Our eyes held for a long, warm moment.
“Sailor, why didn’t you call me when you were arrested?”
“I tried—you weren’t at home or in the shop. I was able to get in touch with Maya because she has a cell phone. My last phone call was to a lawyer: Henry Petulengro, who’s married to a Rom cousin. He’s good. I told him you might be calling, so he can fill you in. I don’t have his number on me; you’ll have to look it up.”
I jotted the lawyer’s name on the little pad I always kept in my bag.
“Oh, by the way, Lucille sends her love and an offer to do anything she can to help, as does Maya. And Hervé. And Oscar, of course. So, what do we do now?”
“I’m afraid my contributions will be limited, given my circumstances. I can try to use projection to snoop around a bit, but I have to be careful.”
“Of what?”
He shrugged. “If it’s not done right, the soul can get trapped in the spirit world. The body is left torpid, can’t be roused.”
“That sounds... ridiculously dangerous.”
“I’ll be careful.”
“You’d better be. I’m supposed to be getting married in two weeks, and that will be decidedly more difficult if the groom’s trapped in some random spirit dimension.”
“Not to mention in jail.”
“That, too. It won’t happen. We’ll figure this out.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Sailor gazed at me with such intensity I swear his look could have started a fire.
My mind was racing, trying to think of something else to ask him, anything that could help. I didn’t know what my next steps should be, or how to go about proving that Sailor wasn’t where the police said he was, despite all evidence to the contrary. How could I find out who else might have had motive to kill Tristan Dupree, even though he was new to town?
“I’m hoping Carlos and Aidan may be of some help,” I said finally.
“I know I don’t have to remind you of this, but I’m not Aidan’s favorite person these days. Or Carlos’s, for that matter.”
“Carlos went over your case with me last night, and for your information, he thinks it’s hinky.”
“And this is a good thing?”
“In this case, it’s a very good thing. He doesn’t believe you did it.”
“Well, I’m glad to hear it. That wasn’t the impression he gave me over the course of several hours of interrogation. I was surprised he didn’t step away from the case, actually, since we know each other.”
“According to Carlos, his involvement isn’tprohibited as long as he’s transparent about his connection to you, and lets his supervisor know. Anyway, trust me: We want him on your case.”
He nodded. “And Aidan?”
I hesitated. “He might take a little more convincing. But I’ll figure it out. I have it on good authority that I can be very persuasive.”
He gave me a long, slow smile. Our eyes held. There were no words.
Soon enough our time was up. I didn’t want to leave.
“Thanks for your note last night, by the way.”
“I meant it.”
“I feel the same. And yes, I am fully prepared to marry you, even in front of a coven of grandmas. ’Bout time I met my future in-laws.”
I rose to leave, feeling the sting of tears at the backs of my eyes. At that moment I was glad I couldn’t cry. It would have embarrassed us both.
