.”

“Sheila knew that. Knew she was meeting with counsel.”

“Maybe not. I don’t know. Even so, it seems like awfully poor judgment.”

He leaned back again. “The alcohol must be a considerable problem, then. She has a lot on the line. A lot to lose.”

“Or she’s really devastated by the loss of her husband.”

Bax shook his head even as he said, “I suppose so.”

“You don’t believe her?”

“I’d have to see the evidence for myself.”

“Can’t you get a search warrant? Get all the cameras from their house?”

“I don’t know. We’ll have to see if a judge will get on board. But there’s no guarantee, even if we swept the house, that the pictures would be there.”

Mia stood up, anxious now to leave this very private and inviting motor home. But she couldn’t go just yet. Not until she knew for sure.

She remembered a lesson her mother had taught her long ago—don’t ask a question if you’re not prepared to hear the answer. But she was prepared. Better to get things out on the table. Deal with what was, not what she wished could be. “Bax?”

“Yeah?”

“I don’t mean to make you uncomfortable or anything, but I got some pretty strong vibes before. About us.”

He met her gaze. “You did, huh?”

“Was I crazy?”

Bax closed his eyes for a second, then shook his head slowly. “No, you weren’t.”

“Ah.”

He stood up. Came close. “But here’s the thing—”

“You don’t have to explain,” she said. “I just—”

“I do. There are some propriety issues as well as some legal issues.”

“I’m twenty-eight, for heaven’s sake.”

“Not that kind of legal,” he said, smiling at her. “We made an agreement last night. You’re an informant. You may have to testify, and if that came to pass, and then it came out that we—that I—”

“Oh.”

“So, it’s not that I don’t want to.”

She stepped back, not sure if she needed to discuss this any further. “It’s for the best. You’re leaving. I have so much to do with the hotel and everything—”

“Right, right. Those are all really good reasons.”

She backed up some more, almost to the door. “I’d better—”

“Sure. Yes. And thanks for that information. Helpful. Good.”

“No problem. All part of the service. As informant, I mean.”

He opened his mouth, then shut it again. His gaze went down to the notebook in his hand, and she slipped out the door.

BOBBI TAMONY WAS in her motor home, and by this time, Bax was no longer impressed. It all felt foolish to him, a giant game that half the world had bought into, but that really meant nothing. All pretense, no substance.

He’d seen a lot of Bobbi’s movies in his time and had enjoyed them for the most part, but she was just a suspect. A suspect with two very small, very yappy dogs that had the run of the trailer.

“Can I get you something? A drink? A snack?”

“No, thank you,” he said, sitting in the big chair by the door, just as he had with Danny. Bax eyed the couch, wishing for the hundredth time that he hadn’t been such a fool with Mia. It wasn’t that he’d changed his mind about what he could and couldn’t do, but he was damn sure a smarter man would have handled things more adroitly. He’d embarrassed her. Embarrassed himself. And damn it, he still wanted her.

He’d known her what, a couple of days? How was it possible he liked her so intensely? That he couldn’t shake the feel of her, the scent of her?

This was new for him. The last woman he’d been serious about, Carol, hadn’t bamboozled him like this. They’d started as friends in the academy and the relationship had progressed. They’d decided that it would be good to live together, and that had been pretty good for five whole years.

Then she’d met someone. A fellow cop Bax knew casually, someone he’d never have imagined with Carol. He was one of those manly men. Hunted, fished, worked out with great big dumbbells. To the best of Bax’s knowledge, it had never occurred to him to pick up a book. Carol seemed happy with him, though, so there it was. He used to miss her. Now, he only thought about her when they ran into each other through the job.

This thing with Mia, though, there was none of the distance he’d had with Carol. It was as if she’d bypassed his logic circuits, hitting him straight in the emotions. Not smart. Not when they were both involved with a big case like this one.

“Did you want to ask me some questions, Detective?”