Page 36 of A Step You Shouldn't Take

“Where was this car wash?”

“Why?”

“My car’s dirty, and the last place I took it to scratched one of the panels. You said Tyrone was good?”

“Good at giving out information.”

“But he didn’t do a bad job on your SUV? Did he polish the glass and put that black stuff on the tyres?”

“Yeah.”

“So can you tell me the name of the place?”

“Auto Shine Express. But promise me you’ll avoid going there until after the case.”

“Mmm-hmm.” I kept my fingers crossed behind my back. A little white lie never hurt anyone, did it?

He rattled off the address, and I tapped it into my phone. What did I have going on next Thursday? A dress fitting, but that was only in the morning. I quickly blocked out the afternoon. Yes, I’d go and visit Georgette. That could solve this whole mystery. If Reed had already followed the chauffeur to the car wash once and eliminated him, he wouldn’t need to do so again.

“Why are you smiling?” Reed asked.

Darn it. “I just counted up in my head and we’re more than halfway through. We might get to bed before midnight.”

Just then my stomach grumbled. No, of course I hadn’t had time for dinner.

“Have you eaten?” Reed asked.

Oh, thank goodness, a change of subject. “Not yet. Shall I order something? Pizza? Chinese? Japanese? Burgers? I think there’s a new Lebanese place opened a few blocks away, but I haven’t been there yet. Haveyoueaten?”

“Only a protein bar at the gym.”

“I tried one of those once. It tasted like sawdust.”

“Most of them taste like sawdust.”

“Do you run in the gym? Cycle? Lift weights?”

“Weights.”

“Doesn’t that earn you proper food? Like a steak or something?”

For a second, Reed looked wistful. “Only on cheat day.”

“Well, I must have walked twenty miles this morning, so I deserve dessert.”

“Twenty miles? What were you doing?”

“Scouting photography locations with a client.” Who ran marathons for a hobby. “She wanted somewhere rustic, but not shabby, at one with nature, but no bugs, mud, or ryegrass because apparently her fiancé’s allergic to that. I twisted my ankle falling over a log.”

“Did you put ice on it?”

“I didn’t have any time or any ice.” And the biggest injury had been to my pride.

“You should rest it.”

“If I stopped to rest after every problem, I’d never get anything done. This morning’s accident was just a little hiccup.” That I didn’t want to be reminded of. “Chinese. Shall I order Chinese?”

“I’ll eat anything,” Reed said.

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