Chapter Two
Early in the morning, I slipped out of bed. In the dim light I stared appreciatively at Cal’s naked back as he sprawled over
my sheets, the comforter twisted between his legs and only partly covering his very attractive ass. Tito was curled up in
the crook of Cal’s arm. He was so damn good-looking, so smart, and so much fun. And he liked cats. I’d hit the jackpot. Also,
he wasn’t intimidated by my huge extended family. The fact that I hadn’t been looking for a relationship when he walked into
my life made this all feel a bit surreal.
I didn’t want to wake him, but I needed a shower. As quietly as possible, I went into the bathroom and turned on the water.
Even though I was normally an early riser, Cal wore me out in all the best ways and I could easily have slept another hour
or two. It wasn’t just the sex that was good—late last night, we’d slipped into my backyard hot tub completely naked and just
talked. I told him everything I’d done on my dad’s case, why I had halted the investigation earlier this year, and why I couldn’t
let it go.
He listened, asked thoughtful questions, and then said, If you need my help, just ask.
I might have fallen a little bit in love then. But I wasn’t in a rush, so didn’t want to explore too deeply how I felt about a man I’d only known for two months.
I quickly showered, dried off, and pulled a wide-toothed comb through my shoulder-length dark blond hair. It was thick and
wavy, and either would dry naturally and look amazing, or dry naturally and look like a rat’s nest. I put a hair band around
my wrist in case of the latter and stepped out of the bathroom.
Cal was sitting up in bed and stretching. He was still naked and showed no sign of modesty as he looked at me with sleepy
eyes. “I wish you’d woken me up,” he said, his faint Texas accent more pronounced when he was tired. “I would have showered
with you.” He smiled, yawned.
“I have to go, and you have a meeting later this morning.”
“Damn, I had to fall for a responsible woman,” he said as he stood. He kissed me, played with my towel. “What time do you
have to go?”
“Now.”
“I think you should get dressed first.”
“Good idea.”
I dropped my towel just to tease him, then pulled on underwear, my bra, jeans, white T-shirt, and topped it with an oversize
shirt that would easily conceal my weapon. Cal watched me the entire time.
“You’re just making it worse for yourself,” I said smugly and gestured to his growing penis.
“I like watching you.”
“Pervert.” I grabbed my favorite gun to carry concealed, my Sig Sauer P365, checked the magazine, snapped it back in place,
and holstered it.
“Now you’re really trying to make me horny,” he said with a lopsided grin.
“Save it for later,” I said. “When are you leaving?”
He pulled on shorts and followed me to the kitchen. “I don’t have to be downtown until ten. I’m going to take a run through the preserve first. I love that I can just hop your back wall and it’s a short hike to one of my favorite trails.”
My little house in Sunnyslope backed up to the southwest edge of the Phoenix Mountains Preserve.
I pulled out the leftover spaghetti and ate a couple bites cold. He looked at me as if I’d committed a sin.
“What?” I asked. “I just need a little fuel until I get my coffee.”
“Will I see you tonight?”
“Maybe. I’ll text you later when I know what I’m doing.”
I grabbed one of my many YETI travel mugs that I would fill with iced coffee when I got to the coffee shop.
“Make sure Tito has enough food and water,” I said. “I don’t know when I’ll be back.”
Cal cut off my path, put his hands on my arms. “Be careful with this woman,” he said. “The call out of the blue is odd.”
“True, but I haven’t been actively investigating for months, so there’s no reason for someone to try to throw me off. She
definitely saw something suspicious, but maybe it has nothing to do with my dad. I won’t know until I question her.”
He touched my chin in an endearing way. Looked me in the eyes. There was so much going on between us that I wasn’t quite sure
what to do about it, but it didn’t scare me as much as I thought it would.
When he kissed me now, it felt different. It was light yet purposeful and said a lot more than just goodbye.
I left and tried not to overthink everything.
I hadn’t told anyone other than Cal about the call from Liz.
When I joined my family’s PI firm in May, after we had two cases collide and were forced to work together, my mom and I came to a truce.
She didn’t want me to investigate Dad’s case, but she finally agreed that she couldn’t stop me.
Three years ago, she’d literally forbade me to do anything, and of course I refused to live under that rule—which is why I’d remained on my own.
But those three years were hell for all of us.
The Angelharts and my mom’s family—the Moraleses—were close; we had at least one family get-together a month, if not every week.
