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He could almost feel her thinking. “I don’t remember you.” The edge of regret in her voice was stronger than the one she had used to voice her memory of his past identity. “There’s a lot I don’t remember of that night.”
“You were beautiful that night, Lilly. You danced like a dream, and your smile was as bright as the sun.”
She was silent for long moments. He’d learned over the years that Lilly didn’t accept compliments as an agent nearly as well as she had as a socialite.
“Did Nik figure out the makeup of the explosive used?” she asked, ignoring his compliment as she moved closer to the slot the motorcycle had been parked in.
“He knows it misfired,” he stated. “The metal explosive cap wasn’t intact. If it had been, it would have exploded while you were on the interstate.”
“Wow, there would have been no coming back from that one, huh?”
Travis made his way to her, sweeping the light over the cement floor as he searched for even the smallest trace of something that could have come from the cycle or the explosive.
“You have a problem taking compliments from me, or just anyone, Lilly?” he asked her as he stooped and began searching under the vehicles that surrounded the area where the cycle had been.
“Pretty much just anyone,” she answered blithely, her voice muted as she bent down to check beneath a sleek, metallic red Lamborghini.
Once, she had been smooth, charming as hell. Not that she couldn’t be charming as Lilly Belle. She could be, but that charm was usually layered with a frozen smile and ice chips in her gaze. And more often than not, one of those damned dangerous modified Glocks was in her hand.
“Who else beside Desmond was in the house today that could have wanted me dead?”
Lilly lay on the cement floor to shimmy as far as possible beneath the Lamborghini, which truly wasn’t far, and shine the flashlight over the area, especially around the tire areas.
“I should be asking you that question. You live here.” Travis slid beneath a Hummer, his own light scanning the floor thoroughly.
“Don’t play games with me, Travis.” She rolled to the next vehicle, slid beneath it and searched again. “Tell me what I need to know.”
What the hell was she remembering?
Travis stared at the glimmer of her light as suspicion began to form inside him.
“Now isn’t the time to tell you what you want to know,” he finally told her. “Suffice it to say, I’m having several of your guests investigated.”
“And you didn’t tell me,” she stated.
“I haven’t yet had time.”
Their voices were still barely high enough for the comm devices they were using to pick up the sound.
“Perhaps you could find the time later?” she suggested, and Travis almost smiled.
That sounded more like an order to him than a suggestion.
“Perhaps I could.” They both rolled to the same slot at the same time.
The motorcycle had been parked close to the entrance to the main house. The space was currently occupied by a Lexus SUV. The four-wheel-drive luxury vehicle sat high enough from the ground that they were able to slide easily beneath it, both lights gleaming on the small spot of fluid below where the cycle’s motor would have been located.
“The explosive was placed in the oil pan?” She rubbed her fingers against the fluid before bringing it to her nose and sniffing slightly.
Travis did the same, then rubbed his fingers together to test the feel of the fluid.
“That’s not gas or oil,” she stated.
“Nope. Not.” His eyes narrowed on the spot before he reached to his front jeans pocket and pulled free a sterile bag and swab.
Tearing the swab open, he rubbed it against the spot, then pushed it into the small bag and sealed it. He was aware of Lilly watching, her eyes narrowed, her posture cautious, before she began to scour the garage floor beneath the Lexus for anything further.
Remaining quiet, Travis did the same. He was moving his light over the floor where the tires of the SUV sat when he heard her murmur a little hum.
