Part 20 (1/2)
”Are you still at Felicia's?”
”She offered to take me back to your place, but we're watching a movie right now. Well, I'm listening with my eyes closed. Are you finished working?”
He glanced at the laptop. ”Not yet. Can you stay there a bit longer?” After the other night, he didn't want her at his place alone. She conferred briefly with Felicia before a.s.suring him there would be no problem. ”Okay. I'll let you know when I'm heading over. We won't bother Felicia with a ride.”
She agreed and hung up. He was about to open his computer again when a knock sounded on the door. ”Sally, I told you-”
The door opened. Jamie stuck his head in. ”Sally's gone home. In a bit of a hurry.”
Dan rolled his eyes. ”Thank G.o.d.”
”Problem?”
”Yeah, she wanted me to go with her for a drink.”
”And the problem is?”
”I don't want to.”
Jamie pushed the door wide. The k.n.o.b struck the wall with a small crack. ”c.r.a.p. Sorry.”
Dan shrugged.
Jamie threw himself down into the chair recently vacated by Sally. ”You really are into this Maris chick all the way.”
”And if I am?”
”It could end badly.”
Dan stretched his arms above his head. The chair rocked backward. He s.h.i.+fted his weight to bring it forward again. ”Any relations.h.i.+p can end badly. Look at my marriage.”
Jamie grunted in agreement. ”What are you still doing here?”
”Catching up on some things.”
”Like what?”
”Does it matter?”
”Yes,” said Jamie, ”it does.”
Dan ignored him. ”How'd your interview with Maris go today? Are you allowed to tell me that?”
”I shouldn't.”
”Suit yourself.”
”d.a.m.n it, Dan!” Jamie's face had gone an apoplectic red. ”You're a stupid f.u.c.king a.s.shole.”
”Thanks. Appreciate the vote of confidence.”
Jamie threw up his hands. ”We could find both our heads on the block, and though you might not care, I fancy mine right where it is.”
”I know you do. I really don't want to endanger your job. But if I'm sacked without any dirt flying your way, my job is yours. That's what you want, isn't it?”
After a moment, Jamie shook his head.
Dan narrowed his eyes. ”Look, if there's anything you can tell me...”
Jamie maintained a stubborn silence until he finally released his breath on a long sigh. ”I worked with her to narrow down the area where she got gas. I'm compiling a list of stations in the hope she'll remember which one. If not, I'll try to get someone local to check out all the surveillance cameras. For or against her, the timeframe of her travel is the number one priority.”
”Understood.” Dan picked the pen up from his desk and clicked it twice with the ball of his thumb.
”The hour she bought gas could eliminate Maris being here when Mabry died. It won't, however, fully eliminate her as a person of interest until we find out who did it for certain.”
Dan swallowed and nodded. ”What about the poison? Any idea how it was administered?”
”I can't answer that. You talk to Maris. I know you do. h.e.l.l, I would, too, in your position, but I can't risk that sort of contamination of the case. It could make the difference between a successful prosecution and having the case thrown out of court. If it comes to that,” he added as concession.
”Yeah. If it comes to that.” Dan had been locked out of the case file in the computer, but that hadn't stopped him from researching the various types of quick-acting poisons and how they could be administered. Without knowledge of the precise toxin, though, all the research in the world was a futile exercise.
”You should go home, Stauffer. Isn't Maris waiting for you?”
”She's visiting a friend. I'll pick her up in a bit.”
”A friend? Good G.o.d, that woman works quickly all the way around-” Jamie dropped his head on a release of breath. ”Sorry.” He looked up. ”I'm not trying to be insensitive. Is this someone she knew before?”
”No.”
”Huh.” Jamie pushed against the chair arms and stood. ”Seriously. Go home. Or wherever. Just get out of here.”
Dan waited until Jamie had departed before he logged out and shut down. He gathered up his paperwork into a folder, then reached into his drawer to grab a few things he wanted to take home. Forks and a crusty b.u.t.ter knife that needed to be run through the dishwasher, a credit card bill, some notes he'd been making on post-its about a trip he'd considered. In his haste, he scooped up more than he wanted, but he didn't have the time to sort it all out now. He shoved everything into the empty plastic bag from his lunch and then slipped on his coat. Before locking the door, he stood a moment gazing into the darkened office, thinking of how hard he had worked to get to this place in his career. Would it really come down to his job or Maris? He hoped not because he feared he already knew which he would choose.
Twenty minutes later, Dan pulled into Felicia Woodward's driveway. He spotted the flicker of the television through the living room window. A ma.s.sive shadow s.h.i.+fted across the wall, and his heart leapt into his chest. Quickly, he realized the shadow had been created by Felicia walking in front of a lamp. He got out of the car and strode up to the door where he rang the bell.
The door opened. Felicia greeted him with a grin. ”Detective Stauffer.”
”Felicia Woodward,” he teased. They'd met the year before when she'd befriended another woman he'd known, one every bit as stubborn as Maris who'd been involved with a guy he'd had some professional involvement with out on the coastal highway. Last he'd heard, they were married. He'd doubted the longevity of that relations.h.i.+p, too, given the short time they'd known one another, but it appeared he was wrong. And now here he was, in the same position, falling hard for someone he barely knew.
”Come in. Your lady has fallen asleep on the couch.”
Dan walked into the living room to find Maris curled in a nearly fetal position on the sofa cus.h.i.+ons, one of Felicia's many crocheted throws draped over her body. He crouched on the floor and whispered her name. She opened her eyes.
”Dan! I thought you were going to call.”
”I forgot.”