Page 70 of Shephard
And that it wasn’t the first time.
CHAPTER 18
Denise
“I thought you were a no-show and I was going to hunt you down.” Maggie was completely professional for her day job, but at night, the girl turned into what I’d call a wild child. She was single, preferred it that way, and enjoyed different flavors of men. She also adored teasing them by dressing provocatively.
I’d managed to pull out a jean skirt for a change, her second phone call chiding me about my wardrobe the only reason. I was lucky it didn’t have mud or another caked substance on it. I just didn’t care but so much about my appearance.
I wasn’t frilly, which had also pissed off my ex. What was I thinking? Everything pissed the prick off.
“I would never stand you up, darling,” I cooed as I eased onto the barstool. She called a certain location around the bar her perch. The corner spot allowed her to catch the comings and goings of every red-blooded male sliding in the front door or heading to the restrooms. Plus, she could swing around and stick out herkiller long legs. Tonight, she was dressed in a tight leather skirt and a hot flaming red off the shoulder tee shirt.
I had to admit at times I was envious.
Tonight wasn’t one of them.
I wasn’t looking for a hookup or even to catch the eye of a man. Maybe I was fibbing to myself a little, but after the rough day with Cane, my gut telling me the jerk was up to something no good, I wasn’t in the mood for sparring. No matter how delightfully sexual it could be.
Greg had berated him, but that had been the end of it. Meanwhile, I’d chastised myself for not getting a solid picture of the man with cold eyes.
“Bad day, sugar?” she asked as she pulled the already open bottle of cabernet, her favorite, into her hand, pouring me a glass.
“Have you ever worked with someone you just knew was hiding a terrible secret?”
She narrowed her eyes. “Yeah; once I was right. Are you talking about Mr. Arrogant?” Cane had tried to get her into bed more than once. In fact, he’d attempted to enjoy both of us at the same time. Our little stunt in making him feel… small had changed his mind.
“Yeah. He was offline, which made my boss think he’d had some kind of an incident. I had to find him since we’re so short staffed. He was with some weird guy he said was family. They didn’t look anything alike. Pepper detected the scent of drugs.”
“Did you arrest him?”
I laughed and took a sip of wine, cognizant we were already being sized up for the bedroom flavor of the evening. It was always comical when single male tourists believed they could have a hot fling with a local gal, leaving with a promise of a phone call and a possible long-distance relationship.
Bullshit.
“You do have the ability to arrest people,” she reminded me.
“I do, but this isn’t the Wild West, and I wasn’t in the mood to cart this guy’s ass all the way to Roanoke. Not in my schedule. Too many tourists.” Too many ideas floating around in my head about the case.
“Uh-huh. You’re chomping at the bit to solve the case. Just be careful.”
“You know I’m always careful.”
“I heard you saved that drunk rich guy,” Maggie taunted. “Did he give you a reward?”
“Very funny. I had to drop his wallet off at the resort.”
“That’s why you were doing the touchy-feely with the hot guy.”
“He’s… unusual. What can you tell me about the third murder?”
“You cut to the chase and avoid the real sexy topic,” she said and suddenly seemed uncomfortable. “I don’t want to talk about it here. I think you’ll find answers yourself, including about what you mentioned this morning.” She reached into her purse. When she slid the drive across the table with her hand on top, a shiver shifted down my spine.
“You found it.”
“I’m not saying anything.”
“What happened? And don’t lie to me. You remember I have the nose of a bulldog.” I slipped it into the small coin pocket of my skirt, a benefit to wearing something from almost twenty years before.