he had reached casually across and touched her arm to make some point. Normally, such a gesture would drive her up the wall, but it seemed okay. She was also aware they seemed to be frequently locking eyes. After the meal, they were sipping coffee when he gently covered her hand with his and said simply, “We should be in bed together.”

That was it. Nothing clever or contrived from Mr. Nice Guy. No corny soft talk to get her into bed. Those few exciting words said everything. He had said what she was hesitant to think. It made perfect sense to her.

On the way back to the Ramada last night, she thought of Chip and wondered if he might stop by her place in town and find her unexpectedly absent. Was she cheating? They had yet to discuss any rules about seeing other people; the relationship with Chip hadn’t progressed that far. Too late to discuss it now.

Kevin came out of the bathroom with a towel around his waist. Last night, they made love with dimmed lights; now she could clearly appreciate the body she had felt in the night. He wasn’t as tall or as athletic looking as Chip. Kevin was different, younger, and softer, with an impossibly beautiful body.

“Drop the towel, handsome,” she said playfully. “Come here and put that sparkling body next to mine.”

There was no snappy comeback; he seemed embarrassed.

She raised the sheet, exposing herself, and inviting him back to bed. He let the towel drop and moved onto the bed beside her. His arms wrapped around her and one of his thighs moved up firmly between her legs.

He was fresh, cool, and smelled of soap.

She enjoyed it for a minute and then pulled back. “I should go freshen up.”

“You can’t, I like you soft and warm and fuzzy.”

“Fuzzy?”

“Whatever...just the way you are.”

“What time is it anyway?”

“Almost nine.”

“Kevin, I hate to break the spell, but I feel a little guilty indulging ourselves when we could be out looking for your daughter.”

“Wow, nothing like instant guilt to soften me up. Look, you go take your shower. I’ll have breakfast sent up. After that we’ll decide about indulgences.”

“Okay. Let me do this first.” The last few hours had flown her far away, so with considerable apprehension she checked her phone for messages from the real world. she had one missed message from Triney, and three texts from Jerry Kagan—all on the same subject: Moran had summoned them to his office at ten a.m.

Oh, God. No time for breakfast, in bed or otherwise. She could skip the shower and race home to change, or take the shower and show up in a rerun of last night’s clothing. Either way she’d be late. She checked out the white cotton blouse and tan knee-length straight skirt she had tossed hurriedly on the chair last night. They’d pass. She hurried to the shower.

* * * *

At fifteen minutes after the appointed time, she found a nervous Jerry Kagan sitting in the conference room adjoining the office of State Attorney Moran.

“I hoped you’d be early so we could discuss our strategy before Moran comes in.” That was the first time the even-going attorney had addressed her with the slightest annoyance in his voice. His concern was for her facing the state attorney unprepared.

“So sorry, let’s hope Moran gets here even later. One more slight delay, Jerry. I missed an early morning message from Detective Triney. Need to call him back. It might affect what we’re doing here this morning.”

She dialed. Triney answered. “Sandy, glad you called back. As you may know, I hang around the Ramada quite a lot in between running around. Good coffee there. I can sit and do some paperwork. Hit the restroom and so on...

She began to feel warm, turned away from Kagan, and interrupted the detective, “You saw my red car parked there all night, didn’t you?”

“Sandy, none of my business. I don’t care....”

“Congratulations, Triney, that’s really great detective work. If you want to tattle on me to Chip Goddard, go right ahead. Our relationship doesn’t exclude seeing other people.”

“Okay girl, calm down. That’s your business. This is about the Privado case. Remember, I told you we were stopping all white vehicles and we stopped Kevin....”

She said nothing.

“...I remembered something I found out later, after I let him go. I didn’t think to tell you about it when we first talked, and I never dreamed you’d get involved with him.”

“Okay so I’m involved. Spit it out.” Just what she needed, negative information about the man she just slept with.

“The medical examiner noted the deceased’s eyelids had been pulled down to close the eyes. This is done for a more peaceful look out of respect for the deceased. Nurses routinely do it, cops and ambulance drivers. Some professional usually does it since most people are reluctant to touch a dead body unless it’s a loved one....”

She interrupted, “I know why it’s done.” She didn’t like where this was headed.

“The M.E. is a fanatic about crime scenes. He wants nothing touched on a dead body. Not a hair. He wondered if it might be a clue, so he grilled everyone. The medics who picked up the body swore her eyelids were already closed. Chip Goddard said he didn’t close them....”

“Chip? What does he have to do with it?

“He was the first officer on the scene. Didn’t he tell you?”

“Well, first on the beach scene? Never mentioned it.”

“Did you know Kevin is a paramedic?”

“Yes, he told me.”

“Paramedics do handle dead people. Kevin came to my mind later when the medical examiner was asking around and again this morning when I noticed your car.”

“Is this a joke?” Why was he so concerned about her? “Let me get this straight. The deceased’s eyelids were closed and no one officially involved admits they did it. Therefore, the attacker might have been a police officer, a paramedic, a nurse, or a million other people who don’t mind touching a dead body. The M.E. has been reading too much Agatha Christie.”

“I know, I’m making too much of it. Not that big a deal. The M.E. inquired about it and then dropped it. Everyone realized it was farfetched. Hey, I overreacted when I saw your car. I thought I should mention it.”

“I know your heart is in the right place and you’re trying to look out for me. But forget it.”

“Okay so much for that. Sandy, I know I said it wasn’t my business, but I didn’t realize you were still in the dating scene. You know there are other guys who would be interested....”

She interrupted, “No, Triney, no. I’m not in the dating scene.” Wow, she had never expected to hear that from him. “And, I’d appreciate it if you would squelch that rumor whenever you hear it. Okay? Thanks for the info gotta go. Goodbye.” She snapped the phone shut. What else could she say? He knew she spent the night with Kevin.

Kagan had innocently overheard all of it, but there was nothing to say about that. She started in on the subject of strategy. “Let’s get on with it. What we need to do, Jerry, is throw everything over on Abby Olin. She’s the bad person in all of this. She was trying to kill Toby when she shot Banks. She might also be the one who shot Toby when he chased after me. She definitely attempted the blackmail.”

“I agree, keep the focus off of you.”

“How do I get Moran to drop that conspiracy charge without revealing the involvement of Congressman Kidde?”

“Stop worrying about Kidde. You have your own problems. As of now, it’s unlikely Moran will drop the charge against you.”

“It’s just I sort of promised Freddy I’d help him if he came forward.”

“And is he coming forward?” He knew the answer.

“Okay, you’re right. He said he wasn’t going to. I warned him. I just wish there was a way to make Abby mention his name first.”

“She won’t. She’ll deny ever hearing about him. She’s getting in deeper with her other charges though. The judge originally bought her prowler story and was prepared to accept a charge of manslaughter with probation and

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