“Shhh.” I shoved the phone closer to my ear so none of her voice escaped. “Why did you call me?”
“Oh, right,” she said as if thoughts of hot guy pictures made her forget. “The boss wants the investigation report on his desk by next Monday. He’s hopeful it will be enough for a Halloween special this year.”
Man, it was only April. They definitely did their prework. If the podcast producers liked what I wrote up, they’d schedule official filming dates and set up interviews with important people from the case. But I had to sell it if I wanted this location to make the cut. Which I did because I enjoyed winning.
“Does he want me to say a ghost killed Lisa Boyd?”
“That would be cool,” she answered without missing a beat. “But probably not. The place Lisa died is said to be haunted, though, so… They run a ghost tour and investigation. I got you and Don Juan tickets, so you can scope out the place after hours.”
“What?” She hadn’t told me about this before I agreed. We never discussed after-hours ghost investigations with a hot guy.
She kept right on talking. “I’m emailing you the information now.”
The Don Juan in question knocked on my closed room door. “Are you okay walking to the interview location?”
I whipped my head in that direction, feeling my anxiety rise to the surface again. “Yes.”
“Is that him?” Delaney asked. “He sounds hot.”
“Dee, I’ve got to go,” I yelled more than said into the phone.
My finger hovered over the disconnect button as she yelled out, “Send pictures!”
“Be careful of the step,” Reed said with a half-grin as I walked out of the room toward the small table by the front door.
Against my will, my cheeks heated again. I had to get a grip. He was one freaking hot guy, and I wasn’t a teenager. You’d think I’d gotten stuck in puberty or something. I stopped at the small lip in the flooring separating the two rooms and made a small jump over it. Like a dork. Ugh.
Why did God make me so embarrassing? I wanted to be cool just one time. Someone fun and sexy. The life of the party. I dropped the overstuffed notebook from Delaney with case clues on the small table and took out the packet for today’s interview. I had a meeting with one of the local reporters who tracked Lisa’s case. Thankfully, Delaney wrote down the questions she wanted me to ask. She’d also given me a hand-held voice recorder to use after learning I didn’t know shorthand.
Did anyone know shorthand? It’s not like I missed the lessons on it in college or anything.
“We’re meeting the reporter from WJCL at The Double-Wide Diner,” Reed said with one eyebrow a tic higher than the other. It was an interesting name for a café, but I trusted Delaney. “But it’s within walking distance, so I thought we’d enjoy the weather.”
“It’s snowing in Michigan this week, so I am all for enjoying the Georgia weather.” I also appreciated that he’d given our approach some thought rather than making me figure it all out. Especially since I hadn’t given it any.
We walked out of the Airbnb together and turned to the right on Broad Street, walking in silence for a few blocks until we hit Bay Street. Reed turned left, and I followed, letting my gaze wander to the distance where we had a view of the water beyond. “It’s too bad they have that apartment building there. It blocks the view.”
Reed turned his head to see where I pointed. “Yeah, you’d have a clear view in both directions. It’s a pity.”
We walked on without either of us consulting a map. I hoped he knew the way because I was blindly following. “You know your way in the city well. Have you been here before?”
He smiled as I struggled to keep up with his steps in the crowded street and then slowed a little. “No, just Google and the government teaching me to always be aware.”
Oh. That filled in a few bodyguard type gaps. “Were you in the army?”
That time, he outright chuckled. “Navy. The SEALs.”
“Wow, that’s great, but why is a SEAL contracting with a true crime podcast?” I barely understood the need for a bodyguard. I definitely didn’t see requiring one with that much experience. Where did Delaney plan to send me?
Reed ran his hand through his dark hair and shook his head. “It’s complicated. The podcast signed a contract with a service out of Maine. My buddy got me the gig. It’s temporary to see how I like it.”
The intense blast of a loud exploding crash slammed through the air. My feet left the ground as I jumped in fear. Reed switched his body to the side, turning himself around to protect me against whatever happened behind us.
3
“What the hell was that?” I asked in a totally reasonable high-pitched voice. Who could blame a girl for freaking out when she almost died?
Cars buzzed past us on the busy street. Reed’s shoulder relaxed, and he turned back in the direction we’d been heading. “Must be construction noise or someone at the docks somewhere.”
