Page 92 of The Alibi Club

Twenty minutes later, and two days after the most disastrous date of his life, Cliff exited the doors of the Manhattan Beach Police Department wearing the exact same clothes he had on that fateful night. He was unshowered, unshaven, and a little grubby, but he’d never felt better or more focused. He looked up at the evening sky. The sun had just sunk below the horizon line, casting an afterglow across the sky, lighting up the clouds above him like pink cotton candy. He was a free man. And he was going in search of Jamie Frisco to explain, apologize, grovel …

He looked at the parking lot just as Dez pulled up in her big Chevy Suburban.

“You sure you don’t need a ride?” she asked.

“Nah, I’ll walk.” He smiled warmly and gave a captain’s salute. It wasn’t the first time he’d left imprisonment and walked home alone.

Dez pulled out of the way and exited the parking lot just as a large white Lexus SUV pulled up in its place. The windows were tinted, so Cliff could not see in.

“Cliff!” A muffled but familiar voice came from the vehicle.

All the windows in the Lexus came down at once. Inside he saw Holly, Rick, Kyle, and Shannon. He was bewildered to see his fellow date mates piled in an SUV, pulling up to the jail.

“Guys?” Cliff said warily.

The back door opened and out tumbled the girl with the blue-green eyes who smelled like honeysuckle. She stood there, a nervous expression on her face, wringing her hands.

“Cliff,” Jamie said.

He stood unmoving, paralyzed by seeing Jamie out of context but also electrified by her presence.

She broke the silence and reached one hand out in his direction. “I’m sorry.”

He moved toward her and in one swift move, embraced her, hungry to touch her again. She wrapped her arms around him, nuzzled her face in the crook of his neck, and whispered, “I’m so sorry.”

“You’re here, there’s no reason to be sorry,” Cliff said as he held her, breathed in the scent of her hair, felt the warmth of her skin, the full force of their connection, and didn’t let go. He couldn’t believe this was happening. “You’re here now.”

The horn honked once, startling them both out of their reunion.

“Listen, lovebirds, this reunion is sweeter than a Hallmark movie, but we gotta fill you in on what’s going on, Weston,” Rick barked.

Cliff and Jamie separated enough for him to take a good look at her. “My God,” he said. He gently inspected the bruises on her neck, his rough finger caressing the delicate, dark purple damage.

“I’m okay,” she said. “Thanks to you. Come on.” She took his hand, and he followed her into the Lexus. “We’ve got a lot to tell you.”

“Have you got room?” Cliff asked as he moved toward the back seat.

Rick piped up, “I did the ads for this SUV. This baby’s got seating for seven!”

Holly shook her head and chuckled.

“Where are we going?” Cliff asked.

“South Redondo.”

CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE

Pawns

JAMIE

Rick drove the SUV toward south Redondo with Holly sitting next to him disagreeing about which roads to take. Shannon and Kyle were in the way back seats canoodling, which left Jamie sitting next to Cliff, energy crackling, sparks flying, as she began to tell him what they’d discovered.

“So, we think we know what was stolen from Duncan Reeves’s place. It was a rare antiquity—”

“The Golden Cobra,” Holly interjected. “A necklace that once graced the neck of Nefertiti. It was bound for Egypt this morning, but it is now missing from my museum. It is priceless and to make matters worse, there is a brotherhood of Egyptian men sworn to retrieve it who will stop at nothing to get it back.”

Jamie spoke quickly, “We think Duncan had it in his possession to impress a woman by the name of Chanel Emam. And this is what got me: this necklace, this antiquity, is exactly the kind of thing you would steal, right?” She was excited, but then remembered to add, “In your previous life.”