Five-3
686 Words
Matt had so much coffee in him, he was surprised he wasn’t buzzing the room. He had finally managed to catch a few Z’s, all of them taken in his chair. He tossed back a couple of ibuprofen to take the edge off his stiff neck, chased it down his throat with more coffee, and turned his restless impatience back to his study of Gwynne’s paper trail.
According to Sebastian’s report, Gwynne had been in touch with her agent about some chapters she still owed on her book. The contact had occurred during her stay in the hotel, so it didn’t mean she was still alive. If she was, they might be able to trace her when she sent the chapters over the Internet.
His headache tightened its grip on the sides of his head. He gritted his teeth and kept reading.
It was progress of a sort, but Matt didn’t want to know where she’d been. He needed to know where Dani Gwynne was right now. If she was still alive. He was halfway down the stack of morning reports when Riggs slouched in.
A yawn that looked like a leftover from yesterday twisted his face. He held a fist full of papers as if they were a security blanket he wanted to curl around. When he had assumed his usual slouch in the chair in front of Matt’s desk, he deposited the papers, then helped himself to some of Matt’s coffee.
“I should have been a romance writer.”
Matt blinked. “What?”
“You wanted to know how much walking around money she has?” He looked at a computer sheet with a look as close to awe as he could get from his hang dog face. “How about fifteen thousand?”
It wasn’t an easy figure to bend his tired brain around. Matt dug his thumbs into a knotted pain spot. “Dollars?”
“She ain’t toting pennies.”
Matt considered some more. “How come we didn’t know about it before now?”
Riggs shrugged. “Seems Neuman didn’t know. The agent slipped it to her a couple of months ago, layered in some galleys for her new book that Gwynne had to proof. Asked her why Gwynne asked for the moolah, but she didn’t know.”
“You believe her?” Riggs shrugged and Matt frowned. What had prompted her to ask for money? Had she been planning to bolt before Hayes struck? “What’s she going to do with it? Where’s she going?”
“I don’t know where she’s going.” Alice had approached unnoticed. “But I know where she’s been.”
“So?” Matt asked, impatient when she didn’t continue. “Where’s she been?”
“You aren’t going to like it.” Alice propped a hip on the edge of her desk and crossed her arms, her Cheshire cat grin back in place.
Matt scowled. “I don’t like much anyway. What you got?”
“A cop saw our BOLO this morning. Swears he was with our girl last night at a country dance club on the south side. Seems he taught her to tush push.”
Riggs choked. Matt didn’t blame him. Alice wasn’t trying near hard enough not to control her grin. Matt didn’t give her the satisfaction of hearing him choke, too, but it wasn’t easy.
“Dancing?”
“That’s right.”
“The tush push?”
“So he says.”
Matt rubbed his forehead. It didn’t help. “I’ll never understand women.”
“Good.” Alice’s grin broke free of minor restraint.
“Don’t—just enlighten me. What is she doing?”
Alice sighed. “If she’d gotten drunk, would you be surprised?”
“No.” Matt looked at Riggs. He shrugged, shook his head. “So what? This is the female equivalent of a bender?”
“Sort of. Though the parallel is weak because women don’t consider insensibility a viable route to problem solving.”
Matt stared at her from under lowered brows. “I have so much to thank affirmative action for. Just think what I would’ve missed if I’d never met you.”
“Don’t.” Alice gave a mock shudder. “It doesn’t bear thinking about.”
“Then don’t think. Find out who she went to that club with.”
“Already on it.” She dropped behind her desk. “My guy at the PD thinks he’s knows someone who knows one of the women she was with, so it shouldn’t take long. He’s gonna call me back.”
“Good.” The back of his neck prickled. He felt like a hound dog picking up the scent. Too bad Dani was acting like a fox. He wasn’t the enemy. He wished he could tell her a few home truths— “Son of a b***h!”
He could tell her anything he wanted to.
Riggs lifted his head from his chest. Alice looked at him in surprise. “What?”
Matt grinned. “Email. Instant communication.”
Alice got it before Riggs, but then Riggs hadn’t finished Matt’s coffee yet. She smiled. “Tell her how much I liked her book.”
- Writer
