Mad, Bad and Blonde - Cathie Linz [75]
“Sounds rough.”
“It was no picnic, sir.”
“I told you not to call me . . . Oh, I get it. You don’t want to talk about it the same way I don’t want to be called sir.”
Caine nodded. “That’s right.”
“Message received loud and clear.” Buddy took a sip of his Guinness. “I couldn’t help but notice that you always choose a seat facing the exit and also against a wall if you can manage it.”
“Old habits are hard to break.”
“Yeah, I sat in that seat myself for a long time, but I figured you need it now more than I do.”
“It’s not a matter of need.” At Buddy’s look, he said, “Okay, maybe it is. Let’s change the subject.”
“So I understand you’re living in an apartment in Oak Park now.”
“I don’t live there. I’m staying there temporarily.” A Marine buddy had lent him the place while he was deployed. It was furnished, barely. A black leather recliner, large flat-screen HD TV, a bed and a table. It served Caine’s purposes perfectly. “How did you know where I’m staying?”
“I told you, I’m a darn good PI. I also know that former Force Recon Marines with your skills and knowledge are in high demand by private security contractors willing to pay big bucks. I’m assuming you took the job with King Investigations because of your father, but do you plan on staying with them once this case is solved?”
“I don’t know.”
“Haven’t thought that far ahead, huh?”
“Affirmative.” Caine had a hard enough time dealing with the present without dealing with the future. Time enough to worry about that after he cleared his dad’s name.
Wednesday night Faith sat on the floor of her condo, her feet tucked beneath her yoga style as she ate beef and broccoli from her favorite Chinese takeout while reviewing the progress made on Karl Hunter’s case. She was burned out from investigating her father’s situation and needed a break. Besides, if Karl’s case was the cause of her father’s changed behavior, then the sooner she completed Karl’s case, the better.
In between bites of food, she wrote on the yellow pad perched on her bent knee. She could have put her notes on her BlackBerry, but when she was really focused, she reverted to pen and paper.
1. Weldon thinks/believes Karl is innocent.
2. Weldon thinks/believes someone is following him besides me and besides Caine.
3. Caine sleeps with me then doesn’t call me for three days.
Faith crossed that one out. “Focus,” she told herself. “He slept in the same bed. We didn’t have sex. And, yes, he still hasn’t contacted me since we made out in his Mustang on Monday night. That has nothing to do with Karl Hunter’s case. Okay, it does a little, because Caine is Karl’s son. But, really, sex has no place in this equation. Stick to the facts.”
4. Weldon hired PI buddy to prove Karl’s innocence.
5. Buddy and Weldon don’t like Nolan Parker.
6. Nolan jealous of Karl. Why didn’t he invite us in when I interviewed him? That was weird. And who was tweaking the curtains inside his home, watching us?
7. Nolan calls Fred Jr. and asks for a meeting. Is Nolan paranoid, or is someone really tapping his phone? Is it Buddy?
8. Fred Jr. thinks his phone is being tapped because he’s suing the research company for giving his dad a brain tumor that killed him.
9. What is Abs’s connection, if any?
10. Why does Caine kiss me in his car and not call me?
Faith vehemently crossed those words out, almost ripping the paper in the process.
She was supposed to be reviewing Karl Hunter’s case, not reviewing every time she’d made out with Caine. She needed to stay focused here. What kind of investigator was she to allow herself to be distracted?
She knew what an old pro like Buddy would say. “Buckle up, buttercup,” he’d growl in that grumpy voice of his. “Brooding is for amateurs.”
“You know the Cure Cancer Charity Ball is this Saturday night, right?” her dad said at work Thursday afternoon.
Faith had actually forgotten all about it.
She must have displayed her panicked face, because her dad said, “Don’t even think about trying to back out. I’ve reserved a table for eight. Your mother and I, Dave and Megan,