Chapter 11
Luke
Only the steady beat of my fingers drumming the steering wheel filled the silence in my truck cab as I waited on Mina.
I wasn’t sure what possessed me to ask her out yesterday. All day, I’d been on edge about this “date.” We hadn’t called it that, but from the lust burning in her eyes last night that she tried to conceal, and the answering need still coursing through my veins, that’s exactly what it was. A date.
Maybe it was the ambiguity around our evening plans that had me walking a tightrope.
Or it could just be the woman.
Mina had the potential to be more than just someone to go out with and have some fun in the bedroom. She was older, for one thing. I knew that didn’t always mean a woman wanted a relationship, but she didn’t strike me as the bed-hopping type.
And to be honest, I didn’t want a woman like that.
I wasn’t a dumb college student anymore and hadn’t been for several years.
I had a career—a good one—and I was ready for more.
It was too soon to tell if Mina could be the woman who would be by my side when we were old and gray, but I could definitely see her in that role.
Time would tell.
Soon enough, Mina pulled into the library parking lot and a space across from my truck. When her door cracked open and one slender leg emerged, bare from mid-thigh down thanks to her shorts, my heart rate kicked up, thumping in my chest. She wasn’t a tall woman, but she had long, shapely legs.
Suddenly, I wanted to see her in a short skirt and a killer pair of heels.
Shoving the vision of her strutting around in black stilettos from my mind, I got out of my truck.
Catching sight of me, Mina smiled and waved.
I lifted a hand. “Hey.”
“I hope you haven’t been waiting long. It took me longer to get away than I planned.”
“You’re fine. I’ve only been here about five minutes.”
“Good. So, where are we going to eat? I’m starving.”
“How does pizza sound?”
Her chin bobbed once. “I like pizza.”
I tipped my head toward my truck. “Hop in, then. There’s a great place not too far from here. They sell it by the slice, so we won’t have to wait long.”
“You don’t have to tell me twice.” She hurried around me toward the car. “I haven’t eaten since lunch, and that was just a sandwich.”
“You were that busy?” I asked as we got in the truck.
“Yeah. It’s tourist season.” She buckled up.
I did the same and started the engine, then pulled out of the space I’d backed into. She wasn’t wrong about that. Even here in Juneau, there were more people than usual. It was great for the businesses that relied on tourist revenue, but it would be nice when things weren’t quite so crowded again.
“But I don’t want to talk about crazy tourists.” She waved a hand before settling it into her lap. “I have news.”
“Oh?” Chancing a quick glance her way, I quirked an eyebrow.
“Claire stopped in for coffee this morning. She quizzed Ozzie last night and wrangled some more information out of him. Apparently, the woman was wearing a shirt with shoulder pads and stirrup pants. That narrows our search to women who went missing in the eighties and early nineties.”
“That’s a manageable list.” That cut the number of names down to just a handful.
“I know. Although I’m not sure why we’re still looking. Ozzie undoubtedly has the same information.” She bit the corner of her lip and glanced out the window.
“I’m sure he does, but maybe we can help him narrow it down some. I know with a murder investigation, it’ll be all hands on deck, but the department is still small. It can’t hurt to have a couple extra sets of eyes.” I turned the corner.
“True. I’m not sure that’s the way he’ll see it, though.” A soft, impish smile lit her face. “Claire will get him on our side, I’m sure.”
I chuckled, making another turn. “I bet she will.” Mina’s café reno wasn’t my first run-in with Claire Holmes. Because our jobs were related, we’d met before. The woman was tenacious. I could imagine how that would serve her to get what she wanted from her boyfriend.
It didn’t hurt that Claire was a beautiful woman. Detective Quartermaine didn’t stand a chance with her combination of beauty and brains.
I spared a quick glance at the woman beside me.
Claire’s friend was a lot like her in that department. An enticing blend of beauty and intellect. One I found quite captivating.
Returning my attention to the road, I saw the sign for the pizza place up ahead and maneuvered my truck into a parking space on the street. After cutting the engine, I hopped out, meeting Mina on the sidewalk in front of the shop.
“We’re not even inside and my mouth is already watering.” She tossed me a quick smile and headed for the door.
“It tastes as good as it smells too.” Holding the door for her, I followed her inside, and we got in line.
