Sadie drove toward a parking space in front of Dark Alley Investigations. It was an elegant, historical but unassuming building. She wasn’t sure what she expected but this wasn’t it. Something bigger. Taller. And more corporate. The white stone and trimmed, tinted windows gave no hint of the grisly crimes this agency solved. It could be a department store or an upscale boutique.
Two men walked out of the front as she parked, both stopping when they saw her car. She climbed out, her spiky boots giving her even more height as she straightened and started walking to the sidewalk. She’d forgone her flannel for this meeting. Maybe her meeting with Steven had inspired her to dress in a way that would make her father cringe. Sexy. He’d call it something else, but Sadie didn’t dress inappropriately. She just looked good.
The big Swiss-looking man stared without blinking, giving her an unexpected spark. He liked what he saw, apparently. It had been a long time since a man made her feel this way, and with only a look. She found herself also compelled to stare, taken in by his Viking good looks. His thick blond hair waved slightly in a breeze and she could see the brilliance of his blue eyes from here. She barely noticed the other man, who put on sunglasses, his military short black hair and a dark suit made him look like a star in Men in Black.
Is this what all the Dark Alley detectives looked like? My-oh-my, was she in for a treat. Before she let her excitement get too carried away, she scanned the area as she always did when she went out in public, checking for anything suspicious. She saw nothing unusual. A few people walked along the street and didn’t pay her any attention. A man glanced over at her car but after a few seconds moved on. A few cars passed on the street.
She started walking around the front of the car when she noticed an approaching car slow. Both the driver and the passenger were watching her. That caused her some alarm. Had they recognized her? She stopped, wondering if she should get back into her car. She looked for a place to get out of sight. Only the Dark Alley Investigations building would give her that.
She started to turn when she saw the man in the passenger seat of the dark sedan draw a gun.
She screamed and tried to duck for cover, but the man fired and a bullet slammed through her. The impact sent her jolting backward. She hit the ground hard, vaguely aware of the Viking rushing to her and his partner firing back at the passing car before everything went black.
Sitting on an uncomfortable hospital room chair with his legs outstretched, elbows on the armrests and fingers teepeed together, Jasper Roesch watched Sadie Moreno sleep. Rest in unconsciousness, more like. She’d gone through twelve hours of surgery and a day of intensive care before the doctors rolled her into a recovery room. She’d survive her gunshot wound, which had narrowly missed her heart.
The tall, slender Spanish-looking woman had long manicured nails. The nursing staff had put her ample head of jet-black hair up. Her Angelina Jolie lips were pale and dark circles shadowed the skin beneath her eyes. But even the signs of her close brush with death didn’t diminish her beauty.
Three knocks on the door brought him turning to see a well-dressed man with neatly trimmed and combed brown hair and nickel-gray eyes.
“Jasper Roesch from Dark Alley Investigations?” the man queried.
Jasper stood and faced the man. “That’s me. And you are?”
“Steven Truscott.” He stepped forward. “Sadie’s security officer.” After a brief shake of hands, the man looked over at Sadie. “She said she was going to hire one of you.”
“I figured she had a reason for showing up at DAI.” And that reason ended up shooting her. “How did you find out she was here?”
“The doctor called her home and her estate manager notified me.” Steven said. “Your agency called before the hospital. The estate manager passed the number on to me. Kadin Tandy said you were here watching over Sadie until I arrived.”
The founder of DAI had let Jasper know Sadie’s security officer would be coming to the hospital to explain a homeless man’s murder case. He’d thought it odd someone like that would show up rather than a family member.
“I was assured her safety would be your top priority,” Steven said. “I can’t be with her all the time.”
“Where did you come from?”
“Sadie runs an organization for the homeless. She has three facilities, one in New York, one in Dallas and headquarters in San Francisco. I work intermittently at her headquarters.”
“Her address is in Wyoming.”
“She works remotely.”
He did, too, if he only worked intermittently. Many people worked from their homes, but something about this didn’t add up. Sadie worked from her home but the one person who came to see her at the hospital is her head of security who works remotely as she did.
“She prefers reclusiveness,” Steven added, as though he felt he needed an excuse. Jasper would have questioned him further if he hadn’t turned a grave face to Sadie.
“I worried something like this would happen,” Steven said. “She’s been after the police to catch Bernie’s killer. I kept telling her to stay out of the investigation. A woman like her stands out in a crowd.”
Who wouldn’t be after police to catch the criminal who’d killed someone close to them? Bernie, he presumed, was one of her homeless men and the victim of murder that had brought her to DAI’s door.
“Is there a reason she should stay out of the investigation?” Did she just want to avoid the public? Jasper hadn’t heard of her so she couldn’t be so famous for that to be a threat.
“As I said, she prefers to remain reclusive.”
The more he talked with this man, the more suspicious he became. He questioned a lot of criminals, many of them experts at lying. Steven was no expert, at least not when it came to Sadie. Maybe her being shot had caught him off guard.
“Has anyone notified her family?” he asked.
“I’m the closest she has to family. Her father passed several years ago. She was his sole heir.” He eyed Jasper as though sharing a piece of gossip. “Holdings in an oil and refining corporation.” So, Sadie had inherited her wealth, but hid herself from the rest of civilization in Wyoming. Why?
“What about Bernie King?” Jasper asked. “Who is he to her?” For Sadie to hire DAI to investigate his murder meant she cared more than she might if Bernie was just another one of her homeless people.
“Bernie is a special friend.”
Movement from the hospital bed shifted Jasper’s concentration. Sadie began to open her eyes. He went to stand beside her, Steven going to the opposite side of the bed.
“Steven?”
“Yes, Sadie, I’m here.”
Steven took her hand and held it while Sadie groggily smiled up at him. “I thought you went home.”
“I did. But then someone from Dark Alley Investigations called and told me what happened.”
