Page 104 of Highball and Chain

Shanna sat up straighter and gripped the door handle.

“We should continue our conversation.”

“No need.” She bolted from the car and from me.

Following her inside, I struggled to make sense of her change in demeanor. The woman had a temper, and she could run hot and cold, but her reaction seemed off. “Why is there no need?”

“Unless you’re still keeping secrets, there’s nothing else to say. It all makes sense to me now.” Shanna strode through the hall, glancing into different rooms. “Where the hell is the office?”

I walked past her and opened the door to the office. “I’m glad my situation makes sense to you. Perhaps you could explain it to me?”

“Your mother is using you to protect her other children.” She plopped down in my father’s chair and held out her hand. “The watch?”

The truth in what she’d said knocked the wind out of me, but that couldn’t be all of it. My mother had to believe in me to think I could handle the business. Too bad Shanna didn’t have the same faith in my abilities.

I dropped the gadget in her palm. “You’re wrong.”

“It wouldn’t be the first time.” She unscrewed what looked like the knob to set the time and plugged a USB cable into the hole.

My curiosity over the spy watch won out over my anger, or maybe the technology gave me an excuse to change the painful subject. I moved behind the desk and leaned in to get a better look at the gadget. “I’d never know it had a hidden camera. It looks like a cheap, old man watch.”

Focusing on the computer, Shanna nodded. “That’s the point.”

A window popped up with a list of files.

“This should be the last one I shot.” Shanna clicked on a video with the same date as the engagement party and maximized the viewing window. A rather crisp recording of Mayor Carter and a brunette appeared on the screen.

“You were in the elevator with them? How did you take this without them noticing?” Despite the fact someone had set fire to her apartment and beaten the shit out of Jack, it hadn’t occurred to me that her job was dangerous. Had the mayor or his acquaintance noticed the camera, could they have harmed her?

“I wear it on my left wrist, the same hand I use to hold my cell, and pretend to read emails or send texts. No one looks twice about a twenty-something with their nose in a phone.”

“I’m impressed. You’re going to make a hell of a private investigator.”

“Thanks, but I’m not sure I’ll ever get my license.”

Before I could dig deeper, she turned her attention back to the computer.

Shanna paused the video and zoomed in on the brunette. “Does she look familiar? She was at the engagement party.”

“No, but I was in the kitchen the majority of the night.”

Marco knocked on the office door. “I thought I heard you two come in. Where did you go?”

Shanna glanced up and flashed him a smile. “I have a new lead on the arsonist. Come take a look.”

If I had any doubt she was upset with me, it vanished when she interacted with Marco. Shanna went from stoic to sunshine-bright in the blink of an eye, yet she claimed we had nothing more to discuss.

“Mind if I come in?” Nico stood in the entrance bare-faced and wearing a borrowed T-shirt and shorts. Without her warpaint and tailored-to-be-sexy clothes, she looked more like the girl I’d grown up with and less like a spoiled mafia princess.

“Sure.” Once again, Shanna smiled. It wasn’t until she glanced at me that her frown returned.

Marco nodded at the brunette on the computer monitor. “Who is that and why does she look familiar?”

“She was at Gabe and Maggie’s party. I was hoping one of you would recognize her.” She zoomed in tighter, eliminating Mayor Carter from view.

Smart woman.I moved aside to allow Nico room to step around me.

“That’s Sophia Abruzzo.” Nico looked between us. “I was surprised to see her at the party. I wasn’t aware the Marchionnis and Abruzzos were on friendly terms.”

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