Page 76 of To Have and to Hold

I pretended thought. “In what way?”

Dave pointed to his own. “They’re always one minute behind. He’d laugh at Emme’s response to his questions, but that laugh was dead until his eyes caught up. It was like a delay of some kind. Fucking freaky.” Dave paused before laughing off his observation. “I guess it’s because I’m still new at seeing political guys up close.”

“They’re human, but more of a refined version of our species.” I shrugged. “Or clones.”

Dave offered a half smile, the first genuine reaction he’d given since I knocked on his door. “I wish you were there to see it, though. Abrams listened to her with that stare of his. Like a…viper or something, I don’t know. Stupid. Doesn’t matter anyway, since after all that he didn’t seem interested in applying Emme’s skills.”

“She didn’t get him or his wife as a client in the end?” I asked. “That’s surprising.”

“I know, right? This Abrams guy stood too close to her, wanted to know too much about her.”

“Emme never talked to him again after that?”

“It was as if they never chatted. Weird, now that you have me thinking about it.”

“Was it something she said? Do you remember the last topic they discussed?”

Dave studied me. “Not exactly.”

“You must remember something. To have a guy talk so intimately with your fiancée and then to suddenly cease the conversation…something odd must have occurred.”

“I agree with you, but whatever it was, I didn’t hear. And it wasn’t serious enough for Emme to mention it later. All she said was that it sucked he didn’t want her card and that she really thought he liked her.”

“You sure?”

Dave took a minute to think. “You know…I mean, maybe it’s nothing, but I kinda remember someone coming up to them. Yeah—the Torro guy. He struts up and suddenly the DA has places to be, people to see.”

I stared out, new facts clinking against the old. “You said he asked her about her career. How it was going, what she liked about it, that kind of stuff?”

“Besides that, what DA scuttles away when a crime lord enters their talking circle?”

“Could’ve been because there’s an active trial against Manny Torro’s nephew,” I said, then directed him back. “You were saying Abrams mainly focused on Emme’s career?”

“Yup.” Dave held up is glass in inquiry. I shook my head, and as he wandered back to the wet bar, he said, “He also asked the basic social questions, like where she was from, if she had a family back home. I joked that if he wanted I could pull up her resume, but he didn’t seem too entertained by my funny.”

Instead of waiting for Dave to return, I spun on my heel and followed him. “Did Emme answer him? About her family?”

Dave glanced to the side, then startled. “Jesus, man. You also a cat?”

“Did she mention her family?” I pressed.

“I…guess.” Dave inched away. “She must’ve, yeah. Emme would’ve politely answered all his questions.”

“You think she mentioned them by name?”

Dave set his glass down on the bar. “I have no idea. Maybe? Does one usually name their parents in polite conversation?”

“With DA Abrams, yeah, they do,” I said, then set my empty glass next to his. “Thank you for the drink, Dave.”

“That’s it?” Dave asked as I passed him and went for the door.

“Yep. Sorry to have disturbed you.”

“What kind of interview was this?” Dave asked as I stepped out into the hallway. “I barely gave you anything.”

“I have enough,” I said, then shut the door on his perplexed face.

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