Page 29 of Truth, Lies, and Second Dates
“Join the club. You’re—what? Four years younger than me? Five?” So he would have been thirteen or so. Ouch.
He nodded. “Before Danielle was murdered, I thought I had understood the concept of death, if only from an intellectual standpoint. But that was the first time I truly understood that some people simply get away with murder, and often for no good reason at all. And”—he paused, then met her gaze and finished with—“it stayed with me. It always will, I think. Even if we solve it.”
We?
She glanced down at his folder, saw an autopsy photo, looked away. But that wasn’t enough, so she physically pushed the photos to the side and leaned forward. “Okay, so… what’s the plan?”
Tom ran his hand over his bare scalp and frowned. She assumed he was either deep in thought or worried about sunburn. Or both. “In progress. There is little I can do on myown, and you’ll be leaving the Cities by the end of the day. Would you consider making yourself available to me—”
Down, girl. Put your libido in park already.
“—via telephone and social media and the like?”
I can’t remember the last time someone said “telephone” instead of “phone” or “cell.” Adorable!
“Sure. I’d be glad to. But c’mon, Dr. Baker…”
“Tom, please. Unless you wish for me to use Captain.”
She waved it away. “We’re past that, Tom. I don’t even know why I used your title.”Please tell me I don’t have a latentLittle House on the Prairiekink.
“Not Tommy, though,” he added with odd intensity. “Never Tommy.”
“Got it. I am making a mental note to never call you Tommy. Okay? So don’t worry. We’re in a Tommy-free zone.”
“Oh, Tommy?”
They both looked up at the same instant to see a smiling elderly man holding hands with a girl who looked about five. Tom’s eyes widened and he was on his feet before she had time to blink.
“What—what are you doing here?”
Before Ava could ask if there was a problem, she was hit by something with enough force to knock her right off the picnic table bench. Because that’s what kind of weekend this was. No matter where she was or what she was doing, something was always trashing her equilibrium.
Now what fresh hell is this?
Sixteen
“Ack! What the—agh, not there, that tickles!” Elbows flailing, Ava managed to heave the weight off her chest and struggle upright. She blinked up at the old man, the giggling girl, and an aggrieved Tom. She blinked down at the dog, who had rolled over for a belly scratch.
“I should have deduced you’d be here!”
“Why, Tom?” the elderly chap asked, extending a wiry arm. Ava was surprised at how easily he got her back on her feet. He looked like a stiff breeze would turn him into a human tumbleweed. “We haven’t taken Turq here for a month.”
“Five weeks, three days. Nevertheless.”
Tom sank into thought (or was again worried about too much sun exposure), and the other man turned to her and said with a smile, “I’m Abe Simon. This is my granddaughter, Hannah. And that’s our dog, Turquoise.Out!”
Ava, who had been brushing herself off, froze. “Out? Where—where do you want me to go? Oh. The dog. I’ve heard ‘sit’ and ‘stay’ and ‘come,’ but never ‘out.’” Turquoisewas a yellow lab the size of a canoe and, like all labs, her tail was equal parts wonderful and terrible. She frisked around them, tail lashing and, when it made contact,
“Ow!”
stinging.It’s got a five-inch circumference! That dog’s butt should be registered as a deadly weapon.
Tom had shaken himself out of whatever thought process he’d gotten lost in, because he broke in with, “Apologies. Captain Capp, this is my… friend, Abe, and my niece.”
“Ma’am.” Ava shook his hand, which was like shaking hands with flesh-covered cords of rope.Was this guy a dockworker? Until yesterday?
“Hello, Captain,” the little girl piped up. “Is your rank a military designation or are you a civilian pilot?”
