LITMIR.BIZ

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concern was that she might be picking up his strong attraction to her. He was a professional and he didn’t want anything to get in the way of obtaining this woman’s help in solving a murder.

      “Yes, thank you. I’ll take some coffee.”

      He opened a door and motioned to the table. “Have a seat and I’ll be right back.”

      He closed the door behind him and took a big breath. He was being absolutely ridiculous. Maybe he should get his partner to do the interview. No, that wouldn’t work because he would somehow have to explain why he couldn’t do it.

      He poured two mugs of coffee and headed back to the interview room.

      “Here you are,” he said, setting one of the mugs in front of her and sitting down across the table. “I’d like you to write out your statement for me. If anything came to mind since we spoke, please let me know.”

      She sipped her coffee. “Okay.”

      He watched her write. She was a lefty. When she finally looked up, she caught him staring at her. He quickly blinked and smiled.

      “Finished?”

      “I think so. I can’t think of anything else.”

      She handed him the paper and he put it aside. He opened a file and pulled out a photograph. “Have you ever seen this man before?”

      Sherri took the picture and studied it. This wasn’t a mug shot. The man was smiling into the camera, his arms around two small children.

      She looked up. “You know, I think he may have been in the restaurant last night.”

      “Really?”

      “I wouldn’t swear to it, but his smile reminds me of a man we passed as the hostess led us to a table. In fact, my friend teased me about it.” She looked back down. “I didn’t pay all that much attention to him, though. He left before we did. Is he important to this case?”

      “He’s the victim in this case.”

      “Oh, no!” She sounded horrified. “Are you sure?”

      He nodded. “I spoke with his family this morning and they gave me this photograph.”

      “Are these his children?”

      “One is. The other one is his nephew. We wanted to see if he’d been in the restaurant that night. His wife said he had a meeting to go to, although he didn’t say where.”

      “I’m so sorry for his family.”

      “Was he alone when you saw him?”

      She thought about his question before finally saying, “He was when we passed him. After that I had my back to him. All I know was that he wasn’t there when we passed that table on the way out.”

      “We interviewed several people, including your friend, who were at the restaurant last night. You seem to be the only person who actually saw the two men run from behind the restaurant.”

      She shivered.

      He moved his hand so that it rested on hers. “They have no idea who you are. You don’t have anything to worry about.”

      She looked at his hand. He noted that his hand swallowed hers. She didn’t pull away so he left it there. She looked back at him. “But they saw me very clearly. They saw my car.”

      “Unless they have someone in their pocket who can run a DMV check on you, they won’t bother you.”

      She nodded. “Okay.”

      “Next, I’d like you to look at some of these mug shots to see if you recognize anyone. We’re still investigating his possible contacts and hoping you see someone here that you recognize.”

      He opened the book and she blinked. “That’s a lot of people. And I never saw their faces.”

      “There may be something that might trigger a memory…a tilt of a head, the shape of a jaw, that sort of thing. I’ll leave you to look and will be back a little later.”

      He checked on her from time to time, but in the end she didn’t recognize anyone.

      “I’m so sorry. I know I’m not being much help,” she said.

      “Actually, you are. We know these guys weren’t involved.”

      “We can hope. I should have been more aware.”

      Greg looked at his watch. “It’s almost lunchtime. Would you care to go get something to eat? That is, if you don’t have other plans.”

      She stood and stretched, causing her top to ride up and bare her midriff. Greg looked away but he was too late to stop his reaction to the sight. He had a sudden desire to kiss her right there.

      “Actually, lunch sounds good. I sort of skipped breakfast this morning.”

      “Great.” He opened the door and ushered her out of the room.

      He drove them to one of the cafés where he generally ate lunch. It was a little hole-in-the-wall place that served the best hamburgers in town.

      Once inside and seated, Sherri looked around the room in wonder. “I never knew this place was here.”

      He grinned. “Another top secret among law-enforcement guys. They’re open all the time and there have been times when it was the only place where we could get something to eat.”

      “Do they have trouble with people dealing drugs late at night? I’ve heard that the places that stay open all night tend to attract them.”

      “No. They’ve made it clear to the people who come in that the place is frequented by off-duty as well as on-duty cops. Seems to work.”

      Once they gave their order, Greg leaned on his folded arms and asked, “Tell me a little about yourself.”

      She looked at him in surprise, obviously startled by the question. “Didn’t you get all that information from me last night?”

      He grinned. “This isn’t about the case, Sherri. I’ve tried my darnedest to hide the fact that I’m attracted to you but I can’t seem to be detached where you’re concerned. This is just for my own information.”

      Her cheeks flamed. “Oh.”

      He lifted his shoulder in a shrug. “Of course, it may be all one-sided, so if you’d rather not—”

      “Uh, no. It isn’t at all one-sided.”

      He settled back in the booth with a grin and said, “Good. Let’s hear it.”

      “My life is very ordinary. I’ve been in school most of my life, it seems. Right now I’m taking a course in computer software and technical writing.”

      “How about family?”

      She shook her head. “No family. Parents died when I was fourteen. The aunt who took over caring for me died of cancer last year.”

      “You’ve had some tough breaks.”

      “Since I can’t do anything about the past, I do my best to look forward to the future.”

      Their food arrived and they concentrated on their meal. Once they finished, Sherri looked at him and said, “Your turn.”

      He looked at her quizzically for a moment and then nodded. “What do you want to know?”

      “How old you are…are you married…what about family? Those things. Oh, and why you decided to go into law enforcement.”

      “Are you sure you aren’t writing my biography?”

      “Depends on how interesting it might be.”

      “Oh. In that case, you’ll be bored right away, so I’m safe.”

      He paused. He didn’t like talking

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