LITMIR.BIZ

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reason for that?”

      Anatoly slid his hand down to my waist. “I was with Sophie when Leah called. We’ve become…close. I wanted to be here for her and her family.”

      He pulled me tight against his side and I could feel his body heat radiating through his jacket. I reached my arm out to return his squeeze, somehow managing to “accidentally” brush it against his butt in the process.

      “Right.” Lorenzo made another note.

      I’m not very good at reading upside down but I think I could make out the word dysfunctional.

      “When was the last time you saw Leah?”

      “This afternoon,” I said. “She was on her way to see a friend…not sure who. Anyway, she stopped by to say hi.”

      Lorenzo made another little note. “Did she say anything else?”

      “It was just a basic conversation between sisters. She asked how I was, inquired about my next book, and then told me to stop talking to my cat and find a human companion to date and converse with.”

      The detective glanced up at Anatoly. “She doesn’t consider Mr. Darinsky here to be human?”

      “Well, Anatoly has a lot of apelike qualities, so it can be confusing.”

      Anatoly removed his arm.

      “How was her marriage?” Lorenzo said.

      “Spectacular.”

      “Spectacular?”

      “Mmm-hmm. He brought home a paycheck and left her alone,” I explained. “A woman couldn’t ask for more.”

      Anatoly made a noise of disapproval.

      “That isn’t very liberated of you,” Lorenzo noted.

      “Don’t get me wrong, she loved the time they did spend together, but Leah had a life of her own. She adored Bob because he gave her the space she needed to maintain her individuality while still supporting her. And he always made time to take her out on the occasional date or family outing with their son. I mean really, how much more liberated can you get?” It was also complete bullshit. I pretended to search my purse for a tissue so I wouldn’t have to make eye contact with either of my current male companions. Hopefully the picture I had painted of Leah would make her seem like the kind of gal who wouldn’t get all homicidal if she discovered her husband was messing around with some college-aged slut.

      “Sophie!”

      I looked up just in time to see Leah hurl herself in my direction. She flung her arms over my shoulders and tucked her tear-stained face into the crook of my neck. “Oh, how can this be happening to me?”

      Lorenzo looked more irritated than sympathetic, but he did have the courtesy to put the notebook away. “It’s going to take a while for us to finish searching the house and dusting it for prints. Why don’t you come down to the station with us, Mrs. Miller? We can finish up the questions, and if your sister here would like to follow us she can give you a ride when we’re done.”

      “Do you expect to be finished with the house by the time Leah’s through with questioning?” Anatoly asked.

      “Not likely. I’m sure you understand the necessity of being thorough,” Lorenzo said, directing his comments to Leah.

      Leah nodded numbly, and Anatoly took a step closer to her. “We’ll take Leah to the station.”

      Lorenzo paused and studied Anatoly for a moment. “It might be more efficient if she rode with me or one of the other detectives. That way we could ask her some questions on the way over.”

      “She’s been through enough without being forced to ride in a police car like some kind of criminal,” Anatoly said firmly.

      My eyes traveled from Anatoly to Lorenzo. It was a nobrainer that Anatoly wanted to coach Leah on what to say before she answered any more questions, and it was equally obvious that Lorenzo would do whatever he could to prevent that from happening.

      Lorenzo smiled and turned his attention back to Leah. “You know, Mr. Darinsky is right. You’ve been through enough. The last thing you need is to be dragged to some ugly police station. Why don’t we just sit in the car over there—” he instinctively held up his hand to block Anatoly’s predictable protest “—the unmarked car, in the front seat. I’ll have one of the guys bring us some coffee and we’ll finish the questions here.”

      Anatoly’s jaw got a little tighter but he didn’t say anything. Leah looked to me questioningly for what I assumed was guidance. Ironic, since if she had ever taken my guidance before she never would have married Bob in the first place. But now I was all “guidanced out,” so of course I looked to Anatoly, who managed to loosen his jaw enough to speak.

      “Go ahead, Leah, we’ll be waiting for you here.”

      Leah allowed Lorenzo to steer her gently to the proper car. He stopped to talk to one of the uniformed officers, possibly to request the promised coffee, which was just stupid because the last thing Leah needed was to be more amped.

      Anatoly stood silently with his arms crossed in front of him.

      “Where’s the hidden camera?” I whispered.

      Anatoly’s brow furrowed. “What?”

      “You know, the spy stuff that detectives carry around with them when they go to crime scenes.”

      Anatoly shook his head in disgust. “I was in the Russian Army, not the KGB. I don’t have any spy stuff.”

      Well, that was disappointing. “Not even a mini tape recorder?”

      “Not even that.”

      “Then what the hell did you go back up to your apartment for?”

      “A jacket.”

      “You are so not worth twelve thousand dollars.”

      “You wouldn’t say that if you had ever given me the opportunity to get you undressed.”

      I opened my mouth to make a clever comeback, but then quickly closed it in order to keep the drool in. Not healthy. I really needed to try to be more somber. I thought about Bob’s early demise. Unfortunately that didn’t sufficiently lower my spirits. I turned my thoughts to Leah’s potential incarceration. That did it.

      “Do you think she’s telling him—”

      “Sophie, do us all a favor and shut up.”

      “That wasn’t very nice.”

      “When did you get the impression I was nice?”

      “Good point. So this undressing thing…is that really part of services rendered? Because it’s a good marketing tool. ‘Hire Darinsky, he’ll catch your spouse with his pants down, and as a consolation he’ll lower yours, as well.’ Really, I think there could be a high demand for that. But since I’m hiring you for more solemn purposes, I think I’ll have to pass.”

      “I didn’t actually offer.”

      “The hell you didn’t.”

      Anatoly smiled slightly. “I’d forgotten what you were like when you weren’t busy setting people up for murder.”

      “Yep, this is me. Spunky and fun.”

      “I was thinking argumentative and insane, but you should stick to the euphemisms that work best for you,” Anatoly said.

      I gave him what I hoped came across as a disdainful glare. “I’m cold. I’m going back to the car.”

      Anatoly hesitated, then carefully removed his jacket and held it out for me. I couldn’t help grinning while I slipped my arms into the sleeves. This is what I liked about Anatoly: he was full of contradictions. Though the jacket was about eight sizes too big, I managed to find a way to get my hands into

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