“Keep it easy and natural, and—”
“And just remember my background,” Chloe finished. “I worked with our local experts, some who went under for a few years! Of course, we need to study all the events Alonzo has just told us about. The people—”
“Yeah, honestly, I wish we had been part of this investigation from the start, but it is what it is. You do know you’re free to refuse this kind of case, right?” he asked her.
She nodded. “Doesn’t do much for your career.”
“Now, that’s true, if you’re worried that it may not do much for your life.”
She shrugged. “I have been in a few back alleys that might not have done much for my chances of a life. It’s just that...”
“On board the ship, backup isn’t a few minutes away.” He paused and looked away for a moment.
“You’ve been in a situation where a few minutes was a few too many?” she asked softly.
“We all have, right? That’s the name of the game. Anyway, I promise, we will discuss every move we make, and one of us is never that many steps from the other.”
“Gotcha.”
“So, study time!”
They sat on opposite sides of the desk in the room, heads down at their separate computers.
“Three states, but border states,” Chloe murmured, looking over her screen at Wesley. “And now, a major case, supposedly murder-suicide. Back in Florida, Broward County. Six dead including Jane Sewell, who supposedly killed the others and then herself. Perfect shots on a roomful of people!”
He nodded. “All related to computers, new technology—and big money.”
“I don’t see any problem at all associating these events—but besides what they all did, what could connect them when they’re spread out like that?”
“The tech departments have been making deep dives into company records and victims’ social media—they should be sending us everything they’ve discovered within the hour. Maybe we use the time until then to work on ourselves,” Wesley suggested.
“Oh, yes, right!”
She switched screens, seeking her own new biography.
“Well, hm. I am from Florida, Broward County, instead of Miami-Dade, but no surprise that I might have gone to the University of Miami. Background Norwegian on my mom’s side, confused Northern European on my dad’s. And now...”
“Now, my dear, darling wife, you’ve just opened your own business, promoting artists and their work, and you desperately need to improve your computer skills,” Wesley said.
“That’s not a stretch at all!” she told him. “And you, my darling, just what is it that you do for a living?”
“Mine is cooler,” he told her.
“Cooler than art?” she demanded.
He shrugged, grinning. “I have a dive boat. I take people out to the reefs off Islamorada, where, of course, we’re living these days. You are familiar, I take it?” he asked.
She grinned. “Oh, yeah. Speaking of cool, I used to love to go to Tavernier and head out on Captain Slate’s Creature Feature.”
He nodded. “Diving down, having nurse sharks blowing bubbles with you atop your head, stroking rays as they swim by... Yeah, cool.”
“So, you’ve done that, too?” she asked.
“Came from the opposite end. I’m one of those kids who grew up in Key West.”
“Wait, of course, I know that!” she told him. “Your father was a cop! A cop in Key West!”
Wesley nodded. “Yep. And let’s see, hm. I do my own research, too, when I’m being assigned a strange case with a... stranger. Your mom taught at Nova. Your dad had been career military, retired, but took on a job with a security company and received a special commendation from the company and the country when he foiled a bank robbery.”
