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He smelled of the same clean soap and deodorant I’d noticed when I’d arrived last night. But now, we were together in close quarters. Maybe I should have insisted Lisa sit up front. I felt myself wanting to lean closer to his big man body. More and more.
“So, what’s our plan?” Lisa sounded upbeat and ready for the adventure.
“I thought we could start by stopping by Marie’s home and looking around, maybe speaking to a few neighbors, and asking around about Marie and her husband.” I’d made an agenda. Mainly ideas of where we might go in town. “Next, we can go to the courthouse and ask for any documents that were filed with her name. Those folks tend to know everyone in town, so even if there aren’t any documents on file, we might get something.”
“Sounds like a good start.” Lisa was quiet during the ride south on I-49. I spent my time working on my iPad on office business. I’d set up Tanner on Instagram and Facebook with business pages last week. He already had over a hundred “likes” on his professional Facebook page. I’d added several photos of the office and of him. He insisted that I add myself on the page as his assistant and include a headshot as well. It made sense to show an accurate representation of his firm, what kinds of cases we would handle, and who clients could expect to handle them.
I noticed a small red notification badge on the Facebook page. Someone had commented that they were aware the firm was being sued for Tanner’s breach of contract for leaving his previous place of employment, and did anyone really want a lawbreaker to represent them?
“Did you see this comment on Facebook?” I quietly brought it to Tanner’s attention.
“No. I haven’t checked the site. What does it say?”
I quietly read it to him. “Looks like Carson’s doing, or one of his minions.”
“Can you get rid of it?”
I nodded. “I’m not sure if I should be transparent and address it or delete it.”
Tanner frowned but kept his eyes on the road. “Delete it and maybe block the person who wrote it? And if it comes back, then we can address it.”
I made a note of the name—no one I recognized—and deleted the comment, but not before I clicked on the commenter’s name to try and figure out who he was. The guy had a private account, so I couldn’t see anything about him. “Private account. Do you know a Joe Davies?”
Tanner shook his head. “Doesn’t ring any bells.”
“Probably a phony account.” I blocked the user from making any more comments on the page.
I shut the laptop after about an hour and looked around. Everything was green in Louisiana now. So many shades of green. Pines, hardwoods, and every kind of grass and flowering plant. Thankfully, the yellow pine pollen that blew through earlier in the spring was long gone. My allergies had come and gone with it. There was no avoiding them for most people throughout the South. Leah suffered with terrible migraines during allergy season. I was fortunate to never have had them.
“Everything okay?” I looked over at him and realized he was talking to me.
“Yes. Just enjoying the green.”
He smiled. “It’s my favorite time of the year. Not too hot yet.”
“It’s gonna get hot soon enough. It was eighty-five down in New Orleans last week,” Lisa chimed in.
“What part of the city do you live in?” I admitted to being a little curious about Lisa. She hadn’t overshared about her personal life.
“I live uptown just off Napoleon Avenue.” She said it like it was no big deal, like someone not trying to impress.
“That’s a nice area.” Tanner had gone to law school at Tulane, in New Orleans, so he also knew the city well. And Napoleon Avenue was one of the nicest parts of New Orleans. Expensive old mansions mostly. Lisa did say she’d grown up in a family with money. I’d spent quite a bit of time in New Orleans as well since it was only an hour from Baton Rouge and LSU, where I attended school.
“Yes. My husband, Doug, is a doctor at Touro. An oncologist.” Again, her tone wasn’t trying to impress; only stating the facts.
“Oh. I look forward to meeting him.” I honestly didn’t know what else to say. This was the first time she’d mentioned a husband, though I’d noticed a wedding ring. A gorgeous one.
“He’s calling this awild goose chase. He’s not against my doing it, but he’s worried I’ll be terribly disappointed if I don’t find what I’m looking for. And he’s a little worried about how much it’s going to cost. Good thing I’ve got my own money to spend.”
She sounded somewhat sad that her husband wasn’t enthusiastic about her search. She didn’t sound especially angry, though. Just disappointed.
I tried to sound positive. “Hopefully, we’ll get lucky today and learn something.”
“That would make this a good day.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Tanner
