summer here in Merritt. Naturally I was surprised.'
'Why?'
'Berry's such a workaholic. Rarely even takes vacation days. First one in the office each morning, last one out in the evening. But Oren had become a real pest, she said. She wanted to disappear for a month or two, hoping he'd lose interest. She's been working from the lake house. She calls it the annex.'
'How'd that go?'
'Not as well as when we're both in the office. We've been working as a team, almost exclusively, on a campaign for an important client.' He gave his wife a quick look.
'A hundred miles isn't as convenient as next-door offices,' Ski observed.
'No. The distance created a few efficiency problems. Here in the boonies the Internet connection isn't one hundred percent reliable, especially out toward the lake. But it's been okay. And if it helped her shake Oren, I was willing to put up with a few inconveniences and delays.'
'Hmm.' Ski pretended to think about that statement, give it importance. Then he said, 'You brought some materials up here to her yesterday.'
Amanda Lofland's shoulders raised and lowered on a deep breath.
Lofland sought a more comfortable position on the hospital bed. 'How much more, Deputy?'
'Not much. You brought work up here yesterday.'
'We had to put some finishing touches on our proposal before presenting it to the client next week. The mock-ups weren't coming through very well on the PDFs. Berry asked if I could run them up here, let her see them exactly as the client would. She had to sign off on a couple of other elements that had been added. So a trip up here seemed called for.'
'Who knew you were coming?'
'Well, Amanda.'
'Besides her. People at Delray?'
'I had to let people in the office know that I'd be out for the entire day, so yeah, I told a few.'
'Three, four?'
With distinct impatience, he said, 'The receptionist who answers the phone for our department. My immediate supervisor and his assistant. I can give you their names.'
'Besides them, no one else knew?'
'Not unless one of them told somebody.'
'Would they have told Oren Starks that you were spending the day with Berry?'
'I doubt that any of them kept in contact with Oren, but if you want to know, you'll have to ask them.'
Ski smiled. 'I have.' Before Lofland could respond to that, Ski asked, 'What time did you arrive yesterday morning?'
'Ten-thirtyish. We got right down to it and worked all day.'
Ski flipped through several more pages in his notepad, then said idly, 'You two get in the pool?'
Lofland shot a quick glance toward his wife where she still stood at the window, her back to the room. 'After we knocked off, we each swam some laps to cool off, work out some kinks.'
'You'd brought your swimsuit?'
Ski's question caught him off guard. 'Uh, no. I had some gym shorts in my car.'
'That was convenient.' Lofland said nothing. Ski continued, 'I guess the shorts are somewhere in the house?'
'I left them hanging on a towel bar in the guest bathroom.'
'Okay.' Ski let that reverberate for several moments, as though weighing its significance, when actually he'd found the gym shorts in the guest bathroom, exactly as Lofland had described. He just wanted to rattle him in front of his wife, see what shook loose when he did. Unnecessarily, he referred to his notepad again. 'You and Ms. Malone grilled steaks for dinner.'
'We didn't take a lunch break. We were hungry.'
'It got late, you decided to stay over.'
'Only after consulting Amanda,' Lofland said hastily. 'By the time Berry and I had finished dinner and I'd helped with the cleanup, it was well after dark, and it doesn't get dark till nine-thirty or better. That's when I called home.'
'It was eleven oh three,' Amanda said, keeping her back to them.
Lofland, looking sickly, said to Ski, 'I didn't realize it was that late. But since it was, Amanda said she'd rather I not head back to Houston.'
Ski nodded. 'Probably best.'
'Right. It would have been one o'clock or so before I got home.'
'And you shouldn't have been driving after drinking.'
Amanda turned suddenly and looked at her husband. His eyes moved from her back to Ski, looking both uneasy and resentful. 'Berry and I had some red wine with our steaks.'
'And beer.'
Lofland pulled his lower lip through his teeth. 'I had a couple while the steaks were cooking.'
'And Ms. Malone?'
'She joined me for one.'
'Huh.' Ski looked over at Amanda Lofland's rigid back before returning to her husband. 'You ate dinner in the living room?'
'No, in the dining area.'
Ski shared a long look with the man, letting him know that he'd seen wineglasses on the living room coffee table in front of a very comfortable-looking sofa. He decided to let Lofland explain the significance of that question to his wife.
He closed his notepad and slid it and the pen back into his pocket. 'I think that's everything for now.'
'Good,' Lofland said. 'I feel like crap and would like to sleep.'
Ski left them with the promise not to disturb his rest unless it was absolutely necessary and to keep the two of them updated on the manhunt for Oren Starks. As he left the room, he met a nurse going in with a phlebotomy kit. Ski held the door for her, then stepped into the corridor, where Berry Malone was still standing sentinel outside the room.
'They'll probably need a minute to draw blood,' he said.
She nodded. 'How is he?'
'Better than dead, which he could be.'
That sparked her anger. 'You're doing it again.'
'Pardon?'
'You toss out these little editorial comments, most of them snide, when a simple statement would do.'
He slid his hands into the seat pockets of his jeans but then realized that the position revealed the handgun holster attached to his belt, so he lowered his arms back to his sides. 'Your friend is no doubt uncomfortable, but the surgeon--I talked to him by phone on my way here--said the wound is clean and that he'll be fine. He'll have bragging rights in the locker room.'
The nurse emerged. There were several new vials of blood in her tray, so her mission had been accomplished, but still Berry seemed hesitant to go into the room. 'What's Ben's state of mind? He must hate me.'
'Why would he hate you?'