Avoiding my mother was impossible, and it put a strain on everyone.
But I wasn’t backing down, and my mom wasn’t backing down.
Our truce was that I wouldn’t expect Mom to use her resources or contacts to investigate Devin Klein’s murder. That anything I did, I would do alone.
Except . . . if Liz Swanson had actionable information, I would drop everything to investigate. If I found anything to exonerate
my father, I would pull in my brothers and sisters. I prayed they would join me. They hadn’t three years ago, but now? If
I had something tangible and fresh? I was almost positive they would be on my side. I didn’t know how my mother would feel
about that, and I didn’t care.
Okay, I cared a little bit. We’d finally gotten to a good place, professionally and personally, and I really loved working
with my family. If I purposely defied her again, I didn’t know if we could recover.
I love my mom dearly, but she drives me crazy. My older brother Jack says it’s because we’re so much alike. Maybe. In some
things. Like, we’re both stubborn. I, at least, admit it.
I wasn’t going to back down. I just needed a lead, a person with information, a direction. Liz might have another way of reaching
Georgia Rollins. Even if what she knew didn’t help prove my dad innocent, she could connect me with the woman who had sent
me down a dead end, then disappeared.
I left early enough that traffic wasn’t an issue.
The sun was rising, always a gorgeous sight in the desert, but especially when we got a real fall, like now.
Crisp mornings and warm afternoons. I would have enjoyed an early-morning hike with Cal.
Not running—I didn’t understand how Cal actually liked to run.
But a hike? I’d be down for that. I filed that idea away for later this week.
I arrived at the Wild Pine at quarter to seven. It was a comfortable place with lots of seating and several private groupings
of comfortable chairs and couches. There was a steady stream of people coming in and out with their coffee and food. I ordered
iced coffee and dumped it into my YETI, plus grabbed a scone since the cold spaghetti wasn’t enough to fuel me. I sipped.
Not bad.
I sat at a table that had two comfy chairs at the front of the store by the large windows, where I could also watch the door.
I easily found Liz Swanson’s social media page. She was in her midforties, a petite slender blonde with flawless skin and
a nice smile, much like how I remembered her. Her husband was pleasant looking, maybe fifty. She had two teenage boys who
were both into sports.
I heard sirens pass the coffee shop and when I looked up, I caught a glimpse of a police car. Then another. Probably an accident,
since North Peoria was a low crime community. The epitome of suburbia—a mix of small starter homes and larger, upscale gated
developments. Lots of shopping, activities for kids, new schools, clean neighborhoods. I had some friends from high school
who had gotten married and moved to the suburbs—it wasn’t for me. Either I was going to live in the eclectic community of
Sunnyslope until I died, or I’d move to the middle of nowhere, like a cabin up in Flagstaff where my neighbors were deer,
elk, and the occasional mountain lion. Cookie-cutter houses in neat little rows with tiny yards wasn’t my idea of living.
I finished my scone and used Angelhart resources to look up Swanson’s publicly available information. She didn’t live far
from here, only a mile up the road.
Jack called. I considered sending him to voice mail but decided I should talk to him.
“Yep,” I answered.
“I’m heading to the office. Are you bringing in breakfast burritos?”
I lived near Orozco’s, a Mexican diner owned by our cousins where I often stopped on my way to work because they had the single
best breakfast burritos in Phoenix. Probably in the entire state.
“I’m going to be late.”
“Late night with Cal?”
“Do I detect a hint of brotherly disapproval?”
“Not at all. I mostly like him.”
“Mostly?”
He didn’t answer my question. I knew why Jack had issues with Cal, and they weren’t actual issues with Cal. My longtime on-again, off-again boyfriend Rick Devlin was Jack’s best friend. Jack had it in his head that Rick and I would
get married, because even though Jack had been through a nasty divorce, he was a romantic at heart.
“When are you going to be in? We have a subpoena to serve in Buckeye and it might get dicey. I was going to ask if you wanted
to join me for backup.”
Our mom worked with several law offices, and we seemed to have taken on an unusual number of servings of late. Yes, it was
steady income, but both Jack and I found it tedious and boring, and it certainly didn’t use our skill sets to their fullest.
But this one sounded like it could be fun.
“I should be there between ten and eleven,” I said, not wanting to commit to any specific time.
“That’ll work. I’d like to get him leaving for work, which is around noon.”
“What’s it for?”