19. Play Dumb

19

PLAY DUMB

I t’d been a few weeks that she and Zander were dating and they were making it work better than she thought they could.

Sure, they were both busy with their careers, but the fact they were next door to each other was nice, even if they didn’t see each other much.

No one knew they were dating. At least Miles and Betsy weren’t aware, that she knew of. She hadn’t talked to her parents or brother much and wasn’t one to offer that information up this soon either.

“Come in,” she said when she heard a knock at her office door. It could only be Miles.

“Are you holding out on me?”

There was a vase of flowers in his hands. Pretty fall colors and blossoms that she didn’t know the names of.

“No,” she said. “Are you sure those aren’t for you?”

“I had hoped, but your name is on the card.”

She smiled. She didn’t picture Zander as the type to send flowers, but maybe she was wrong.

She’d gotten them before from clients in the past too so she wasn’t jumping the gun and saying anything before she had to.

“Are you still on the hook with two guys?” she asked Miles. Last she knew he was texting with them both and had only one date with them each. That was a lot slower than she was moving and that was saying a lot.

“I am,” Miles said. “I think they are both slapping me in the friends category. When they mention getting together it’s with groups of friends.”

“Why not go?” she asked.

He set the flowers down and she lifted the envelope and opened it.

“Because I’m not always into a group environment when I want to meet someone. I’ve got plenty of friends and don’t need that much more in my life.”

She found the statement funny but could relate too. Sometimes the more people in your life, the more drama.

“Huh,” she said, looking at the card.

“What does it say?” Miles asked. He just reached for it and took it out of her hands. “ Can’t wait to see you again. You’re the best, not to mention beautiful. There is no name. At first I might think it’s a client because I would hope you would have told me if you were seeing someone. And saying you're the best is a clue because we know you are the best. But no client would say you were beautiful.”

“I have no idea who these could be from,” she said, frowning. If it was Zander, he might end the card with the words “in bed” after saying he couldn’t wait to see her again. And she would agree and laugh over it.

“This is odd,” Miles said. “And sort of creepy, don’t you think?”

“I do,” she said. She didn’t want to let Miles know her heart was racing. Miles could get worked up easily and be hard to calm down. It went back to when Kellen was a kid. She felt she had to be the strong one to keep him grounded. She did the same with her clients and employees alike.

“Maybe see if Zander can figure it out,” Miles said. “It’s his job and all and you’ve been meeting with him in regards to Sophia. Nothing new there, right?”

Miles dropped Zander’s name every other sentence when he had the chance. It was getting harder to play dumb on this.

“Nothing that I’m aware of,” she said. “He’s got other clients, as I’m sure Betsy tells you. You’ve sent over everything that Sophia has given us. You know Betsy is doing some of the background work right now too.”

Miles sighed. “I know. I’m sure it’s going to be a dead end, and for Sophia’s case, I hope so. She’s a sweetheart. I don’t want her to be worried she is getting set up.”

Regan was starting to think that too but wouldn’t give her opinion and cloud any investigations going on.

“I’m sure Zander will find out anything there is and we’ll pass it on,” she said. “In the meantime, why don’t you go put these flowers out front, and if you wouldn’t mind calling the florist to see if they could give you the information on who sent them, I’d appreciate it.”

“You’re going to keep them?” Miles asked. “And of course I’ll call. I was going to whether you told me to or not.”

She smiled over that, figuring he’d want to know. “I’m not sure what to do with them,” she said. “But I don’t want them in my office not knowing who they are from. Maybe it’s just an awkward compliment from a client, but I will keep my eyes open for any signs if the florist is of no help.”

“Hang on while I call.”

“Let me know what they say.”

She started to get some work done while she heard Miles on the phone out front. She could tell by his disappointment it wasn’t working out.

He came in a minute later. “Nothing. It was bought with a prepaid Visa card.”

She didn’t like that either. More secrets by doing it that way, but for now she was going to just keep her eyes open. “We tried,” she said.

“I wonder if it’s from someone you saw this week,” Miles said. “I’m going to go through the client list and make notes and start to keep an eye on them when they come in too. Some chat me up.”

“You do that,” she said, smiling. She didn’t want to be worried about this even though it was on the creepy end. Miles was good at finding things out so hopefully he could narrow this some too.