The queue in front of us was short. In minutes, we each had a giant slice of pizza and a drink. I spotted a table near the window and headed for it.
“This place is cute.” Mina set her drink on the table, then sank into the black metal chair. “How did you find it?”
“My dad, actually. He brought me here one day when I was a teenager. It was summer, so I was on one of the construction crews as a grunt. We came here for lunch.” I sat down across from her, picking up my pizza slice. “I’m here a lot. The pizza is good and it’s a quick meal.”
“It certainly smells good.” She picked up her pizza, folding it in half to take a bite.
I about swallowed my tongue as her pretty pink lips wrapped around the end of the slice. Something hot and needy unfurled in my belly as her eyelids fluttered closed and she let out a soft moan of pleasure.
Sweet Jesus. Dinner was a bad idea.
Forcing my eyes elsewhere, I took a bite of my own slice. How was eating pizza erotic? Was I that hard up for sex that watching Mina eat about set me off?
“So, how is your dad? You said he’s been transferred to cardiac rehab, right?”
Her words put a bit of a damper on my libido. “Right. He’s doing as well as expected, I suppose. Chugging along with therapy and not happy about being laid up. My poor mom has her hands full keeping him from going stir-crazy.”
Mina chuckled softly. “I bet. For a man who’s used to being on the go and on job sites all day, it’s probably torture. My own dad would be watching the clock, waiting for them to spring him.”
I smiled. “Yeah. My mom’s spending as much time with him as she can, so he’s not too bored, but it’s not the same as going out and living his daily life.
I don’t think he’s quite wrapped his head around the fact it’ll never be the same again, either.
He’s going to have to give up some control of the business and let me do more. ”
“Are you ready for that?” she asked, lifting her pizza slice to take another bite.
I twitched a shoulder in a small shrug. “I guess. It was always sort of the plan for me to run the business. But I figured I’d have more time to learn it all before that happened.
” I had also planned to hire a project manager so I could continue the architectural side of things.
Depending on when Dad came back, I might do that sooner rather than later.
Trying to do both was already almost more than I could handle alone.
In reality, I shouldn’t even be out with Mina this evening.
Or last evening, for that matter. I had too much work to do.
The late nights were worth it, though, to get to know her and to dig into the mystery at her café.
“I would offer to help, but there’s a reason I hired your dad to do my renovation.” A sardonic tilt lifted one side of her mouth.
An answering one drew up the right side of my face. “I appreciate the sentiment, but I’ll be fine. Some of the crew have picked up a bit of the slack. We’re managing.”
“Good.” Turning her pizza slice, she bit off a corner of the crust.
“So, do you have any siblings?” she continued, several moments later.
My head bobbed. “I have a younger sister. She’s just graduated from the University of Anchorage with a business degree. She’s been doing some catering and trying to set up her own party planning business.”
“Seriously? That’s amazing. If you bring me some of her business cards, I’ll set them out at the coffeeshop. You’d be surprised by the number of people I get looking for someone to cater or plan events.”
I smiled. “I’ll do that. She’s always looking for ways to drum up business.” Polishing off the last of my pizza, I wiped the grease from my fingers and face. In just a couple more bites, Mina finished.
Grabbing my drink, I pushed away from the table. “Ready?”
She nodded and stood.
After disposing of our trash, we headed out to the truck and in minutes, were back at the library.
Cool air blasted us in the face as we stepped inside.
My gaze roved over the cavernous space. There were more people here today than yesterday, but it was earlier too.
Heading for the reference desk, the same librarian from last evening sat at the computer. He glanced up as we approached and smiled. “Back again?”
With a polite smile, I nodded. “And with a shorter list.”
“That’s good, I hope?”
“It is,” Mina replied.
“Good. When you’re ready for me to fetch the microfiche, just let me know.”
“Thank you,” I said, then gave Mina a nudge toward the catalogue computer.
Grabbing an extra chair, I pulled it over and sat at an angle. Mina sank into the rolling chair in front of the monitor and opened her handbag, taking out the list of names and a pen before handing them to me.
“All right”—she cracked her knuckles—“let’s do this.” Fingers poised over the keyboard, she typed in the first name.
We worked through the list, and I wrote down the reference numbers. There seemed to be more articles on these women, perhaps because the cases were newer.
“That’s the last thing I see for this one.” Mina glanced over, having scrolled through the search results for the final name on our list.