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“Do you have a number for him? Maybe he could help piece together what happened. When did he last see her?”
“She left here to go meet him. That’s what she said. He said she never showed up. Cops said he’s got an alibi.”
Had they checked it out? If she could talk to him, get him to give her the info, she could follow up herself.
“Do you know where he lives or works?” she asked. Mila shook her head while raising the coffee to her lips. “Where he hangs around? Any of his friends? Did they go to a certain bar or restaurant more than once?”
Identifying a regular haunt would be the quickest way to find this Bryan.
“No, I…” The woman’s whole affect changed in an instant. Putting the coffee down, Mila pushed away from the counter to pass her and go into the living room. “We shouldn’t be talking about this.”
What just happened?
She went after Mila. “Why not?”
“It’s dangerous.”
Something juicy hung in the eaves of that statement. “Why is it dangerous?”
Mila put the couch between them. More than bereaved, conflict was written all over the pretty young woman’s face. “She swore me to secrecy, I can’t… It doesn’t even matter, she said she’d never been there, but…”
“But what?”
“She said Bryan had connections. That he could get them into some club.”
“A club?”
“Yeah, but if he had connections… could those connections have gotten her into trouble? Is that why she’s dead? Maybe she saw something. Heard something.”
And the murderer wanted to shut her up? Possibly.
“What kind of connections are we talking?”
Politics? Drug kingpin? Strung out celebrity?
Toying with her fingers, Mila’s conflict appeared to eat at her. “You ever heard of…” Saying nothing, she waited for the woman to continue.Silence could be the greatest prompt. “I shouldn’t even be talking to you, should I?”
“Hey…” She went around the couch to take Mila’s upper arms. “You don’t have to tell me anything. You can kick my ass out in the street and demand I never come back. This is about what you need.”
“I need what’s best for Steph… If she was here, I’d talk to her and… She swore me to secrecy, said Bryan would be so mad if he knew she’d told me.”
“I don’t care about him. If this is tearing you up, you need to get it out.”
“You said you were going to help. That you wanted to find who was responsible.”
“I do.”
“This isn’t just… it’s not some sleazy story to me. She was my best friend.” Mila sighed. “I want to do what’s best for her… I told them about Bryan, the cops, I mean. They said they’d check him out, I don’t know if they ever did…”
“I can check him out.”
Shaking her head, Mila wrapped her arms around herself. “It could be dangerous. I don’t want anyone else to get hurt.”
“No one will get hurt,” Imogen said and smiled. “My brother’s not the type of guy anyone wants to mess with. He’d go to hell and back for me…” She bobbed her head to the side. “He’d probably tell you he already has.”
Mila managed a brief laugh. “He’ll look after you?”
“Yes.”
