“I’m sure you’ve done a great job so far, but maybe I’ll pick up something with my psychic ability. I think it’s worth a shot, and I don’t mind spending the time. It’s worth it to me.”
Her eyes widened. I’d picked up her intentions like a pro. Had I been trained to read micro expressions? That had to be it… unless it really was a psychic ability. But she didn’t believe in that stuff. Still, she’d woefully underestimated me. “Whatever… I suppose we could use all the help we can get, right Williams?”
“Yeah, sure.” He didn’t mind at all, thinking they certainly had nothing to lose.
Clue pulled a card from her jacket and handed it to me. “Call me if you find anything.”
I took it and nodded. “Sure. Thanks Clue… I’ll let you know.” I’d almost said Cluella, and thanked my lucky stars I’d held it back. She might not punch me in the face, but I didn’t want to risk it.
As I slipped her card into my purse, I glanced Dimples’s way. He and Willow were still hard at work watching the surveillance video. Since I didn’t want to interrupt, I passed them with my head held high and kept going.
“Shelby, wait,” Dimples called. “Are you leaving?”
“Yeah.”
“I’ll walk you out.”
I shrugged, but waited for him to join me. Willow glanced up, not happy he was leaving. As we walked out, I felt her staring daggers into my back. She wondered what Dimples was up to. He’d better not ask me to help with the case again. She was doing a great job. They didn’t need me.
It was a relief to leave her unwelcome thoughts behind. Dimples was glad to get away from her, too. Her perfume was giving him a headache. Plus, she tended to be overbearing, and it was starting to get on his nerves. But beneath all of that came a wave of unhappiness… he’d missed me.
“Uh… that’s too bad she’s such a… witch,” I told him. “If it helps, I miss you too. How soon can you ditch her?”
His surprised gaze caught mine. Did that mean I’d forgiven him?
I smiled, and he chuckled, causing his dimples to appear. I’d missed them, too. “She probably doesn’t even appreciate your dimples. Otherwise, she’d try to get you to smile more often.”
This time his smile reached his eyes, showing off his boyish handsomeness. He was inordinately pleased, and grateful that I cared.
“So how’s Billie doing? I haven’t had a chance to chat with her since I got back.” Dimples was married to Billie Jo Payne… a newspaper reporter. She still used her own name for the paper, which pleased me to no end since it fit her so well, mostly because she’d been a big pain in the butt when we first met.
“She’s doing great. In fact, she was happy to hear you’d made it back. I told her you were taking some time off though, and that you needed a break.”
“What? Why?”
“Well… you know she’s still hoping to get an interview with you for the paper, right?”
“Oh… yeah. I was hoping she’d forgotten about that.”
“Nope.” His grin widened, and he hoped the sight of his dimples would soften me up.
I chuckled. “So… I guess I should thank you?”
He nodded. “Damn straight. You can thank me by helping me with this case.”
I let out a huff. “Not fair. Besides… you didn’t hear how much Willow dislikes me. She’s kind of scary. Are you sure she doesn’t have something to do with the case? Like… could she be the killer?”
He snorted and shook his head. “Of course not. But, if you’re worried about that, why don’t you and I go talk to Sophie? They released her from the hospital, and she’s staying with her mom. You might pick up something.”
I hated to let him down, but I didn’t see how that would help. “You know, if she’s got amnesia, it’s not going to help me, right? Her mind will be just a big blob of nothing.”
“Yeah… I know… but what if she’s faking it? You’d know right off the bat.”
“Oh… I hadn’t thought of that. Yeah, I guess I would.”
“Then it’s worth a quick visit. We can go right now. I’ll text Willow that something came up.” He pulled out his phone and started a text before I had a chance to answer. Finishing, he sent me a big smile, making sure his dimples wobbled like little tornadoes. “Okay… let’s go.”
I shook my head. “It’s a darn good thing you’ve got those crazy dimples going for you.”
CHAPTER 6
Dimples drove us to the house, asking me all sorts of questions about my vacation in New York. I told him most of it, but left a lot out. Still, it was enough for him to know that Uncle Joey and Ramos worked with the NYPD to put a notorious mob boss out of commission.
“Wow. That’s nuts. And you were right in the middle of it all.” Not that it surprised him, but it sounded intense.
“Yeah… it was intense, especially right at the end.”
“I’ll bet. No wonder you’re seeing Bob Spicer. I heard he’s pretty good.”
“Yeah… he is, but he’s also fascinated by my psychic abilities. He wants to know all about them and how they work, so I have to be careful, which, in some ways, just adds to my stress. You know you’re screwed when the help you need makes your stress worse, right?”
He nodded. “I can’t imagine.”
“I’ve thought about telling him the truth.” Dimples’s head jerked my way. It shocked him that I’d even think about it. “I know… it’s a bad idea. But it would be nice to get help from a real professional, you know?”
“Yeah… sure, I get it, but I don’t think you should do that. If it was someone who didn’t work for the department, then maybe you could risk it, but I’d say no.” He was thinking hell no, with an
