“Do you come here often?”
“Mostly on special occasions—if I have family in town or a reason to celebrate.”
“So, not very often, then.”
“Not as often as I’d like.”
Their beignets arrived, Darius suppressing a smile at the powdered sugar on Sasha’s upper lip. Then the eggs Benedict came.
“How am I supposed to eat all of this?”
Angelica smiled. “One delicious bite at a time.”
They were in the middle of breakfast and talking about the horrors of reconstituted scrambled eggs when Darius’ phone buzzed.
Deputy Marcs.
Hoping Sasha hadn’t seen the name, Darius excused himself and walked outside. “Marcs, what’s up?”
“I can’t reach Sasha, but I thought she’d want to know that karma just took a big bite out of Braun’s ass.”
Darius needed to hear this. “I’m listening.”
“The International Association of Sports Climbing just held a press conference in Bratislava. They reviewed the case and have stripped Braun of her title.”
Darius felt a savage stab of satisfaction at this news. “I’m glad to hear it.”
“The guy in charge said the record would state that no championship trophy was awarded for women this year, so Sasha’s winning streak is intact.”
Darius wasn’t sure Sasha cared about that, but he did. “Glad to hear it.”
“There’s more. They also banned Braun from competing for the rest of her life. She’s out of competitive sports climbing forever.”
That was as it should be. “Braun wanted fame, and she got it.”
“She sure as hell did. She wanted to be the world champion, but now she’ll be remembered only for trying to kill a competitor.”
“Thanks, Marcs. Anything else?”
“We compared Reiter’s prints to the ones lifted from the stolen SUV, and they were a match. So, there’s your hard evidence connecting him to the scene. The DA is working on a plea deal for Riggs, hoping to get him into drug treatment and keep him out of prison. He believes, as we do, that Riggs only called Watts to bail him out.”
“That’s all good news.”
“Tell Sasha we’re all thinking of her.”
“I will.”
When Darius returned to the table, he saw Sasha signing a menu for Angelica. He sat, spread his napkin on his lap. “Are you a fan of competitive sports climbing?”
“I am now.” Angelica beamed at Sasha. “I hope you feel better soon. And thank you, sir, for doing your job.”
“Thanks.” Mystified, Darius watched her walk away.
Sasha leaned closer, lowered her voice so she wouldn’t be overheard. “When you left the table, Angelica hurried over and told me she could see the faded bruises on my face. She asked if I felt safe with you, if I wanted someone to call the police. I had to tell her what happened. I didn’t want her thinking that you abused me. She told me she remembered seeing something about that on the news, and then she asked for my autograph.”
“Good for her.” Darius glanced across the room, saw Angelica carrying a tray of drinks to another table. “I wish more people had that kind of courage and attention to detail. It would save women’s lives.”
“What was the call about—work?”
