D.b. Hayes, Detective. Dani Sinclair

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СКАЧАТЬ than anything in the world. With extreme reluctance I shook my head, reminding myself I was supposed to be on a diet anyhow.

      “Thanks, but I have to be ready to roll when she is. What’s your name, anyhow?”

      “Rob. Rob Deluth.”

      I stuck out my hand. “Dee Hayes,” I told him as we shook. “Thanks again for your help, Rob. If you ever need a P.I., look me up. I’m in the phone book. I don’t have any cards on me at the moment.” The new ones I’d printed were still sitting on my desk in the office back at the flower shop. I’d forgotten to stick them in my folder again.

      “Cool. Thanks. I gotta get back before they miss me.”

      As he ran back to the kitchen entrance, I hurried across the parking lot to the Jaguar. There were a lot of people moving about now, but no one gave me a second glance. I’m not sure why I went over to her car, really. I wasn’t looking for anything specific, but since I had time to kill, checking out her car seemed like the natural thing to do.

      Elaine hadn’t struck me as a careless person. She certainly didn’t drive like one, yet she’d left her driver’s door unlocked. The temptation was irresistible. This was probably the only opportunity I’d ever have to sit in a Jaguar. Besides, there was a sheet of paper lying on the passenger’s seat. I needed to check it out. It could be a clue.

      The plush leather seat cocooned me the moment I sank down. The opulent interior still retained a trace of coolness from the air conditioner. Reaching for the paper, I saw it was a set of hand-printed directions to a piano lounge downtown called Victor’s. I’d never heard of the place, but the directions were straightforward and it wasn’t far from here. Tuesday, 8:00 p.m., and a phone number had been printed across the top like an afterthought.

      This was almost too easy. Fate seemed to be nurturing me for once. I blew it a mental kiss and made a note of the phone number. I wondered if the number went with the lounge or the person she was supposed to meet. Since it looked like a cell phone number, odds were it was the latter, but I wouldn’t know for sure unless I gave the number a try.

      The car itself was so pristine, it could have just come from a car wash. Heck, it probably had. Binky hadn’t seen the inside of a car wash since…come to think of it, he may never have seen the inside of a car wash. I decided to make it up to him first chance I got while I continued to search the interior of the Jag. I didn’t expect to find a thing.

      Certainly not the .38 revolver she had tucked up under the driver’s seat.

      That gave me serious pause. Why was someone like Elaine Russo carrying concealed? I guess it made sense if her husband was a mobster. And I suppose it was possible she had a permit. Still, that heavy lump of metal made me very nervous. It implied a whole lot of things and none of them were good. People with guns have a bad habit of firing them.

      I own a gun, but I’ve only ever used it on a firing range. It isn’t something I carry around, even though I have a permit. I replaced the weapon carefully back under the front seat. A strand of blond hair on the carpeting caught my attention.

      Interesting. Either Elaine had extremely dry, coarse hair or she liked wigs. Wearing one in this heat didn’t seem likely unless she had some sort of a physical problem requiring one.

      Tucking the hair in my pocket, I stepped from the car and crossed the lot to where I’d parked Binky. Sam Two sat on the driver’s seat scratching at the box on the passenger side. The minute he saw me, he leaped onto the box and over the seat into the back once more.

      Binky was warmer inside than the Jag had been, but the temperature wasn’t too bad anymore. That breeze coming in off the lake through the windows had cooled things down considerably, and it probably helped that I was parked in the shade. Still, I was worried about the cats.

      “Sorry, guys. I should have asked Rob for some water. I could use a drink myself, but we’ll have to wait until I get you home.”

      Neither of them made a sound as I reached for my cell phone and punched in the number printed on the paper I’d found.

      “Hello?” A decidedly delicious voice answered.

      Deep, rich, sexy and male, the sound washed over me. Definitely not Victor’s Lounge unless this was Victor himself.

      “Sorry,” I told the voice. “I must have the wrong number.”

      “Who were you trying to reach?”

      There was a sudden edge to the voice. It was still a great voice.

      “Sharon Armstrong,” I told him. I pulled a friend’s name off the top of my head and read him back his number, transposing the last two digits. He corrected me immediately.

      I could have listened to his voice forever, but my quarry chose that moment to leave the restaurant, so I apologized and hung up. I wondered if the man matched his voice. Then I wondered if I was about to find out. Was she on her way to meet the man behind that voice?

      There was enough traffic on the street that I didn’t have to worry about being spotted now. When I felt certain Elaine’s destination was the address on the paper, I decided to take a chance. I turned off, took a shortcut that would bring me up on the street behind Victor’s and parked the car where I’d have no trouble getting out in a hurry. I walked around the block and stood across the street in the doorway of a closed shop. It afforded me a good view of the parking lot as well as the front door of the lounge while keeping me relatively concealed.

      Elaine pulled in even as I slipped into position. She stepped from the Jag and flashed a look around as if she was expecting someone. After a few seconds, she frowned and headed for the entrance.

      I decided to give her ten minutes to get settled before going inside myself. I was regretting my generosity with Rob. Since I only had three dollars left, I couldn’t go sit at the bar. The best I could do was have a quick peek inside to see who she met. I might be able to snap a picture unobserved, but it wasn’t likely. I’d have to try for the man’s picture when they came back outside.

      And I was fairly sure it would be a he. A woman doesn’t go to a place like Victor’s alone unless she’s meeting someone or trolling. Either way I needed to capture the moment on my digital camera.

      Since I couldn’t read my watch in the growing darkness, I had to guess at the time. I was about to make my move when there was a movement near the back of the lounge’s parking lot. Someone had stepped out of a car that was already parked back there. The car was a burgundy Honda. It must have been sitting there before Elaine arrived or I would have noticed it pulling in. Given that I don’t believe in coincidence, I knew who the driver would turn out to be even before he came into view.

      My heart skipped a beat, then started thumping like a wild thing. I almost forgot to bring up the camera. I was right. The zoom lens wasn’t necessary to tell me that this was the same man who’d been parked on Elaine’s street earlier this evening.

      Chapter Three

      Didn’t it just figure? The first interesting man I’ve seen since moving back home turned out to be the lover of the woman I’d been hired to follow. I shrugged philosophically. If he was the sort who had affairs with married women, he wasn’t my type anyhow.

      I let some time elapse before crossing the street. Instead of following him inside, I headed straight for the burgundy Honda. СКАЧАТЬ