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“Not yet. Officer Norton was trailing a little too close for comfort. Made it hard to walk.”

The smile closed down, but the look in the eyes was real. “You’re a woman and with that black hair probably part something darker than the rest of you looks.”

“My mother was Mexican, but most people don’t spot it.”

“You’re in a section of the country where there’s a lot of mixing going on.” He didn’t smile when he said it. He looked serious and a little less young. “The people that want to notice will.”

“I could be part dark Italian,” I said.

A small smile that time. “We don’t have a lot of dark Italians in New Mexico.”

“I haven’t been here long enough to notice one way or another.”

“Your first time to this part of the country?”

I nodded.

“What do you think so far?”

“I’ve seen a hospital and part of this house. I think it’s too early to form an opinion.”

“If we get a breather while you’re here, I’d love to show you some of the sights.”

I blinked at him. Maybe the boyish charm wasn’t just a cop technique. Maybe he was, gasp, flirting.

Before I could think of an answer, Edward came up behind us in his best good ol’ boy charm. “Detective Ramirez, good to see you again.”

They shook hands, and Ramirez wasted a smile on Edward that looked just as genuine as Edward’s. Since I knew Edward was play-acting, it was sort of unnerving how similar the two expressions were.

“Good to see you, too, Ted.” He turned back to me. “Please, continue looking around. Ted’s told me a lot about you, and I hope for all our sakes that you’re as good as he says you are.”

I glanced at Edward. He just smiled at me. I frowned. “Well, I’ll try not to disappoint anybody.” I walked back out into the living room trailed by Detective Ramirez. He gave me more room to maneuver than Norton had, but he watched me. Maybe he did want a date, but he wasn’t watching me like a potential date. He was watching me like a cop to see what I did, how I reacted. It made me think better of him that he was professional.

Edward had lowered his sunglasses enough to give me a look as I passed by him. He was smiling, almost grinning at me. The look said it all. He was amused at Ramirez’ flirting. I flipped him off, covering the gesture with my other hand so only he would see it.

It made him laugh, and the sound seemed at home here in this bright place. It was a place meant for laughter. The silence filled in behind his laughter like water closing over a stone, until the sound vanished into a profound quiet that was more than quiet.

I stood in the middle of the bright living room, and it was as if it were a display home waiting for the real estate agent to come through with a tour of potential home owners. The house was so new, it felt like a freshly unwrapped present. But there were things that no real estate agent would have allowed. A newspaper was spilled over the pale wood coffee table with the business section folded into fourths. The business section had New York Times written across the top of it, but some of the other pieces said Los Angeles Tribune. A business person recently moved from Los Angeles, maybe.

There was a large colored photo pushed to one corner of the coffee table. It showed an older couple, fiftyish, with a teenage boy. They were all smiling and touching each other in that posed casual way photos often use. They looked happy and relaxed together, though you can never really tell with posed photos. So easy to fool the camera.

I looked around the room and found smaller photos scattered throughout on numerous white shelves that took up almost all available wall space. The photos sat among souvenirs, mostly with an American Indian theme. The smaller more candid shots were just as relaxed, just as smiling. A happy, prosperous family. The boy and man, tanned and grinning on a boat with the sea in the background and a huge fish between them. The woman and three small girls covered in cookie dough and matching Christmas aprons. There