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“He or she—I couldn’t tell—jumped into a small boat and took off. As you pointed out, the detective didn’t inspire a lot of faith in his ability to solve this crime, but I suppose he’ll call the MCU.”
Ryker laughed. “Don’t count on it. Local cops in Maine either really appreciate the MCU and their expertise, or they resent the hell out of them. George is in the latter group. He’ll put off calling them until he has no other choice.”
“Maybe we can solve it before then? Or at least have something to give the guys when he does call them?”
“Looks like breakfast tomorrow is going to have an entirely different agenda.”
“Do you mind?”
“Not at all. And if anyone asks, we’ll just tell them I’m doing an in-depth piece about you. We can also tell them we have mutual friends, and so I don’t want to see you go through this alone. For the record I have no doubt you could handle it, but I know I’ll feel better if you let me help.”
“Thank you.”
“You sure you don’t want me to come over to the hotel?”
“I’m sure, but I feel better for having talked to you. Thanks, Ryker. See you in the morning.”
“Good night, Lori. Try and get some sleep. See you at seven.”
He ended the call and tried to keep the smile from forming; he failed. A murder and a gorgeous woman? The proverbial damsel in distress? His dream might have been a bust, but reality was definitely looking up.
CHAPTER 7
LORI
Lori ended the call and couldn’t help but feel a small sense of excitement, and yet a sense of calm had settled from the moment she heard his voice on the other end of the phone. He’d obviously been asleep, but his voice was practically dripping sex—but then Ryker McKay was pretty much sex-on-a-stick, so that made sense. There was also something in the way he’d just assumed she was innocent of strangling Cobain that had made her nerves settle.
She set her alarm for a little earlier than she might have if she hadn’t been meeting Ryker for breakfast.
Settling down in the comfy bed, she pulled the covers up, closed her eyes and was soon fast asleep.
Her night was a jumble of frightening dreams intermixed with sexy ones. Ryker McKay seemed to star in both. The worst part was that when she exited from the shower, she took a long look at herself in the mirror. It wasn’t that she didn’t think she was attractive; she was. But McKay was take-your-breath-away gorgeous. He needed to be with a supermodel, not a romance author who had yet to really break out and become a Jessica Murdoch or a Christie Crofton. Even Fiona seemed to be enjoying a real resurgence in her career. She was happy for all of them; she just didn’t feel she was in McKay’s league.
Deciding not to look like she was dressing for a date, as opposed to a business meeting, Lori was ready far ahead of when she needed to be. She opened up her laptop and jotted down a few notes from last night. She’d share some of them with Ryker, but if she was being honest, she was also making notes to use down the road in a novel. Jess was right; everything was grist for the mill.
Her phone rang. Looking at her caller ID, she had to grin. Somehow the four of them were bound together by a kind of link or thread. It wasn’t that they could read each other’s minds or anything, but it seemed when one of them needed the other, they knew it. It was Jess. Just the person she needed to talk to.
“Hi, you. When I heard the phone, I knew it must be you,” said Lori.
“Are you okay? Thorn just heard through the grapevine that Antony Cobain was killed last night.”
“I witnessed it.”
There was an audible sigh from the other end. Lori grinned; she was so happy Jess had called.
“Thorn was afraid of that,” said Jessica. “He knew you were in Bleak Ridge so when he heard the rumor, he called the police department. The detective there told him they had everything well in hand. When Thorn mentioned he had a friend in town at the author’s convention, that dick—and I mean that in both ways—couldn’t get him off the phone fast enough.”
“Doesn’t MCU handle most of the murders in the state?”
“Yeah, but there’s a whole procedure they have to go through if they aren’t invited. Mind you, most cops are happy to have their help; but not the jackass detective there. You should know he has applied to MCU a number of times and can’t even get an interview.”
“Well, he wasn’t very nice and treated me more like a suspect than a witness,” said Lori.
“Hey, babe,” Jessica called out to Thorn. “Dickhead is treating Lori like he thinks she did it.”
“Sounds like Middleton.” Lori could hear Thorn speaking to her friend. “He wouldn’t know his ass from a hand grenade. Tell her if he even looks like he’s going to arrest her or violate her rights in any way, shape, or form she’s to call Ryker McKay. He’s a friend and publishes the local newspaper. He’ll run interference until Slade or I can get there.”
“Did you hear Thorn?” asked Jessica.