When the phone rang out on Miles’s desk, he returned to get it, and she got up, shut her door and got ready for her next video call. She had several today and found it worked out well. Better than having the recordings to listen to afterward.

At the end of the day, Miles popped his head into her office. The door was open. “You’re not working late, are you?”

“I’m finishing up now,” she said. “You can leave the door unlocked. I’ll be out in ten minutes or so.”

“Nope. I’m locking it after me. I’ve got a list of the people that were here this week and my notes. Even the couples. Maybe one of the guys is complimenting and flirting with you at the same time.”

She forced a smile. “I doubt it, but you never know.”

“I want to think it’s someone new,” Miles said. “It makes no sense to be someone that you see regularly.”

“I’m not going to put a lot of brain power into this,” she said. “It’s just flowers.” Or so she was trying to tell herself so Miles and she both moved past it for now.

But it wasn’t just flowers fifteen minutes later when there was a knock at the glass door to her office and Zander was standing there.

She got up and unlocked it to let him in.

“Hi,” she said. “I wasn’t expecting you.”

“Everyone is gone and I just got a call from Justin. Guess his wife is going out tonight last minute for work. Care to join me?”

“I’d love to,” she said. Great way to spend some time with him and it was fun the last time they went out. “Do I need to change or have time to change?”

“Nope,” he said. “Sorry. We need to go now so I can get there early and make sure we are put by their table and if not figure out how to get close enough to hear what is going on.”

“Let me get my purse and laptop,” she said. “Do you want me to follow you there?”

“We can ride together,” he said. “You’d have to come back this way to go home so you can get your car then. Miles getting flowers from men now?”

She laughed and decided maybe it wouldn’t hurt to tell him. “I got them. I just don’t know from whom.”

He frowned and moved over to get the card off of it. “Someone sent you flowers with this note and you don’t know who it is? Sounds like a date and not a client.”

“It’s creepy. I know. Miles even mentioned I should tell you about it.”

“Were you going to?” he asked.

“I just did,” she said. “And I was going to the next time I saw you. Which is at dinner tonight if it came up since you’re working.”

“Does Miles know we are dating?” he asked.

“No. I haven’t told anyone. I’m assuming Betsy doesn’t know or she’d say something to Miles.”

“She would,” he said. “Does Miles bring my name up a lot?”

She felt the heat fill her face. “He does. Why? Are you worried he’s looking at you? He is, but he knows you aren’t his type.”

Zander coughed on those words and she wanted to pat herself on the back for them.

“I’m not his type. I’m your type.”

“You are,” she said, her hand reaching for his and running down his arm. “And now we are going on a fun date and I get to play detective.”

“Do you like playing games?” he asked.

“I never used to, but maybe I could be up for some sexy ones.”

She dropped those words like a mic on stage and strutted right by him and locked up.

When they were inside the restaurant forty minutes later, their drinks and food ordered, and sitting close enough to hear some of the conversation between Tricia and some guy that was clearly younger than her and extremely on the nerdy level, Zander said, “I’ve got some information for you on Sophia that Betsy will bring over tomorrow. Or I can do it.”

“You only want to do it so you can let Miles get a good look at you.”

His face flushed again. “Not quite,” he said.

When Tricia got up to go to the bathroom, she said, “I think I’ll use the ladies room.”

“Regan,” he warned.

“Stop,” she said. “Ladies go in pairs. Maybe I can find something out.”

She got up and walked into the room and noticed one of the stall doors closed and went into the other one. She did her business quickly and heard the toilet flush and the water running at the sink and flushed to join Tricia.

Tricia was looking at her phone on the counter while she washed her hands with a frown on her face. She looked pissed, but Regan kept her head down, washed her hands, and looked at the reflection in the mirror to see Tricia all but grind her teeth, pick her phone up, and walk out of the bathroom while she shoved it in her purse.

She went back to her table a second later and noticed the food there. Tricia had her back to them. “Learn anything?”

She leaned forward. “Did she walk out here pissed?” She started to eat since Tricia and her date were almost done with appetizers. She figured their food would be out next.

“No,” he said. “Not that I could see. She walked past me, but I was looking at my phone.”

“She was pissed in the bathroom. She slammed her phone on the counter and I saw in the mirror Justin’s name.”

“Shit,” he said. “He’s getting frustrated with me not being able to find out what is going on. He said he’d asked her a few times if she was cheating on him in the past.”

