LITMIR.BIZ

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surprisingly it wasn’t. She wanted him as much now as she had back, well, back in another time.

      “Sure you’re up for this?” Tal asked.

      “I have to be, don’t I?” She drew circles on the table. “I don’t want Adam to be dead, Tal. At my angriest, I never wanted that. I’m not sure…or, well, maybe I am. We shouldn’t have gotten married. But we did. Things happened, and we split. I figure better our mistake than my parents’.”

      Something flickered in Tal’s eyes. Understanding? Empathy? Desire?

      He studied her, half-lidded. “Do you remember your father?”

      This wasn’t exactly how she’d envisioned their conversation going. But then, life was all about twists and turns and faded lines. “He left when I was three. In the summer, I think. I only have a vague memory of his face. My mother tossed all his pictures. Actually, she burned them, but that’s the Latin temperament for you. Exorcise the mad any way you can.” She selected a peach muffin from the basket the counterman had placed on their table, and spooned fresh marmalade on top. “I didn’t really know him, so it wasn’t as sad as it could have been.”

      “You’ve never heard from him?”

      She shook her head. “Maybe he’s dead. Maybe he isn’t. I don’t imagine I’ll ever know.”

      Tal drank his coffee, continued to unsettle her with his cool gray stare. “Life tends to surprise, Maya. He could show up at that charity volleyball game you’re playing on Sunday.”

      “Heard about that, huh?” Why wasn’t she surprised? “Eden Bay vs. General. Jamie’s our coach, but the smart money’s on General. Do you know Jamie?”

      “Tall woman, buzz-cut hair, has a wild kid going through a rebellious biker phase. I’ve seen them at the station.”

      “Renita’s a handful.”

      “Unlike you at that age.”

      Maya laughed and felt better. “I was two handfuls, because I happened to be crazy about the high school bad boy.”

      “You liked the bad boy, and yet you married Adam. Not sure what that says about you, Maya.”

      “I think it says I’ve changed. Kids grow up. In fact, my bad boy’s a loan officer now. Drives a Volvo. And Adam…” Her eyes locked on his. “Tal, why is Adam dead?”

      She knew he was weighing his answer. “Adam made a deal, with one of Perine’s men,” he finally said.

      “What kind of deal?”

      “For information, facts and figures, incriminating evidence.”

      “Pertaining to?”

      “Real estate fraud, investment fraud, development fraud, counterfeiting.”

      “Okay, I get the fraud part, that’s why Adam was after him. But you must have known or at least suspected he might also be a murderer.”

      “Homicide and fraud were cooperating on the investigation.”

      “Big fish, small pond,” Maya recalled. At Tal’s arched brow, she opened her mind to the full horrible memory. “Adam said that just before he died. I forgot about it, or maybe I buried it.”

      “Reverse the adjectives and you’ve got McGraw.” Tal stroked her inner wrist. “I know this is hard for you, Maya, but you’ll have to go through it when you give your statement anyway.”

      “I know. He said I shouldn’t trust anyone, anywhere.” A smile stole across her lips. “Considering the deputy chief connection, he was probably right. He didn’t say much else, really, just told me to tell you to seal the deal. Guess that means you’re the only person I can trust, huh?”

      “Guess so.”

      She wanted him to touch her again. When he didn’t, she asked, “What was McGraw’s status relative to Adam’s?”

      “Adam was in charge.”

      “And now?”

      “It’s a homicide. Pushes McGraw even farther down the authority ladder.”

      “I can’t see that sitting well. Who’s heading the investigation now?”

      “Drake’s still pulling files, juggling.”

      “Do you have any idea who Perine’s triggerman is?”

      He glanced at the surrounding tables, all occupied by diners.

      “It can wait,” Maya said when Tal brought his gaze back. “Going back to the father thing, I know you have some issues there yourself.” Her eyes danced. “I love that word, don’t you? No one has problems anymore. It’s all about issues.” She fingered her long pendant. “It’s about memories, too, isn’t it? Not the best for either of us, it seems.”

      “Makes us simpatico,” he said, with an odd tone in his voice. Sarcasm? Bitterness? Regret? “Could be that’s what triggered Adam’s jealousy.”

      “Oh, good. Guilt.” Maya smiled. “Rewind to Orlando Perine.” Cognizant of the people beside them, she lowered her voice. “I talked to the M.E. last night, during a lull. He extracted two bullets from Adam’s body. Will those bullets tell you anything about the killer?”

      Tal ran a finger along her arm, from her wrist to her elbow, and drew a shiver. “They already have.”

      Okay. She should withdraw. Now. Ignore the shiver in her belly and send him a message. Instead, she arched a brow. “You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you?”

      “Could be.”

      “Why?”

      “Because I don’t like being the bearer of bad news.”

      “And that is?”

      “The gun used to murder Adam was also used to murder two other people. One of them was an investment broker named Gund.”

      Despite the chill that feathered down her spine, Maya managed a calm, “And the other?”

      “Was the person who found him. Apparently, Gund wasn’t quite dead when the finder got there.”

      “I’m not going to like this, am I?”

      “It’s why I came back to the hospital, Maya.” Now he trapped her fingers in his hands. “Fraud wasn’t as cooperative about the Perine investigation as we were led to believe. We weren’t given the connection.”

      “Nice of them to finally share. Ah, about this person who found Gund not quite dead—?”

      “Her name was Ellen Latimer. She’d been driving taxis for twenty years. No work-related assaults, only a handful of minor accidents, no injuries. According to the file Captain Drake managed to access last night, she was killed in her taxi less than three hours after Gund was pronounced dead. Someone shot her in the back of the head.”

      

      A FULL TWELVE HOURS AFTER driving Maya to her South Miami home, Tal continued to curse himself.

      He should have waited in the hospital lounge, but the autopsy report had been rushed through and the results e-mailed to his captain. Drake had insisted he return to the station to examine the report and go over the file he’d strong-armed away from fraud. One look inside, and Tal had floored it back to Eden Bay.

      He’d tried to call Maya en route, but with the E.R. in an uproar, getting through had been impossible.

      He’d missed her by five minutes. Five. And in those minutes, one of Perine’s men, possibly the one who’d killed Adam, had jumped her. Good thing for her, she knew how to knee a man.

      Now Tal was in his captain’s office, filling him in on the file.

      “Did McGraw know about the taxi driver?” he asked.

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