Carlos turned slightly. “This is where I act surprised that I ran into you.”
“Sure.” She rolled her eyes. “You hadno ideaI’d be here, but you came anyway. Why’s that?”
“When do you get off work?” he asked, dodging her question. “Wanna get a pizza?”
She set off along the route most visitors walked, her keys jingling on her belt. “I don’t like pizza anymore.”
Carlos shrugged the shoulders of his jacket. “You really expect me to believe that?”
“I gave up pizza for…religious reasons?”
“That’s more likely, but I still don’t buy it. You’d give up something you might actually be able to live without.” He kept pace with her. “I spoke with the detectives about the case.”
She glanced over then. “Isn’t it an ongoing investigation? I could be a suspect for all you know, and you’re going to share details of the case with me?”
“Huh.” Carlos glanced at her. “You’re right.”
“Happens more than you’d think.”
He snorted under his breath. “I figured since you’re family…”
Right. “Don’t get complacent.”
“Because you’re a killer?” He shook his head. “I know you’re not. But you’re right that I’d get in trouble for telling you information about the case.”
And Tony had tried to tell her the cause of death. As if she needed any of that information. For some reason, they all thought she wanted to hear it. “Can I get back to work?”
“Are you on tomorrow?”
She shook her head. “I have two days off.”
“Will you take a drive with me in the morning? I have some information on Luci and the place I think she might have been seen last.”
Was that the real reason he’d come here? The worry was clear on his face, at least to her. She knew him better than most people, given how closely they’d grown up together. She’d thought?—
Nope.
“You don’t need my help, Carlos.”
His expression didn’t change. As if he would ever admit that he needed her help? He probably thought she might be able to convince Luci to come with them if he couldn’t. There was a greater chance they’d be able to get this done in one trip.
Which meant less time spent with him.
“I’ll go with you,” she relented.
“Text me your address, and I’ll pick you up.”
Eliana sighed, walking away to continue her rounds.
You’d better be there, Luci.
She was going to get it through Luci Ryson’s head that it was time to come home. What she wasn’t going to do was worry about a murder that had nothing to do with her. Just because the staff at the Shrine were taking bets, and people seemed insistent on telling her about the police investigation, didn’t mean she would suddenly turn into her mother, no matter if the Board of Governors had given her a ceremonial dagger.
Eliana had a reason for being here, and she intended to stick with it.
Chapter Seven
Carlos noted that the name plate on the door buzzer read EHBJ. Eliana Hope Banbury Jaxton. Not Hope Adams, as she was in the museum. Maybe she paid for this place with cash, trying to stay under the radar. That would make a whole lot of sense.
