“I didn’t stomp on his heart!”
Tariq held his hands up in surrender. “Hey, I saw the tread marks.”
“Nonsense. Jake was as over me as I was over him. I’m glad he settled down. I remember he wanted a big family.”
“I always thought you would have kids, for some reason.”
“Why is that?” Harper said, feeling a pang.
“No reason. I just assumed you would.” He played with a napkin. After a beat, he said: “Speaking of dating, I have something to confess.”
“Uh-oh. Is this a two-drink confession? Because I don’t think I want any more of this wine.”
“You should be fine.”
“Good, then. Spill.”
“Delilah and I dated. Years ago, and very briefly.”
“Delilah? Our Delilah?”
“How many Delilahs do you know?”
“But…why didn’t you recognize her the other night?”
He blew out a long breath and glanced around the bar before bringing his gaze back to hers. “You know what that was like. She was caked with dirt, and I was so focused on helping her that I didn’t even look at her face. And frankly, it didn’t occur to me—Delilah was such a force of nature, I couldn’t imagine her becoming anyone’s victim.”
“How come you didn’t mention this before?
“I— It was a long time ago, shortly after I finished my degree and started at the aquarium. We haven’t been in touch for years now. I honestly didn’t think it was pertinent.”
“Okay…And what’s the other reason?” Harper suspected Tariq was holding something back.
Tariq looked uncomfortable. “Also, and perhaps more importantly…I have a record.”
Harper froze, a handful of popcorn halfway to her mouth. “A criminal record?”
“No, an old ABBA album,” he said, lobbing a piece of popcorn at her. “Of course, a criminal record.”
“You’re kidding me.”
He shook his head. “Not my finest moment.”
“What did you do?”
“Grand larceny. Stole a car and crashed it into a building. The court records were sealed because I was a juvenile at the time, just fourteen.”
“This was when you were living on the military base?”
He nodded. “I was a pretty screwed-up kid.”
“But that was a long time ago. Surely that can’t be held against you now.”
“One never knows. I just…” He trailed off with anothershrug. “Mostly I didn’t want it to muddy the investigation, get the authorities off track. I didn’t see how it could possibly matter anymore.”
“I get the feeling Detective Serrano didn’t see it that way.”
Tariq let out a mirthless chuckle. “One might say that.” His smile faded as he gazed into his whiskey.
