“Knowing J.D., he didn’t.”
Julia smiled at him, and he smiled back before he could stop himself. He was growing more and more attracted to her—fascinated might be a better word, but that would not do. He had been trying his best to be as professional and standoffish as possible, certainly not encouraging any personal small talk. She had noticed, even called him a dull boy, and she was probably wondering why, especially after the fun they’d had on the way home from the airport. Nope, they weren’t having much fun anymore, and he didn’t like the stilted atmosphere when they were together. He had a feeling she didn’t, either.
“Don’t sell J.D. short,” he said as he opened the front door of the restaurant. “I’ve seen him do a lot of nice things for a lot of people.”
“Oh, I have, too. Especially now. Audrey’s been great for him.”
“She’s a nice woman. Classy.”
“I haven’t really had a chance to get to know her as well as I want to. But I like her.”
“Maybe you’ll get to tonight.”
Will walked alongside Julia across the crowded lobby, but he was still not sold on her being exactly thrilled with what was about to go down. She just didn’t seem like the yeah, please jump out and scare the hell out of me type. And she was still wearing her weapon under her tan blazer. She’d probably be gracious after the fact, especially since Audrey meant so well. He’d be the one she’d probably get mad at. Still, he felt like he was leading a lamb into a lion’s den, albeit an armed and dangerous lamb.
Inside, the place was hopping. It didn’t take long for Will to pick out J.D.’s six-three figure at the back of the restaurant. J.D. motioned them back to the private room they’d reserved.
“There’s J.D.,” he said to Julia.
Julia took the lead, and Will trailed her, all kinds of misgivings going through his mind. Hell, maybe he was wrong; maybe Julia was going to laugh and smile and clap her hands in delight, completely comfortable in the limelight. Right. Well, he’d find out in exactly one minute.
“Hi, sweetheart,” J.D. was saying to his sister. “I’m glad you could come tonight. Audrey’s going to be so pleased. We’ve got a private table. Audrey’s back there waiting for us.” He turned to Will and winked. “Hey, Will, nice to see you. Why don’t you join us?”
Will felt like a jerk. J.D. stood back and let the two of them precede him into the darkened back room. Two seconds after Julia appeared in the doorway, the lights flamed on with about thirty people yelling and flashing camera shots. Julia was caught by surprise, all right. She went down in a law enforcement crouch, hand on her Glock, and might’ve drawn on Audrey’s guests if he hadn’t caught her arm in time. Worse, he saw the initial look of shock and fear on her face before J.D. grabbed her around the waist and swung her around.
“Surprise, Sis! This is all for you! Audrey and Zoe put it together to surprise you.”
Just as Will had feared, Julia glared up at him accusingly. He shrugged. “I’m just the deliveryman. Don’t blame me.”
Luckily, her answer was interrupted by Zoe’s excited and effusive arrival at a run. She grabbed Julia in a giant bear hug. Probably a good thing for the teenager to show up when she did. He had a feeling he was going to get hell for not clueing Julia in on the surprise. He couldn’t blame her. He probably would’ve shot somebody, too, if they jumped out of the dark at him like that. He eased into the background of the party, kept his back to the wall, and watched Julia. He no longer liked crowds, not even in nice, safe, friendly restaurants. He watched J.D. and Audrey move around the crowd with Julia, introducing her to all their friends. She was over her first shock now and seemed to be enjoying herself. More than he could say about himself. He hated parties. Hated crowds where he couldn’t keep his eyes on everybody.
After a while, Audrey showed up at his side and took him by the arm. “C’mon, I’ve saved you a seat at our table. Thanks again for getting her here. I’d say we surprised her, wouldn’t you?”
Will stopped her, glancing at Julia, who was moving toward the head table arm in arm with Zoe. They did resemble one another. Zoe was going to be a knockout someday, just like Julia was. But that was J.D.’s problem. He turned to Audrey. “Did you get the feeling that Julia was more startled than she should’ve been?”
Audrey stared up at him, her smile fading. “Yes, I must say I did.”
