“You ever have a problem here with women being drugged?” Jonah asked her.
“Nothin’ like that’s ever happened here before,” Lou said. “The owner’s real strict. Anybody caught with drugs is out of a job.”
“Good to know.”
Lou left to wait on another customer, leaving Jonah to enjoy his drink.
“Were Lou and the bartender both here the night Dean was killed?” Jonah asked.
“They were both here. They work the early shift so they’re usually here when we come in after work.”
“Any other employees here that night?”
“There was another cocktail waitress working. Her name’s Vicky. But now that I think about it, Lou was the one who waited on us that night.”
Jonah leaned back in his chair, stretching those long legs out in front of him, his eyes roaming over the customers scattered around the room, missing nothing.
April shifted in her seat. “Something happened today that I wanted to mention.”
His gaze sliced to hers, dark and disturbing, making her heart beat faster. Just looking at him made her think of sex. Was she really that needy? Or was it Jonah Wolfe?
“What happened?” he asked.
“I stopped at the office and talked to my boss. He thinks I should accept the blame for the murder, just say it was self-defense and make it all go away. He insinuated I’d lose my job if I didn’t. I understand that would be best for his political ambitions, but...”
“But...?”
“But I’m not sure he didn’t have a different motive, something more than just winning the election.”
“You think Rydell could have been involved in Dean’s murder?”
“When I got home, I did a little digging. So far I haven’t found anything that would connect the two of them outside of work.” She crossed her legs and the skirt of her black sheath rode up again, attracting Jonah’s attention.
For an instant before he shuttered the look, a hot gleam flashed in his eyes. April’s stomach contracted and desire unfolded like butterfly wings in her stomach.
She couldn’t remember the last time a man had attracted her so strongly. Maybe no man ever had.
Jonah took a drink of his scotch. “You’re in over your head, April. Murder’s a dangerous game. You’d be wise to let me do the digging. You never know where something like this could lead.”
“I need to know what happened. I can’t get on with my life until I find out the truth.”
“Then we’d better get going.” Jonah shoved back his chair and stood up, reached a hand down to help her to her feet. A tingle moved up her arm. “I’ll walk you to your car,” he said, and began guiding her toward the door.
Walking beside him as they made their way through the bar, April felt feminine in a way that rarely happened. She reminded herself how dangerous it was to let her attraction grow and pulled her hand away.
The air outside was warm and humid, only a sliver of moon overhead. Not wanting to retrace her steps the night of the murder, she had parked her car in front.
“So what do you think?” she asked as they paused for a moment on the sidewalk. “Did you learn anything useful in there?”
“Maybe. I think we may have narrowed down the list of who might have drugged you. I don’t think it was one of the Derby employees.”
“You don’t?”
“I didn’t see any indication. The owner runs a clean operation and none of the staff showed any signs of nerves when they talked to you. That leaves the five people from your office who were sitting at your table. Which one encouraged you to take Dean home?”
She tried to think back. Her memories were clear until the moment she had climbed into her car. “I don’t know. Everyone seemed to think it was a good idea. I don’t remember who suggested it first.”
Jonah’s cell phone rang as they crossed the sidewalk to the curb where her vehicle was parked, a three-year-old BMW 320 sedan. Good for work yet small enough to feel sporty.
