Page 66 of First Touch

“She said she was going to get Interpol involved?”

“Yeah. I even told that to the Coast Guard. They said no one else reported that and it was just hearsay coming from me with no one to back it up. And even if they could back it up, her own words weren’t reliable because of her chemical state.”

But if what Chris said was true, if Missy really had tried to get authorities involved, and if I was right about Reeve being a Vilanakis – and I knew I was – then there was suddenly a very real motive for her to die.

I needed to sit down.

As I slid back into the banquette, Chris went on. “I told them about the fighting too. Everyone verified that and Reeve still got off. I used to think he probably paid his way out of a charge, but now I’m wondering if he didn’t use the mob to strongarm the investigation.”

It was exactly what I was wondering. “Any chance any of the mafia had anything to do with her death and not Reeve?”

“No way. They all left earlier in the day. That was one of the things he and Missy fought about. She wanted them to stay; he wanted them gone. He won. They flew out on a copter before noon.”

“She wanted them to stay? Doesn’t it seem like if Missy had info on them, she would have wanted them to leave?”

“Hmm.” He frowned. “Maybe she was planning to lead Interpol to them on the island. With them gone, she might not have known where to send them.”

“Yeah. Good point.” Really, there wasn’t enough to make solid conclusions, but there was more than enough to have pursued a prosecution. Well, enough if the police knew about the mob connection. It sure appeared like they didn’t. If they did, they’d definitely been bought off.

“You know, it did seem like Reeve’s friendship with those guys was strained after. I saw a group of them talking to him outside the church on the day of her funeral. He told them they needed to leave. At the time, I assumed it was because he was done with the drug scene. Now, though —”

“You think maybe he was distancing himself from them so that his ties to them wouldn’t be discovered.” I finished for him.

“Uh-huh.”

We sat quiet for a minute. I was sullen and processing. Chris, on the other hand, seemed to be excited about the new angle on an old mystery. When he was excited, he talked. That had to be nipped in the bud, and now. “You can’t talk about this, Chris. You know that, right?”

“What do you mean? We have to tell someone.”

“No, we can’t.” After I said it, I realized that wasn’t going to work. He was too determined to have some sort of justice for Missy. “I mean, I already have an investigator on the case. For my friend. I’ll fill him in with all this. Then, I’m telling you, he’d say to lay low about it. Any spreading of this will draw the wrong attention.”

He ran a hand over his face. “I don’t know.”

“Chris, trust me on this. This isn’t something you want to be involved in. And my friend could be endangered from anything we say.” I thought of something that would speak to him personally. “Think of your career.”

“Yeah,” he conceded, hesitantly. “Okay. You’re right. You’ll update me if anything happens?”

“If I hear anything. But it’s a slow process and, honestly, it might never go anywhere.”

“Justice for Missy isn’t happening as a closed case either. At least this gives her a shot.”

Don’t count on it. I swallowed the last of my water, swallowing with it my guilt for deceiving a friend.

I set the empty bottle on the table and looked at my watch. I needed to get going so I would be ready for my dinner with Reeve.

I’d just opened my mouth to announce my departure when Chris said, “I’m sure you have other things to do. But before you go, want to get naked?”

“Chris!” I wasn’t just disgusted with his timing. “You have a fiancée.”

He smirked. “I had a girlfriend the last time we banged.”

“You didn’t tell me.”

“It didn’t come up.”

“No. I don’t want to get naked. I won’t do that to another woman.” I stood up, grabbing my purse from the bench next to me. “Besides, I really do have to go.” And sex with Chris was not something that was ever happening again, not just because of Reeve’s appearance in my life.

Fuck. Reeve. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do about him now that I knew what I did. It wouldn’t be figured out here with Chris, though.