Page 38 of Under Fire

“Nick Underwood.”

“Underwood? He claimed he had arrived in town the day of his arrest.”

“Yes, that’s the lie he told us. Although a baseball cap hid his face, his shoes gave him away. Same pair of sandals with socks. And then he was wearing the watch. He was also wearing that watch at the time of booking, when it was removed and stored. However, when I reviewed his autopsy report, I noted that the watch he was wearing at the time of his death was not that same watch.”

“I find that interesting,” Locke said.

“I do as well. They would have given all his possessions back to him when he posted bail. So, there’s no reason to think he didn’t have it,” she said.

“If the person who killed him wanted the watch, why not take it instead of swapping it out?” Locke asked.

“Because the coroner would have noticed indentations on his wrist and wondered where the watch was. Swapping it out would eliminate suspicion. A missing watch would insinuate a robbery, but we know that wasn’t the case since there was no sign of forced entry. Underwood knew his visitor that night. The missing watch is one of the things on my list to ask Detectives Connors and Tomlin about tomorrow.”

He nodded and then looked at his watch. “It’s way past lunchtime. Weren’t you hungry?”

“I ate a good breakfast before arriving this morning.”

He nodded. “It’s close to dinnertime. Do you want to join me for dinner?”

She was surprised he’d asked. “Yes, thanks, and I was going to ask if it would be okay if I stayed late today. There are still more reports that I want to go through.”

“I don’t have a problem with that. I intended to work late myself.”

“Okay.” She then stood, grabbed her jacket, and slid it on. “I’m ready.”

CHAPTER 15

Locke wasn’t certain he had done the right thing by inviting Hollis to join him for dinner. He’d had a taste for Italian food, and nothing satisfied him more than a plate of delicious spaghetti. Carol, knowing it was his favorite meal, had emailed him the restaurant’s name, said it had a reputation as the best in Tampa, and suggested he try it.

He would admit the food was great, but having Hollis sit across from him was messing with his mind and body in ways he hadn’t counted on. She was giving the term ‘under fire’ new meaning. His strict code of ethics, rules he governed himself by, as well as professional boundaries he never dared to cross since his affair with Sophie, were testing his willpower every time she smiled, or whenever their gazes met while they talked. Then there was her scent, subtle yet alluring. Definitely arousing.

Surprisingly, she was talkative tonight. He tried to hang on to her every word, but he paid more attention to her mouth than anything. Especially how her lips moved whenever she talked. They were such a luscious-looking pair, and he wondered why her lipstick never wore off. It looked just as enticing as when she had arrived that morning. But he thought beyond her lipstick and wondered how those lips would feel beneath his. How that tongue, she had used to lick sauce off her upper lip a few times tonight, would taste while tangling with his. Locke wasn’t just feeling the heat, but damn, he felt the fire, and it was more intense than he’d ever felt coming from a woman.

“Sorry, I’m not usually so talkative,” she admitted.

“Don’t apologize. That means you feel comfortable with me to share so much about your brother.”

“I guess so. I think you mentioning what happened to Detective Connors’ sister made me reflect on my relationship with Derek. I want to believe that a sister has a special bond with an older brother. Derek and I were close, and I miss him. Some days I miss him more than others. Especially since his birthday is coming up. That will be a difficult time for me. It always is. But this one would have been a special one for him. It would have been his forty-fifth.”

He nodded. “That’s right, you did say there was a twelve-year difference in your ages. When is it?”

“The eleventh of this month. Usually, when it’s during a weekday, I merely prepare to overwork myself that day by staying busy. Unfortunately, this year it’s on a Saturday, and I’m thinking of something that I can do that weekend. I thought of going out of town, but there’s no place I want to go. However, the last thing I want is for Malik to worry about me. He plans to go on a two-week safari in the Serengeti with friends and is thinking about canceling it. I can’t let him do that.”

Locke didn’t say anything. The eleventh was also Orin Jeffries’ birthday. He recalled his conversation with Terrence yesterday. He could ask her to go to Atlanta as his plus-one, but that would be asking for trouble, so he pushed the thought from his mind.

“I’ve told you all about my rambunctious childhood as Derek’s tomboy sister. Now I want you to tell me how things were for you while growing up,” she said.

He smiled as he took a sip of his wine. “I would admit that Terrence and I got into a lot of mischief back in the day. His older brother Duan would always cover for us.”

“Do you regret not having any siblings?”

“No, I had Terrence. He shared Duan with me as an older brother, and then there was his sister Olivia, who everyone called Libby. She stayed in the house a lot, painted, and used her coloring books. I think you’re right that a younger sister and an older brother can have a special bond. In Libby’s case, she had two since she was close to both Terrence and Duan.”

“I recalled reading somewhere that they were raised by their father,” she said, taking a sip of her wine. Locke couldn’t help but watch the movement of her mouth while she did so.

“They were. Their mother was missing-in-action, like my old man had been.”

He then found himself telling her about the time he and Terrence decided to play hooky from school. It had been their first and last time doing such a thing since they had been subject to his mother’s discipline, which now, as an adult, he could appreciate.