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With the way they’d left things between them, she had every right to be jittery. He’d been an ass.
He peeled off his damp board shorts and tossed them into the bathtub. Then he brushed his teeth and crawled naked between the sheets.
As he stared at the blinking green light on the smoke detector, he heard a click. He jerked his head toward the door between his room and Christina’s.
“Damn.” He’d forgotten his promise to her to leave the door unlocked on his side. He rolled from the bed and padded across the floor. Pressing one hand against the door, he turned the dead bolt. The click sounded like a gunshot.
He held his breath. Then he turned and crept back to bed. As his head hit the pillow, he heard an answering click from the other side of the door.
Was that an invitation?
He pulled the pillow over his head. If you know what’s good for you, Brody, ignore it.
But when it came to Christina, that advice was easier said than done.
Chapter Eight
Christina greeted him in the hotel restaurant with heavy eyes and a yawn.
“You look like you need another eight hours of sleep.”
“Another eight hours? Try two.”
“Are you still worried about Vivi?”
“Yeah, Vivi.” She dropped into the chair across from him and gulped down some of his ice water.
“I’ll tell you what.” He reached for his phone. “I’ll give Judd a call and see if he can track her down.”
“Would he do that?”
“If he’s not busy.” He scrolled through the contacts on his personal phone until he reached Judd’s number. He tapped the phone and it rang on the other end.
His brother’s gruff voice rumbled over the phone. “Judd Brody, leave a message.”
“Judd, it’s Eric. Give me a call. I want you to find someone for me.”
He shook his head. “I don’t see how that guy can make a living with his social skills.”
“Do you think he’ll call you back?”
“Like I said, if he’s not on a case taking pics of some cheating spouse.”
“Is that usually the type of work he does?” She wrinkled her nose.
“He’ll take just about anything, but he does missing persons, a lot of bodyguarding, too.”
“Any celebrities?”
“Here and there.” He raised his brows. “Why? Are you thinking of writing another book?”
“Another book?” She smacked the table. “I thought we cleared that up? There was no book.”
He patted her hand. “Take it easy. I was kidding. Is it too early to kid about that?”
“No, kid away. I’d rather have the bad jokes than the dagger looks.” She waved at the waitress. “That reminds me. I still have those notes. I meant what I said then and now, Eric. Those notes are yours.”
“I don’t know what I’d do with them now.”
“You used to be interested in finding out the truth about your father.”
“I still am.”
The waitress stopped at their table, and he ordered an omelet with the works while Christina settled for a bowl of oatmeal with berries.
She planted her elbows on the table and buried her chin in one palm. “What? You’re not interested in your dad’s case anymore?”
“Sean discovered something recently when he was investigating that Alphabet Killer.”
“Something about your father?”
“When the Phone Book Killer started communicating with my father, the department recommended that he see a shrink.”
“That makes sense—standard operating procedure for a lot of departments.”
“Sean thought the psychiatrist might have some insight into my father’s suicide, so he tracked down the doctor.”
Christina hunched over the table, clasping her hands in front of her. “That’s exciting.”
“Didn’t end up that way. The guy dropped dead minutes before Sean got there to question him.”
“What?” She pushed her hair off her face, her eyes wide. “What happened?”
“He had a heart attack.”
“Oh, my God. What are the chances of that happening?”
“Exactly.”
“What does Sean think?”
“He thinks the doc may have had some information for him, information someone didn’t want him to have.”
“Does he have any proof that the heart attack was induced?”
“That’s when he called me in, but I couldn’t get a toxicology report on the doctor. We don’t know what happened to him. It could’ve just been a heart attack. Maybe he got stressed-out thinking about my father’s case and that brought on the attack.”
