“Do you want a copy?” I asked.
She shook her head. “I don’t want Nick finding it.”
“Do you live together?”
They didn’t; she had her own place. Probably the same one I had once followed David to.
“Is he going through your things when he visits?”
“He might. If he’s suspicious.” She stood up, smoothing down the fur. “When will you start?”
“Tomorrow,” I said. “I’ll be at the Body Shop when they open in the morning, and I’ll tail him whenever he leaves. If he’s meeting someone, I’ll find out.”
Jacquie nodded. “Thank you.” She hesitated, her hand on the back of the chair. “I know this is awkward. But I didn’t know where else to go.”
I could have told her where to go, and I mean that in the most literal sense. There were plenty of other PIs in Nashville she could hire. I didn’t say so, mostly because I was grateful for the business. A paying client is a paying client.
And yes, there was a small part of me, one that had been very close to where she was now, that felt an unwelcome flicker of sympathy. I had been the other woman once too, after all.
“We appreciate the business,” I said instead. “I’ll be in touch.”
Jacquie nodded and turned toward the door. Zachary finally remembered how to move and scrambled to open it for her. She gave him a smile that undoubtedly made the fillings in his teeth melt, and then she undulated across the threshold and was gone, the door clicking shut behind her.
The silence that followed was deafening.
Rachel cleared her throat. “Are you OK?”
“I’m fine.” I handed the contract back across the desk. “File that. And give me a deposit slip.”
Rachel tucked the contract away in the file drawer and pulled out a deposit slip for the cash.
“It’s a case,” I added, as I accepted it from her. “One with a paying client.”
“It’s Jacquie Demetros,” Rachel said.
“Yes, thank you. I know that. But her money’s as good as anyone else’s, and God knows we can use it.”
I handed the envelope across the desk. “Count this and tell me how much it is.”
Rachel didn’t argue. She knew as well as I did that we needed every client we could lay our hands on. “You know that David might have given her this money?” she said instead as she pulled the wad of cash out of the envelope. Twenties, not hundreds, so it wasn’t as much as I had originally thought.
Edwina trotted over and dropped her squeaky toy at my feet, tail wagging. I picked it up and tossed it. She took off after it with single-minded determination. Life is simple when you’re a dog. There are no ex-husbands, and no mistresses, and no bills to pay.
“Then it’s a good thing it’s coming back to me,” I said, “isn’t it?”
Nobody said anything, and I added, “How much is there?”
She told me, and I finished filling out the deposit slip. “Who wants to go to the bank?”
Zachary raised his hand. “I’ll do it.”
I handed him the money and deposit slip. “Don’t lose it on the way.”
He promised he wouldn’t, and headed for the door. Edwina watched him go with a mournful look on her squashy face.
“So,” Rachel said, her tone deliberately casual. “Daniel has offered to show me the bar tomorrow after work. Do you want to come?”
Her tone fell somewhere between conciliatory and pleading, with maybe a bit of challenge thrown in.