Audrey was the licensed grief counselor, not Will. Still, he wondered if maybe there was something in Julia’s past that he didn’t know about. “Has she suffered anything traumatic that you know of?” he asked. “Maybe something that went down bad when she worked in Nashville homicide?”
“Well, we never mention it in front of her, but she did lose her partner about three years ago. I don’t know much about it. J.D. thinks she and Bobby Crismon were more than just partners, but she doesn’t talk about it so we aren’t sure. Has she said something to you?”
“No. It makes sense, I guess, her losing a partner.”
“I think they were answering some kind of a domestic disturbance call. They walked right into it.”
“I guess that explains some things.”
“Maybe now that she lives here, she’ll come in and see me,” Audrey said. “I’ve been waiting for the right time to broach the subject with her.”
“She’s a good cop. She can handle the job. I found that out the very first day.”
Audrey gave him a knowing look. “Will Brannock, you held out on me. Are the two of you getting together already?”
“No. Not at all. We just work well together.”
“So you are getting along? No dueling jurisdictions? I’ve heard J.D. complain about that at times.”
“Not with Julia.”
Audrey laughed. “You can’t fool me, Will. I know you like her more than you’re letting on. And who wouldn’t? She’s gorgeous. Come along—they’re waiting for us.”
Yeah, I do, Will thought. Damn it, anyway.
It did take Julia several minutes to recover from all those people yelling and screaming at her out of a pitch-black room. It had been so unexpected that she didn’t have time to prepare herself. She used to love surprises, parties, crowds, everything like that, and J.D. knew it. But not anymore. Tonight, when it happened, frightening images of the worst day of her life came barreling back and hit her like a malevolent wind. She and Bobby were on a homicide call, canvassing the neighborhood for witnesses to a drive-by shooting. They’d heard a call come in for a domestic altercation that was going on down the street from their crime scene. Then, just like that, Bobby was gone from her life forever. Dead and buried, just when they were beginning to fall for each other.
Julia was ripped by a cold chill, just thinking about it; even to this day, it unnerved her. Nightmares and flashbacks, they still happened, too. Shaken, she tried her best to erase the terrible memory. She was going to enjoy the party that Zoe and Audrey had been kind enough to plan for her. She took some deep breaths, got herself under control, and glanced around the room. There was quite a crowd, most of the tables full, but her gaze stopped on Will Brannock and Audrey Sherrod, who looked to be having a serious conversation on the other side of the room. Will had been looking in her direction, and he nodded then looked back down at Audrey. What was going on?
“Oh, Julia, isn’t this the coolest party ever! Look at all the people who came, just to meet you. Aren’t you excited? C’mon over and see all my friends! Everyone that I invited came. Isn’t that awesome? They’re all here to meet you! They think it’s really cool that you’re a cop, just like those cool girls on CSI!”
Zoe was the excited one, so happy that her smile lit up her face until she veritably glowed, and Julia knew then that she probably couldn’t deny this kid anything. Zoe grabbed her hand and pulled her along. “Don’t tell J.D., but my boyfriend’s here, too. His name’s Colin. J.D.’s almost ready to let me go out on dates. Isn’t that the most awesome thing? Audrey’s been working on him about it. You know, she means if she takes us,
like, to the movies and picks us up, and stuff. Maybe you could put in a good word, too? He thinks you’re really smart and with it and cool about stuff. What d’you think? Am I old enough to date? When did J.D. let you date?”
“Oh, no you don’t, Zoe. You’re not dragging me into this. I will say, though, that I wasn’t all that interested in boys when I was your age.”
Zoe stopped and stared at her, as if stunned speechless. “Then what were you interested in?”
Zoe’s pretty little face looked so incredulous that Julia had to laugh. “Well, at that time, I liked target shooting better than boys.”
“Are you serious? Did you really? Better than the guys?”
“Well, maybe I was a little bit interested in boys, too. J.D. didn’t like the idea then, either. He was protective, but he gradually eased up on me.” He was just afraid I’d date a boy like he was back then, Julia thought to herself.
