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The attorney darted a look at his client. “Fine. We’ll be back in an hour. But this is the end of my client’s generosity. Much as he’d like to help, he has important duties as president of Kendall Flight. I’m sure you understand.”
Luke followed Simone into the hallway. “We’re heading over to the brewery. Let’s find out what the Donovans know about this guy.”
“That guy’s so slimy I feel like I need a shower,” Simone muttered. “You should’ve seen the way he leaned closer after he checked out my empty ring finger.”
“What? Desperate single moms are hot.”
“Bite me.”
Luke smiled, but it was halfhearted. His gut churned with adrenaline. It was the normal excitement of getting so close to an answer that he could taste it, but that excitement was mixed with the anxiety of breaking this news to Tessa. But he’d been a cop a lot longer than he’d been her lover, and he owed it to this job to do it the right way.
“You okay with this?” Simone asked.
“I think so. I’ve got no choice, regardless.”
“I could do it alone.”
“That’d be worse, wouldn’t it?”
She shrugged. “Probably.”
“Let’s just get it over with. Hopefully they’ll tell us something that’ll trip him up.” Luke was hopeful, but not expectant. This case was too convoluted to allow for planning.
As he and Simone headed for the door, their sergeant stepped out of the records room and nearly smack into Simone’s path. He stumbled back with an alarmed look at the stomach he’d almost rammed. “Excuse me.”
Simone brushed past him.
Once they were out of earshot, Luke leaned close to her ear. “You two still arguing about desk duty?”
“Yes.”
“Don’t you think he has a point?”
“No. I’m pregnant, not disabled.”
“But the baby—”
“Luke, I swear to God…”
He raised his hands and fell back. “All right. I got it.” But this time she didn’t give him the silent treatment. Not that she was ever chatty, but they talked over the interview with Kendall and agreed that neither believed a word he’d said. The man was behaving like any upstanding businessman b
rought in on a charge of robbery. What he didn’t know was that Luke had finally spoken to the other guy who’d worked the robbery cases in Denver. And he now knew just what had been cleared from the records.
“I assume you want me to stand on the sidelines?” Simone asked as they pulled up to the brewery.
“At first. But jump in if I miss anything.”
“You think you’ll be distracted by an outraged girlfriend?”
“Good possibility.” Luke didn’t bother correcting the girlfriend title. There was nothing dangerous in letting that stand when she might not even speak to him after today.
One o’clock on a Tuesday apparently wasn’t a busy hour as there were no other cars in the parking lot. He’d almost been hoping for witnesses to keep the mayhem to a low level, but no such luck.
As soon as Luke opened the door, Eric strode forward, wiping his hands on a towel. “You’ve got news?”
“I do. Is everyone here?” Before Eric could answer the question, Tessa pushed through the swinging door and held it open for Jamie. Jamie lugged a keg through the door and set it behind the bar. Tessa met Luke’s eyes with a smile. Last night’s argument seemed to have been forgotten. Luke would’ve felt relieved if he hadn’t been facing this next few minutes.
“Why don’t we all sit down?” he suggested. Only Tessa’s face registered the correct amount of wariness at his words. She lowered herself slowly to a chair and placed her hands flat on the table.
