Page 7 of Justice for Daesha

“She threatened to go public and he killed her to keep her quiet.”

“Holy shit. Yeah, that makes sense.”

“Would that fall under your?”

“Not really, but there’s nothing to say I couldn’t look into it. Have you come up with any names?”

“Nope.” She looked past Amos and announced, “Here they come with our food.”

“Good. I’m starved.” He hadn’t realized how hungry he was. Excitement would do that to him, and he was excited. The possibility that he might get a chance to solve a murder had his imagination exploding. He loved investigative work, and that would be big, very big. “Have you shared this with law enforcement?”

That time she almost growled. “Yeah. They think I’m an idiot woman who’s clueless and doesn’t understand how things work, even though I can outshoot and outrun them, even with a prosthetic.”

“I’m confused. You went to college, but you were in the service?”

Daesha nodded as she cut a piece of bockwurst. “Yeah. I graduated, but with the murder so fresh, I couldn’t concentrate. And when nobody would listen to me, I just joined the service. It took me out of myself and out of the situation. I swear, if I’d stayed here, I don’t know what would’ve become of me. But being over there, being shot at, dodging IEDs?well, all but one anyway?really took me out of the situation and gave me some peace.” When Amos’s eyes popped open wide, she laughed. “I know. Peace on the battlefield? Sounds weird, I’m sure. But it was a different kind of turmoil than the personal turmoil I’d been in. People were shooting at me, but it wasn’t personal. It was just what they did. We shot back. That was nothing personal. But I know if I’d stayed here the whole time, I’d probably be in jail because I probably would’ve shot fucking Max dead as a doornail. Bonnie too.”

“No love lost there, huh?”

“Do you know what my parents have to go through just to see my sister’s kids? At least they’re almost grown now and they can come over when they want. When they were younger, he wouldn’t even let us see them on holidays or their birthdays. It’s been hard?really, really hard.” Amos felt bad for her. It seemed like everything in her life was upside down and backward. Couldn’t she catch a break?

He’d ordered a plate that had bratwurst, liverwurst, and knockwurst, and he sliced into the liverwurst. It looked a little mushy. “Um, this doesn’t look right.”

“Yeah, it looks fine. It’s liverwurst. Spread it on that piece of crusty bread. That’s how it’s intended to be eaten.”

Amos did as she said and took a bite. “Oh my god, this is delicious,” he mumbled through his food, still chewing.

“I know, right?” Daesha was grinning. “I told you that’s why I love this place. The food is so good, and it’s like a hidden gem. I really don’t want them to get so busy that I have to fight people for a table, but I’d hate for them to go out of business because nobody eats here. I mean, they’re not busy at all, and they should be. So I tell everybody I can about them.”

“Hell, I will too. This is awesome.” Losing that restaurant would be a shame. He’d never known German food could be so good. “You know what I wish they had?” Daesha’s eyebrows shot up. “Hard-boiled eggs. For some reason, that sounds good right now.”

She tipped her head and lifted one eyebrow. “You know, I don’t know why, but thatdoessound good. Just plain ol’ hard-boiled eggs.”

“Yeah. That would be perfect. You should suggest that.”

The laugh she let loose made him smile. For someone who’d experienced so much tragedy, she laughed and smiled easily. “I will! More beer?”

“Yes! I think so!” He watched as she motioned for a server. In a couple of minutes, he had a Hefeweizen sitting in front of him. “So do you have any idea who this mystery man might be?”

Daesha shook her head. “Nope. That’s the part I’m trying to figure out. I mean, several people had seen her out and about, but the men were always different. It didn’t seem she was seeing one person.”

“Maybe that was the problem. Maybe somebody was jealous,” Amos offered.

She shrugged. “I dunno. I don’t know how I’d track them down. Back then there weren’t cameras on every corner like there are now, so there’s no surveillance footage.”

“Did they look at credit card or debit card activity? Or phone records?”

“They claimed they did and found nothing.” She put down her fork and knife and bowed her head a little before she looked up at Amos. “But thanks for listening. I know there’s nothing you can do, and I’m sure you think I’m crazy or something, but I keep trying to find somebody,anybody, who’ll help me. Help us. Well, my mom’s dead now.”

Amos dabbed at his mouth with his napkin. “I’m so sorry. When did she die?”

“About three years ago. Her only wish was that we could find Dorinda’s killer, and we never did. I’ll regret that forever.” Something in her eyes told Amos she was hurting, an ache so deep she might never get rid of it. “I came back here and I knew my life was over.”

That didn’t make sense. “Over? What do you mean?”

“I mean, I came back here with a prosthetic. When I’m not at work, I’m trying like hell to work out and keep healthy, and to figure out who killed my sister. Yeah, maybe it’s become an obsession, but it doesn’t matter. Men don’t want me, and my work is demanding, so this is it for me.”

“Don’t say that! You’re a lovely person,” Amos almost yelled.

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