Then she saw Duke striding down the street toward the diner. Of course—a long run followed by a walk. It was a wonder the man could ever hold still.
As soon as he came through the door, before they could do much more than exchange greetings, Maude appeared at the table to slap down a menu. “Coffee? Black?”
“Black, thanks.”
After Maude brought it, she groused, “A big man like you needs to eat. Figure out what you want.”
Duke stared after her, the corners of his mouth twitching. “She’d have made a good drill instructor.”
“I wouldn’t be surprised. Have you eaten?”
“Not yet.” He sipped coffee then picked up the menu. “What about you?”
“Toast and peanut butter. My favorite since childhood.”
“Sounds good. But I saw your basement gym. You could use a bit more than that toast. I think I see turnovers up there with the pies.” Then he astonished her with a wink. “Maybe some doughnuts, too.”
She laughed. It was an old joke, but most cops tried to enjoy it anyway.
He ordered a full-on breakfast plus a turnover. She suspected it was for her.
He spoke to her as he set aside the menu. “Are you incognito today?”
“Not really. Trying to draw less attention to you, but my badge is on my waist. Ben showed up at my house last night. He wants a chance to talk to you again.”
Duke nodded. “Fine by me. Maybe we can share some good memories. But he didn’t recall anything else?”
“Only how secretive Larry was, even after he arrived here. It seems he kept Ben under wraps, which was not what Ben expected at all.”
Duke frowned. “I wouldn’t have expected that of my brother.”
“After what Ben told me, neither would I. I mean, I didn’t think much about it when Larry told me Ben was his boyfriend, but I never really thought about not seeing the two of them together.”
“I knew they flew under the radar before Ben resigned his commission, but that was the last I heard about it. Six months after Ben left, Larry and I had our...rupture. I guess the two of us really need to talk. Big blanks.”
Shortly, Maude brought a heaping plate of scrambled eggs, breakfast sausage and home fries, with a side of ham and the turnover. “You want more, it’s on the house.”
“Thank you,” Duke said. After Maude had walked away, he asked, “Where did that come from?”
“Her steadily softening heart, I guess. She probably heard you’re Larry’s brother.”
“So much for a low profile.” He pushed the apple turnover toward her. “Yours.”
“Thank you.” What else could she say? He’d done something nice for her, and she hadn’t refused when he’d suggested it. Besides, as her mouth watered, she decided it was unlikely to add five pounds.
She pulled a napkin out of the dispenser and drew the small plate closer. Apple and cinnamon. The aroma was wonderful. The first mouthful was delicious.
“Anything else?” Duke asked after a bit, when his plate was half-empty and the ham was gone.
“Apart from the odd secrecy? One thing. When I told Ben that Larry’s computer was gone, he remarked that seemed strange, to kill someone over a computer.”
Duke’s head lifted. “That was it? His computer?”
“There may be other things. I don’t know yet. I was pulled off the case because I knew Larry. Obviously. But it got me thinking. That was an awful lot of violence for one laptop.”
“Damn it, Larry,” Duke growled quietly. “What the hell did you get yourself involved with this time?”
Cat couldn’t answer. Nobody knew the motive for this murder, nobody evidently knew what Larry was working on and, given his natural secrecy, it was unlikely anyone in this area knew he was gay.
Duke went back to eating, but this time clearly without pleasure. He was eating for fuel, nothing more.
Cat eventually spoke, the turnover mostly gone. “We can’t be sure it had anything to do with his work. Maybe he just ran into a bad actor. It can happen, Duke.”
“Yeah.” But he didn’t sound as if he believed it.
Neither did she. There was an awful lot of violence. Someone had to be seriously angry with Larry to do that. But she didn’t want Duke to get wound up again, not when he was being so cooperative with her. If he went out of here carrying a lance with blood in his eye, she didn’t want to think about what might happen.
Gage had given her permission. She could share what she thought necessary. Given that, she needed to direct Duke.
“I’ll call around, Duke. I’ll see how many of the people who played poker with Larry are available to talk to you, and when.”
“Okay. Thanks.” He nodded and went back to eating like a kid whose mother had told him to clean his plate. He might have lost his appetite, but he wouldn’t waste food. She liked that. She absolutely hated wasting food.
She was probably the only person around here who could have a meltdown when she discovered a rotting green pepper at the back of her fridge.
Okay, not a meltdown, but she always felt bad.
Maude swung by to refill his coffee and ask if she wanted another latte. Duke answered for her. “Sure she will. She may deny it, but she does. She can take it with her.”
“Duke!” Cat felt a bit of annoyance. “I can make my own decisions.”
“I know you can. I also know that you try to be polite. That’s been obvious. If you can’t drink it all, that’s okay, too.”
Man, he had her number, she thought when he insisted on paying the bill. She at least didn’t feel uncomfortable about that. He’d ordered the turnover and coffee without listening to any objection and without getting her permission.
Served him right. It wasn’t like Gage had suggested she use an expense account. Why should she? Duke was an uninvited complication.
She decided not to go back to the office, but to take