Zoe looked relieved, but they’d reached a table full of teenagers, who were dressed like typical high school kids but also looked like fairly clean-cut, regular fifteen-year-olds. She met Jacy, Reesa, Brittney, Tyler, Travis, Ethan, and Jeremy, and of course, Zoe’s best friend, Presley. Julia readily picked out the special boy in question, Colin, even before Zoe introduced them, just by the slight flush on Zoe’s face when she darted a surreptitious glance at him. Ah, young love. Nope, Julia didn’t know a thing about it. Hell, she had trouble with old love.
“It’s very nice to meet all of you. Hope we’ll see each other again soon,” she said. “Just not at the police station.” The kids all laughed, and Zoe sat down beside Colin. When Julia caught sight of the Axelrods sitting at a nearby table, Cathy stood up and waved. Charlie Sinclair was sitting with them, as well as another couple Julia had not yet met. Max Hazard sat across from Charlie.
“Hi, guys,” Julia said, sliding into a chair beside Charlie. “I’m so glad to see some familiar faces. This is pretty overwhelming.”
Cathy said, “It sure is. Will and J.D. both told Audrey that she might ought to invite us. None of us would’ve missed it for anything. Even Charlie took time out from fishing and running his dogs to celebrate your coming to town.”
“And he invited me, since you gave me the bum’s rush at Cracker Barrel,” said Max as he slid over into the chair beside her.
Charlie Sinclair nodded. “That’s right, Julia. We already know a lot of these folks, of course. Seems like most are connected to the legal community in one way or another. I’ve never seen so many cops and lawyers. And one private eye.”
They all laughed and looked at Max, but then Charlie spoke aside to Julia. “You looked a mite startled when the lights came on.”
“I was.” She met his eyes. “It’s a miracle I didn’t shoot somebody.”
“Yeah,” Cathy said, “I’m surprised J.D. didn’t realize scaring an armed officer to death wasn’t the best idea to come up with.”
Julia nodded. “But I think it’s really sweet of Audrey to think of it.”
“That it is,” agreed Lonnie. “She’s good at her job, too. She’s a very good counselor. I know people that she’s really helped cope.”
“J.D. says the same thing.”
Cathy grabbed her hand. “You’re going to love it here in Chattanooga. I just know it, because I do, and we’re so much alike. God, I’ve missed you a lot.”
“You know, I think you’re right. So far the move has been a good one.”
“It’s an answer to my prayers, I can tell you that,” said Max, leaning close and nuzzling her hair. “God, you smell good, Julie.”
“Oh, stop it, Max,” Julia said, pushing him away, but they exchanged a smile. Max was the only person who called her Julie and wouldn’t stop no matter how many times she asked him to. He looked good tonight, in a white linen suit and a blue shirt that matched his eyes, and was on his best behavior. So far. And for a nice change. She wondered how long that would last.
Cathy glanced around. “Which one’s Will Brannock?”
“He’s standing over there by himself against the wall by the door. The big guy in the white shirt and red tie.”
“Oh, my God, Julia, is he the hottest guy alive, or what?”
“No, he’s not,” Max remarked. “I’m sitting right here.”
“Yes, me too. Thank you, dear,” Lonnie joked, looking at his wife with fond indulgence.
Julia spoke quietly to Cathy, making sure that none of the men could hear them. “Yes, Will’s good-looking, all right. You should’ve seen him at the airport when I first got here. Bad thing is, he’s a regular Pied Piper when it comes to flight attendants.”
Cathy smiled, a wicked gleam in her eyes. “Not just flight attendants, not judging by the way he’s been watching you since you got here. I noticed that right off and wondered who he was.”
Julia glanced over at Will. He was still watching her. He gave her another polite little nod, probably afraid she was ticked off because he shoved her into a dark room with dozens of screeching, camera-toting well-wishers. She looked back at her friend. “Was he really looking at me?”
“You bet he was. Couldn’t take his eyes off you.”
“He’s just afraid I’ll get him back for throwing me to the wolves. And I will.”
“I still think he’s sexy as hell.”
