3rd Degree (Women's Murder Club 3)

The veins on the bar owner’s neck began to swell. He lowered his eyes and leafed through the photos again. “Maybe… I don’t know…,” he muttered.

After some hesitation, he nudged one out. “He’s different now. His hair is shorter, not so much like a hippie. He has a beard. He’s been in here.”

Stephen Hardaway. Alias Morgan Bloom. Alias Mal Caldwell.

“Is he a regular? How do we find him? This is important.”

“I don’t know.” Kamor shook his head. “That is the truth. I remember him, once or twice some time ago. I think he came from somewhere up north.

“One more thing…” Kamor swallowed. “You will remember this the next time you barge in and threaten to deprive me of my rights.”

He flicked another photo forward. Another face he knew.

“This one, I saw in here last night.”

We were staring at Wendy Raymore, the au pair.

Chapter 58

WE WEREN’T BACK in the car for five seconds before I was pressing my palms against Molinari’s in an exhilarated, drawn-out high five. Deputy director or not, he had handled himself pretty well.

“That was good, Molinari.” I could hardly contain my smile. “And you know how clumsy these police goons can be when they’re lugging heavy evidence….”

Our eyes locked, and suddenly I was feeling that nervousness and attraction again. I put the car in gear. “I don’t know what’s supposed to happen with your contacts,” I said, “but I think we’d better start by calling this in.”

Molinari speed-dialed his office with Hardaway’s name and aliases. We got a quick response. His Seattle file detailed a criminal past. Weapons possession, arms theft, bank robbery. By tomorrow morning we would know everything about him.

Suddenly I realized I hadn’t heard from Jill. “I gotta make a call,” I said to Molinari, punching in her cell phone number.

Jill’s voice mail came on. “Hi, it’s

District Attorney Jill Bernhardt….”

Damn, Jill usually had her cell phone on. But I remembered about how she said she had a long day ahead in court. “It’s me, Lindsay. It’s two o’ clock. Where you been?” I thought about saying more, but I wasn’t in private. “Call me. I want to know how you are.”

“Something wrong?” Molinari said when I hung up.

I shook my head. “A friend… She threw her husband out last night. We were supposed to talk. It’s just that the guy’s turned into a real creep.”

“She’s lucky, then,” Molinari said, “to have a cop for a friend.”

The thought amused me. Jill lucky to have a cop for a friend. I thought of calling her at the office, but she’d get back to me as soon as she turned on her phone. “Trust me, she can handle herself.”

We turned on the ramp to the Bay Bridge. I didn’t even have to use the top hat, as there was almost no traffic into the city. “Smooth sailing,” I said. “We caught a break. Finally.”

“Listen, Lindsay…” Molinari turned to me, his tone changed. “What do you think about having dinner with me tonight?”

“Dinner?” I thought for a second. I turned to him. “I think we know that might not be the best idea.”

Molinari nodded in a resigned way, as if the thought got the better of him. “Still, we both gotta eat….” He curled a smile.

Holding the wheel, I felt my palms starting to sweat. Geez. There were a hundred reasons why this could be wrong. But hell, we had lives, too.

I looked at Molinari and smiled. “We gotta eat.”

Chapter 59

THE LATEST E-MAIL had Cindy rocking back on her heels. For once, she was in the story, not just merely writing it.