Brit laughed then said, “I’ve seen you naked, Cali. I think it was just last night that I came up close and personal with every inch of you.”
“Yeah,” she called back, feeling her face flush at the memory of how thoroughly they’d both gone over each other. “But if you see it all the time you’ll stop appreciating it.” She dropped the sheet and stepped into the shower.
“Not in this lifetime, sweetheart,” he said and joined her in the shower.
They took a little longer than ten minutes.
~
Once they were out, Brit dressed and called Quarles. “Hey, I’ve got something I’ve got to check out this morning.”
“I was just about to call you. Adams wants Cali at the precinct at ten. The DA is coming to talk to her.”
Brit frowned. He wanted to be there when they questioned her. But he had to check out what Cali had told him. “Okay. But can you be with her? So she won’t be alone in case I don’t make it back by ten?”
“Sure, but where did you say you were going?”
“I didn’t say,” Brit answered, not wanting to explain. Hell, how could he explain? Even the fact that he believed Cali left him feeling a little strange. But he did believe her.
~
“Miss McKay, I’m Sergeant Adams, and this is Shane Paxton with the DA’s office.”
Cali nodded at the heavyset older man and the beautiful redhead beside him. The woman wore a dusty green business suit that came a little too short on one end and a little too low on the other. She glanced at Cali with disinterest. Cali managed to offer the woman a smile. Ms. Paxton didn’t feel inclined to return the gesture.
Cali fidgeted with her purse strap. Brit’s partner stood beside her as if to offer support. The sergeant motioned to John and looked back at Ms. Paxton. “This is John Quarles. He’s new to our department. He’s working the case.”
Ms. Paxton glanced around, and disappointment seemed to pull at her painted lips. “I thought Brit was working the case.”
“Quarles and Brit Lowell are partners.” Adams motioned toward the table. “Let’s sit down.”
Cali didn’t miss the fact that the woman had referred to Brit by his first name. Then she remembered Brit mentioning his last girlfriend’s name was Shane. Oh, great! Surely, she wasn’t about to be interrogated by Brit’s old girlfriend.
“What can I do for you?” Cali forced a pleasant tone, but she wanted to finish this conversation before it got started.
“I need to go over your statements to make sure we’ve got a case against...” She looked at the file. “Stan Humphrey.”
Cali nodded. “I’m not sure what I can tell you that I haven’t already told the police.”
”Actually you can tell us a lot.” She had a snippy voice that Cali didn’t like. The fact that she was beautiful and had probably slept with Brit didn’t help.
“Stan Humphrey gave you a diamond bracelet, right?”
Cali forced herself not to frown and she started comparing herself to the sleek redhead. Red had beautiful brown eyes, exotic eyes. And she had at least two inches on Cali, too. Which meant the woman had longer legs. Men liked long legs.
“Yes, I told the police that. And I gave it to Brit... Detective Lowell.” Cali caught herself making the same mistake the woman had earlier.
The redhead raised a thinly plucked eyebrow. “Did Mr. Humphrey tell you where he got the jewelry?” Now instead of disinterest, the woman gazed at Cali as if she were something the buzzards had abandoned for some better looking road kill.
Cali brushed her fingers along the table’s edge. “No. It was a gift and I didn’t ask.” She chose not to tell her that the piece of jewelry had been slung at her during an argument.
“What kind of business did you think your boyfriend was in, Miss McKay? I’m sorry, I’m assuming he is your boyfriend.”
And I’m assuming you were the woman who stuck a condom in the pocket of the man I’m now sleeping with. “We were dating at the time and Mr. Humphrey is a musician.”
“And not anymore?”
“No.” Cali wrapped her finger around her leather purse strap and stared down at her black slacks and wished she’d worn something less teachery.
“Didn’t I read in here that he was living with you?”
“He was staying with me while he found an apartment.” How long would she be paying for that mistake?
“Hmm.” Ms. Paxton flipped through the pages. “Funny, it seems all these reports were written up by Brit. Did you ever make a report, Mr. Quarles? Or was Brit mostly on the case?”
Unlike Cali, John Quarles seemed completely relaxed. “I’m sure they just haven’t gotten filed yet.”
The D.A. smiled, but it looked transparent. Then her gaze hit Cali again. “Was Mr. Humphrey doing well in his career?”
Cali tried to imitate John’s relaxed composure. “I don’t think so.”