“Yeah,” said Charlie, leaning close to them, his eyes twinkling. “He’s sexy, you’re cute as a button, and you two look good together, especially when you’re toting guns and flashing your badges and rounding up the bad guys.”
“Good grief, you guys, enough already about Mr. Perfect TBI. He’s my major competition for Julia,” Max complained, frowning. “Talk about my virtues for a while, for God’s sake. C’mon, Julie, let’s dance.”
Max dragged her out of her chair and onto the dance floor with the other couples. She didn’t want to dance, but she didn’t want to make a scene, either. Max thrived on making scenes—the more outrageous, the better.
“You dance as good as ever,” Max said, smiling down at her.
“We’ve never danced before, and I don’t want to dance now. Let’s go sit down.”
“Can’t. Wouldn’t get to hold you like this if we weren’t dancing. But we can stand still and keep the embrace, if you want to.”
Julia just glared up at him without comment.
Max lost his grin. “Actually, I just wanted to get you alone so we could talk.”
“About what?”
Max took her down in a long dip that was extra embarrassing, then whirled her around. “About your investigation. How’s it coming along?”
Max liked to play dumb and make other people believe he was harmless. She knew for a fact that he was not dumb or harmless. In fact, he was smart enough to persuade all kinds of people to do all kinds of things to help him with his investigations. She didn’t trust his motives, not for a minute. “So now the truth comes out, huh? You’re digging for information about the killer.”
“So do you have any clues as to the identity of the killer?”
“And you’re interested why?”
“I’m a private investigator, and we always nose into things that aren’t any of our business, you know that.”
“Just a one-time warning, Max. Stay out of it. This is a state investigation, and Will Brannock won’t put up with any interference. He’ll lock you up and throw away the key, trust me on that.” She glanced over at Will and found him in the same spot, his eyes locked on her and Max. This time he didn’t give that agreeable little acknowledgment and didn’t look away. He just stared at them.
Max said, “Okay, I get it. I’ll back off, but on the other hand, maybe I got a lead that’ll help y’all out.”
“Then let’s hear it.”
“You gotta promise to keep my name out of it.”
“I’m not promising you anything. And enough of this mystery-novel stuff. Tell me what you know. Or I’ll let Special Agent Brannock ask you, and he doesn’t fool around.”
Max danced h
er over to the edge of the floor, stopped, and looked around for eavesdroppers. “It concerns the judge’s housekeeper.”
“Maria Bota?”
“That’s right.”
“Go on.”
“I hear she’s holed up in Las Vegas with her little kid. That she’s looking for a job in the casinos.”
“Where’d you hear that?”
“A confidential source. A friend of Maria’s. Can’t tell you her name.”
“Can’t or won’t.”
“Both.”
“Maybe a subpoena would help you out with that.”
They considered each other. Julia said, “Tell me why you’re so interested in this case.”
Max glanced around at the other dancers again, then took her arm and led her off to a quiet corner. “Okay, Julie, here it is. Lockhart’s daughter, Tanya, asked me to look into this for her.”
“How do you know her?”
“She used to bring her mom’s dogs out to Charlie’s for shots and stuff. That’s how I met her. Charlie and I sort of took her under our wing. She had two lousy, obnoxious parents who were always on her case. We really felt sorry for her.”
“She’s not here in Chattanooga yet, is she?”
“Nope. She called me right after she got the bad news.” His face was serious now. “She’s afraid this psycho is going to go after the whole family, herself included. She’s afraid he’s gonna show up at her house.”
“There’s no indication of that kind of threat. Why didn’t she mention that to me when I interviewed her over the phone?”
Max shrugged. “She trusts me. She asked me to find out what I could, so that’s what I’m doing.”
“Maybe Will and I ought to have a sit-down with her when she gets to town.”
“She’s not coming. Said she hated him and couldn’t stand the thought of being around her mother. She hasn’t been back here for five years.”
“She seemed pretty upset when I talked to her.”
“He’s her father. He just ignored her. Her mother abused her. Anyway, that’s why I’m interested in this case and that’s how I found this lead.”
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