“I hope you haven’t been waiting long. It took me longer to get away than I planned.”
“You’re fine. I’ve only been here about five minutes.”
“Good. So, where are we going to eat? I’m starving.”
“How does pizza sound?”
Her chin bobbed once. “I like pizza.”
I tipped my head toward my truck. “Hop in, then. There’s a great place not too far from here. They sell it by the slice, so we won’t have to wait long.”
“You don’t have to tell me twice.” She hurried around me toward the car. “I haven’t eaten since lunch, and that was just a sandwich.”
“You were that busy?” I asked as we got in the truck.
“Yeah. It’s tourist season.” She buckled up.
I did the same and started the engine, then pulled out of the space I’d backed into. She wasn’t wrong about that. Even here in Juneau, there were more people than usual. It was great for the businesses that relied on tourist revenue, but it would be nice when things weren’t quite so crowded again.
“But I don’t want to talk about crazy tourists.” She waved a hand before settling it into her lap. “I have news.”
“Oh?” Chancing a quick glance her way, I quirked an eyebrow.
“Claire stopped in for coffee this morning. She quizzed Ozzie last night and wrangled some more information out of him. Apparently, the woman was wearing a shirt with shoulder pads and stirrup pants. That narrows our search to women who went missing in the eighties and early nineties.”
“That’s a manageable list.” That cut the number of names down to just a handful.
“I know. Although I’m not sure why we’re still looking. Ozzie undoubtedly has the same information.” She bit the corner of her lip and glanced out the window.
“I’m sure he does, but maybe we can help him narrow it down some. I know with a murder investigation, it’ll be all hands on deck, but the department is still small. It can’t hurt to have a couple extra sets of eyes.” I turned the corner.
“True. I’m not sure that’s the way he’ll see it, though.” A soft, impish smile lit her face. “Claire will get him on our side, I’m sure.”
I chuckled, making another turn. “I bet she will.” Mina’s café reno wasn’t my first run-in with Claire Holmes. Because our jobs were related, we’d met before. The woman was tenacious. I could imagine how that would serve her to get what she wanted from her boyfriend.
It didn’t hurt that Claire was a beautiful woman. Detective Quartermaine didn’t stand a chance with her combination of beauty and brains.
I spared a quick glance at the woman beside me.
Claire’s friend was a lot like her in that department. An enticing blend of beauty and intellect. One I found quite captivating.
Returning my attention to the road, I saw the sign for the pizza place up ahead and maneuvered my truck into a parkingspace on the street. After cutting the engine, I hopped out, meeting Mina on the sidewalk in front of the shop.
“We’re not even inside and my mouth is already watering.” She tossed me a quick smile and headed for the door.
“It tastes as good as it smells too.” Holding the door for her, I followed her inside, and we got in line.
The queue in front of us was short. In minutes, we each had a giant slice of pizza and a drink. I spotted a table near the window and headed for it.
“This place is cute.” Mina set her drink on the table, then sank into the black metal chair. “How did you find it?”
“My dad, actually. He brought me here one day when I was a teenager. It was summer, so I was on one of the construction crews as a grunt. We came here for lunch.” I sat down across from her, picking up my pizza slice. “I’m here a lot. The pizza is good and it’s a quick meal.”
“It certainly smells good.” She picked up her pizza, folding it in half to take a bite.
I about swallowed my tongue as her pretty pink lips wrapped around the end of the slice. Something hot and needy unfurled in my belly as her eyelids fluttered closed and she let out a soft moan of pleasure.
Sweet Jesus. Dinner was a bad idea.
