“What if I slip and ask you a question, like, was Kent murdered?”
Greg didn’t look up. “Then you get a hamburger off the value menu at my choice of fast-food joints.”
The man knew my weakness. Ply me with food, especially seafood, and you could have anything. I pretended to consider the offer, pushing out my bottom lip.
“Get in the truck. You know you want to.” He pulled me into his arms, then leaned down and lightly bit my lip. When I complained, he laughed. “I’ve missed you.”
As we drove toward the highway, I stared at Esmeralda’s house. Her driveway was filled with cars, and there were several parked on the street. “She’s having a reading today?”
Greg glanced at the house as we passed. “Some guy’s family is here for his birthday. She says they need to help the guy cross over because he’s stuck here.” Greg finally noticed now that I was staring at him, not the fortune-teller’s house. He blushed. “Sue me, I get bored at the station sometimes and overhear my staff’s phone conversations. It’s not like she was being quiet about the whole thing.”
I pressed my lips together, trying not to laugh. For all his lectures to me about confidentiality, my boyfriend was one of the biggest gossips in town. If it didn’t deal with official police business. “Hey, did I tell you she did a reading on me last week when I dropped off Maggie?”
“Who’s Maggie?” Greg turned the car north onto the highway.
“Esmeralda’s new cat. She showed up when I was napping the other day.” I pulled my hair into a ponytail and rolled down the window, enjoying the wind.
“Oh. So what is up next for you? A fortune awaits you? Travel is in your future? It better not be a new love. I’d hate to have to fire her.” He took my hand in his and squeezed.
“Nope.” I put a waver in my voice. “Things aren’t what they seem. And the old favorite, some are silver and the others gold.”
“Why does that sound familiar?”
“It’s an old Girl Scouts camp song.” I stared out Greg’s window, watching the waves in the distance. Living by the ocean never got old. I felt sorry for the people who lived in land-locked states. What did they do to revive themselves?
Greg drove in silence for a while. Then he muttered, “Things aren’t what they seem, that describes this case to a tee. I wonder if I’m not the only one listening in on others’ conversations.”
I turned my attention from the flock of seagulls back to him. “What are you saying?”
He tossed the paper over to me. “Someone’s been talking to the press about confidential police matters.”
I only had to read the headline before I knew what had Greg upset. Darla’s byline was under the two-inch headline I read aloud. “Killer Leaves No Clues—Police Stumped.”
CHAPTER 9
The cab of the truck was silent as I read Darla’s exposé on the investigation into Kent’s murder. She had included several quotes from an undisclosed member of the police department. When I finished, I folded the paper and set it between the two of us.
“You don’t have anything to say?” Greg slowed the truck to make the turn onto the road that would take us to Bakerstown and away from the ocean.
“I really want a bowl of that clam chowder. It’s been months.” I tapped the paper with my unpolished fingernail. “I don’t break deals.”
Greg barked out a short laugh. “Since when?” He ran a hand through his sandy hair. “Fine, we can talk about Kent. Who do you thing is spilling to Darla?”
“Doesn’t seem like Esmeralda’s style.” I thought about Toby and Tim, the only other official employees of the department. “Toby won’t even talk to me about what’s going on. No way would he talk to Darla. So that leaves you or Tim.”
“And it’s not me.” Greg sighed. “Tim’s my guess, too.”
I thought about the tall, lanky man who wasn’t much more than a kid, straight out of college and a criminal justice major. Honestly, it didn’t seem like his style, either. The kid was too into the rules to break them just for some press time. Something Esmeralda said the other day nagged at me. Then I remembered. “What if Darla’s just observing the obvious?”
“What do you mean?” Greg pulled into the parking lot of the seafood restaurant, the site of our first date. Of course, I hadn’t realized it was a date back then.
I slipped out of the truck before I answered. “Esmeralda said living in a small town, you start knowing people. Maybe Darla just knows how you’ll react when a murder happens versus when someone dies by accident. Maybe your actions, like driving in to meet Doc Ames or spending more time at the station, tells her a story.”
“Plausible, but I’m still going to talk to Tim. Just in case.” He held the door of the restaurant open and smiled. “After you.”
“You’re such a gentleman.”