Page 20 of Dead Man's Alibi

Cal could agree.Leave the rest of it.He didn’t need to bring Jill any deeper into this, but… well, Jake had been sniffing around her.And Cal didn’t know which bothered him more—that Jake might be trying to get at Nate from all directions, or that Jake’s morning with Jill hadnothingto do with Nate and everything to do with Jill.

“The problem is, Jake doesn’t like Nate.I don’t know if that’s solely because of his thing for Sam, or if there’s more to it, but it colors how a person approaches a case, I think.People liked my dad, right?He could be charming when he wanted to be, so no one wanted to think badly of him because he waslike them.But Sam’s dad was a little quiet.Introverted.So people were swayed.Maybe Jake’s a great detective, but what happens to a great detective when they’re swayed by personal feelings?”

Jill’s dark eyebrows drew together.“What do you meanhis thing for Sam?”

Cal tried to hide his surprise.So Jill hadn’t heard aboutthat.Interesting.“I guess he asked her out a few times before she and Nate officially got together.She said no, but the way he hates Nate just makes me think he’s still carrying a torch.”

Which was probably not the thing to tell the woman Jake had been flirting with this morning.It probably made Cal a dick.

Oh well.Cal couldn’t quite look at her when he asked the question, so he squinted out at Copper Mountain in the distance.“Jealous?”

“No.”She sounded just baffled enough for him to believe her.“I mean, I’m not going to lie, I got the impression he was flirting with me this morning.Which is harmless and maybe meant to be harmless.He didn’t ask me out or anything.”

Cal looked down at her.“He gave you his card.His number.”

“And offered to help with my book.”

Cal shrugged.“Maybe he’s bad at asking women out.”

Jill shook her head.“Ihighlydoubt it.”

Cal couldn’t say he cared for hercertaintyin that department.

“It’s just… Sam’s not much older than I am.Jake’s alotolder than both of us.I’m all for a consensual age gap, but if it’s a pattern, it starts to feel a little weird, you know?”

He didn’t know if he’d call itweird, because if he did, he’d have to take a look at some of his own choices.So he said nothing.

Which was a tactical error.

“What’s your pattern look like?”

“Oh, you see, I don’t have a pattern because I have traumatic amnesia, a potential drinking problem, and a weekly appointment with a therapist.I’m staying clear of women and romantic entanglements.”

“Sure.Now.What about back in Texas?”

He hadnoidea how they’d gotten onto this topic, and the weirdest part was he felt uncomfortable and outmaneuvered and… bested.

He wasneverbested.“Let’s just say I was committed to my job, not relationships.”

“Just because you didn’t get into committed relationships doesn’t mean there weren’t women.Women who might have followed some kind of pattern even.”

Cal shifted on the bench.Uncomfortable.Maybe embarrassed.What thehell?“I suppose it doesn’t.”

“So.Were they age-appropriate?”

For a moment, Cal just sat there, trying to figure out how he’d been maneuvered into this odd conversation.Why Jill, of all people, was pushing things.Because while she was dogged in some things, protecting her grandmother mostly, he’d never seen her be quite sodirectabout personal things.

He kind of liked it, and that was verybad.

So Cal slapped his thighs, got to his feet.“Well, we better get back, huh?”

Jill laughed, which kind of surprised him.That she’d find humor in the situation.

She got to her feet too.“I’m not trying to interrogate you.Not really.But you so rarely get squirrely about things without turning it back around on somebody, I couldn’t resist.”

He shoved his hands into his pockets.“Squirrely.Ha.”

But she didn’t press anymore, and they started to walk back toward the diner.