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“You can meet me here at the station.”
“Not there. Someplace without cops.”
The detective was quiet for a moment on the other line. “I can meet you downtown at noon. Do you know where EOTE, the coffee shop, is?”
“Yes.”
“Good,” he said. “I’ll see you then.”
Rae got through her late-morning session, her last one scheduled for the day, changed into a blue, lightweight jumpsuit that brought out her eye color, and brushed her midlength hair, which was wavy from having it up in a tight bun all morning. Stupidly, her nervousness at meeting with the detective spanned beyond what she had to tell him, and she felt the need to look put together.
When she arrived at the local coffee shop, Detective Clearwater was already there, sitting at a two-top away from the more crowded mainarea of the café. He looked up from his cell phone, his eyes gliding over her outfit and hair.
He stood up and offered his hand to her. “Good to see you again, Ms. Dixon. Can I get you anything? A coffee or tea?”
She shook his hand, noting the warmth of his large palm against her own and how it sent flutters to her stomach. She wasn’t thirsty, but she didn’t mind having more time to sort out her thoughts and what she needed to tell him, so she said, “Yes, thank you. I’ll take an iced latte.”
He came back a few minutes later with her coffee. She took a long sip, realizing she was thirsty after all.
“So, Ms. Dixon.”
“Please call me Rae.”
“Not Echo?” he said, the hint of a smile on his full lips. When she glared at him, he quickly added, “I’m sorry. That was uncalled for.”
“It was.”
He spread his hands out on the table. “Let’s start over. Rae.”
“Do I get to call you Dayton?”
“If it means I’m forgiven for being a jerk, sure.”
Rae smirked. She had a feeling this wasn’t how he normally interacted with possible suspects in a criminal case, which brought up an obvious question.
“So, Dayton, are Angel and I still at the top of your suspect list in Thomas Highsmith’s case?”
He took a sip of his hot latte, his eyes revealing that he was clearly weighing something in his mind before he finally said, “If you’re asking if I think you two did something to Mr. Highsmith, then no. I don’t. But you have a lot of secrets, Rae, and I can’t ignore how that might play into the investigation.”
Rae swallowed a sigh of relief. “My secrets have nothing to do with my clients.”
“What do they have to do with then?”
He leaned back in his chair, his eyes assessing her. It made her uncomfortable, as if he could peek inside her heart and see every bad thing she’d ever done.
“Why are you so curious to know?”
“It’s my job to be curious, and I don’t like it when I can’t figure someone out.”
“Well, like I tell my daughter, disappointment is the spice of life.”
He chuckled. “I’m rarely disappointed, but then again I’mextremelypatient.”
Something about his tone and intense stare made heat rise to her face, and she hoped he couldn’t tell she was blushing.
“What do you want to tell me, Rae?” He had a pen and small notepad ready.
She let out a long breath and told him everything Devon had described about the party and seeing Thomas arguing with a tall man there. When she went into the details Devon had told her about the older man, the one with the white hair and piercing blue eyes, Dayton’s body tensed.