“Do you think he is doing it now?” she asked. “Asking if she’s on a date right now and cheating?”

“Could you see anything else in the text?”

“No. Not without being obvious, but she looks like she’s having a great time with the recent college graduate over there. I think he might still have pimples on his chin.”

Zander snorted. “I’m not sure how much longer this can go on. I’m ready to have it end with Justin. I’ve got enough other cases that I’m dealing with.”

“No update on Sandy?” she asked.

“No,” he said. “James was thrilled I found her two days later, but she has no memory of what happened to her or how she ended up two cities away in her car.”

She knew that Zander was happy he found the woman alive and pissed at the same time that the police hadn’t been looking. It was actually Zander’s father, Dave, who was able to get some information out of an old informant.

“Do you think you’ll ever find what happened to her?” she asked.

“James is trying to convince her to hire me to look into it. I want to help but won’t push myself on it. The police need to do their job right now.”

“Were they pissed you found her?” she asked.

“One person was,” he said. “But that happens. I’ve got friends on the force. I’m not stupid. I called in backup once I knew she was there.”

She wouldn’t tell him how scared she was that maybe he was getting himself into situations where he could be in danger, but it turned out fine. Sandy was in a halfway house with no memory of anything and in no danger either. Zander had told her that.

“It looks like they are finishing their food fast,” she said. It seemed to only be drinks and appetizers and some friendly conversation and then Tricia stood and seemed to be walking out.

“Just sit back and enjoy our dinner then,” he said. “I’m going to have a conversation with Justin about this tomorrow.”

“The guy is still at the table finishing his drink.”

“Maybe she didn’t leave,” he said.

“No, she did,” she said. “She had her jacket with her. I’ll be back.”

“What are you doing?” he asked.

But Regan was up and sitting across from the guy before Zander could stop her. She had no idea what was possessing her to do this other than she wanted to help.

The question was who was she helping?

“Hi,” she said. “You look so familiar to me. Like the younger brother of one of my friends.”

The guy pushed his glasses up on his nose a bit more. “I don’t have a sister,” he said. “Just an older brother. He might be close to your age.”

“It’s Scott, right?” she asked. Thankfully she’d heard his name.

“It is,” Scott said. “What’s your name?”

“Deborah,” she said. She wasn’t sure why she said her mother’s name, but it was the first one that came to her mind.

“It’s nice to meet you. Wow, I guess Tricia was right and it works.”

“What works?” she asked.

“I hired her to go on a date with me. She said that if you go on a date with a woman beyond your league that you get confidence and then it shows for other women to come and seek you out. I probably sound like an idiot or a loser, but she claims if women see you with someone better looking and more high-end than yourself, they think there is something there they want.”

Tricia wasn’t wrong there. It was a common perception and she hated the games people played.

“Oh, so that wasn’t your girlfriend you were having a drink with?”

“No,” Scott said. “Just a paid date.”

“You know,” she said, leaning forward, “I’ve got some friends who might like to do something like that. Is it like a website she works for and they’ve got men too?”

“I don’t know,” he said. “I’ve got her website though.”

“Can I see it?” she asked. “I just want to snap a picture of it if I can?”

“Sure,” Scott said. “But you’re with someone right now, aren’t you?”

“Just my brother,” she said. “Maybe it’d help if I could use a service like you just had.” She could imagine Zander wanted to wring her neck, but she wasn’t worried in the least.

She snapped the picture of the website and then Scott got up to leave and she went back to her table with Zander.

“You could have just blown everything,” he said.

“Nope. I know my job. I know what I see and observe. He was in awe of her and hanging on every word. Once I lied about knowing him, he felt he could open up to me.”

“I heard,” he said. “Send me what you have on the website.”

“I just solved your case,” she said, wiggling in her chair. “I want to jump up and do a booty shake and am not sure I’ve ever wanted to do that in my life.”

He grinned at her. Not one that was forced either. “I might like to see that.”

“Maybe we can go celebrate after dinner,” she said. “I’m starving. Detective work builds up an appetite.”

“Take your time eating,” he said. “We’ve got things to discuss first.”

This was where she was going to get the lecture for what she did, but it was so worth the adrenaline rush. Maybe she was a good girl too much in her life and Zander was bringing something out of her she hadn’t known was hidden inside.