Bailed Out (The Anna Albertini Files #2) - Rebecca Zanetti Page 0,34

get it.”

“Are you moving back here?” Sure, I was curious.

“I’m thinking about it.” She ate more of her sandwich. “I’m here cleaning out my Grandma’s condo since she passed on, and now that I’m here, it feels like home. Much nicer than the city.”

My heart jerked for her. “I’m sorry about your Grandma.” I hadn’t heard. The idea of losing one of mine made everything inside me hurt.

“Thanks,” she said softly. “Me, too.” Then she finished her lunch. “Okay, I can’t help it. The gossip mill is crazy. Did you really find Aiden and your sister standing over the dead body of Danny Pucci? I dated him, you know. Before I started dating Aiden in high school.”

I swallowed quickly. “You did? Did the two of you stay in contact?”

She took a sip of her drink. “Yeah. You know. We were Facebook friends and messaged once in a while. In fact, he’d said he was coming home, and we made arrangements to meet up in person.”

I leaned toward her, my body going on alert. “Did he say why he was coming back?”

She lowered her voice. “Yeah. You first.”

Darn it. Fine. “I can’t confirm anything, but rumors are usually true. You know that Tessa didn’t kill Danny, though.”

“I don’t see Aiden murdering anybody like that, either,” she said quietly.

I nodded. “Totally agree.”

She finished her lunch. “That’s quite a conundrum, right? Finding the guy you’re dating and your sister over the dead body?” She wrapped up the garbage. “Only you, Albertini.”

I snorted. “Yeah. No kidding.” I finished my salad. “Tell me about Pucci.”

She took lipstick out of her handbag and swiped a deep maroon across her lips. “Danny had been in trouble in Nevada and came home for a fresh start. He didn’t say what had happened, but he did say he had a line on a good job here. Something about the Lordes. I think he might’ve been joining the club.”

Had she been hoping to see Pucci or Aiden when she’d shown up at the Lorde’s apartment building? My expression must’ve looked inquisitive because she blushed.

“Yeah, I was looking for either one of them. It’d be nice to see a friendly face.” She took a deep breath.

I could understand. For the first time, I smiled. The past was the past, and part of being a teenager was making mistakes. “I can be a friendly face, too. Welcome home, Jolene.”

I balanced the two lattes carefully as I smiled at the cop handling the reception area at the police station and strode up the stairs to Pierce’s office. A ruckus came from the farthest interrogation room, so I dodged into his office to stay out of the way in case the scuffle made it down the hallway.

He looked up from a smattering of papers across his thick wooden desk. His eyes were bloodshot, his sandy-blond hair mussed, and his hands broad on the papers. An instant smile tilted his lips as he caught sight of the drinks.

Taking that as an invitation, I strode inside and kicked the door shut behind me with my black pump. “Howdy.”

“Hi.” His gaze didn’t move from the drink.

I handed over the latte and took one of the vacant leather chairs across from him, more than ready to drink my second one of the day.

He tipped his head back and drank rapidly. Then he set it down, rolled his shoulders in his pressed white dress shirt, and kicked back in his chair. “Why are you bringing me coffee?”

I had never been a game player. At least not with people. X-Box was another story. “I need to know where you are with my sister’s case.” I took a drink of my hot latte, which was slightly better than the cold one had been for lunch.

“You know I can’t really talk to you about it,” he said, watching me.

I studied him right back and paused in my interrogation. “You look tired, Grant,” I said. There were new lines fanning out from his eyes, which were a bit bloodshot.

“When I moved to Timber City, I figured it’d be a slower pace than Los Angeles,” he said, drinking more of the latte. “So far, I’ve been wrong.”

I think it was the first time I’d actually seen Grant Pierce with his guard down. He was an interesting guy, and if my plate wasn’t full with Aiden Devlin and heartache right now, I might try to flirt a little bit. Instead, I went the safe and friendly route. “Have you taken a vacation since you’ve been