Page 30 of Dead Man's Alibi

“Okay.We’re coming.”

“Problem?”

Cal looked up from his phone, realized he was frowning.“Text from Nate.They’re coming here.They must have found something.Not sure if that’s good or bad.”

“I’ll get out of your hair then.”She started to gather her things, but that didn’t make any sense.

Baffled, he frowned at her.“Why would you leave?You’re part of this.”

She stood there, hand around the handle of her bag but not picking it up from where it sat on the booth cushion.She looked down at him, not quite a frown on her face, but he didn’t know how to characterize it.

He didn’t really know how to deal with her and that was… disorienting.He always knew how to deal with people, and if he didn’t, he found a soft spot and poked at it until they got mad.He always knew what to do with mad.

But he didn’t want to touch any of her soft spots.He didn’t want to send mixed signals, but that didn’t mean he didn’t want heraround.“I mean, we can be friends, right?”

Her eyebrows drew together, like she didn’t understand the wordfriendsin this context.But then her expression smoothed out.“Yes, wearefriends.”

“Good.Then sit.”

She still hesitated for a moment, but after a few seconds, she slid back into the booth.

It didn’t occur to him until this moment of sitting across from her in a weird kind of silence that if she was irritated that he was giving off mixed signals that meant…

She wasinterested.

He’d been so focused onhis feelingsthat he hadn’t really considered…

Talk about rusty.

Especially when he couldn’t quite think of anything to say, when healwayshad something to say.

*

Nate couldn’t parsethe tension between Cal and Jill when he and Sam arrived at the diner.Jill was kind of frowning, and Cal looked oddly shocked by something.They didn’t speak.

Nate looked down at Sam, who looked up at him at the same moment.The same questions in her eyes that were in his head.

Then, in unison, they shrugged.

It made him smile in spite of himself.Well, at least they both didn’t know what to make of the situation.

Cal noticed them first, looked something like relieved when they approached the booth.Cal slid closer to the window, then Jill did the same on her side.Nate took the space next to Cal, Sam the space next to Jill.

No one spoke.

Nate shared one more glance with Sam, who gave him another small shrug.They must have interrupted something, but Nate couldn’t imagine what.

“Didn’t mean to crash your breakfast, but we need your help,” Nate said into the awkward quiet.Why bother with preamble?“Sam and I were talking last night, and I remembered that Julesdidgo to the police, right?She claimed they didn’t do anything for her, but if she actually went and talked to someone…”

“She might have told them something more concrete,” Cal finished, easily following their line of thought.“That’s a good thread to tug.”

“I guess we might be private investigators after all,” Sam murmured.“But you told us to be careful.I didn’t think it was smart to go poking around the Livingston or Bozeman PDs, especially if it might cause anyone to close ranks.”

“Also a good thought.”Cal rubbed the backs of his fingers against his jaw, back and forth, a gesture of being deep in thought himself.“I’m not sure I’ve got an angle myself.Cops tend to poker up around lawyers.”

“What about Jill?”Sam suggested, reaching across the table and plucking the untouched biscuit off Cal’s plate.

Much to Nate’s surprise and relief.She hadn’t done more than pick at her breakfast at home.