garnered a lot of attention from her college basketball days. But he was distracted by the information on Muller. Slanting him a glance, he said, “You’re in the film industry?”
The other man shrugged modestly. “Most is straight to video, but I do okay.” He nodded toward a shelving unit next to the TV. “I sent Mom a couple of my awards to keep for me. She got a kick out of them.”
“I had no idea you were so accomplished,” Risa was saying as Nate moved closer to examine the awards. Cut glass atop a brass footing, the name of the award was etched, along with Muller’s name and the title of the film. He stopped. Squinted harder. Then turned and pinned the other man with a look.
“A Peavy?”
“Actually I’ve won four. In recognition of cutting-edge industry excellence.”
“Uh-huh.” He was joined by Risa then. He slanted a glance at her. “You should get more detail from Jerry about possibly starring in one of his films. It could be the beginning of a promising new career for you.” She made a deprecating sound in response, before the cell in his pocket vibrated. Excusing himself, he stepped into the kitchen to take it. And the ensuing brief conversation with Morales had his earlier humor vanishing abruptly.
He reentered the living room to hear Risa saying, “I talked to the insurance company after I dropped you off. There’s a stipend available for temporary housing so you don’t have to rely on Jerry’s hospitality indefinitely.”
“I don’t mind a bit . . .” the man started.
“Jerry and I have already talked about it. He’ll be flying back to California in the next couple weeks.” The older woman stopped for a drink from the water glass on the table next to her. “He’ll rent Eleanor’s place to me for as long as I need it.” She aimed a hopeful look at her daughter. “He’s going to list it for sale. Maybe we could buy it with the insurance money. I feel as at home here in Eleanor’s house as I did in my own.”
“The policy only pays if you rebuild on the same property,” Risa began, before catching sight of Nate in the doorway. Something must have shown on his face because she crossed the room to her mother’s chair. “But I’ll call the agent again, see if there’s any wiggle room.” She bent to kiss her mother’s cheek. “Get some sleep. I’ll check in again tomorrow.”
“My offer’s still open.” Jerry followed them out into the kitchen. “Just give me a call if you want to stay, Risa.”
“Thanks, Jerry. But I’ll find something.”
She waited until they were in the car before looking at him. “What happened? One minute you’re making obnoxious cracks about me starting a new career as a porn star and the next you’re radiating impatience to get out of there. Who was on the phone?”
But as he backed out of the drive, Nate was momentarily distracted by her earlier words. “Wait a minute. You knew Muller was involved with porn videos?”
“You think I’d let my mother stay with someone I hadn’t completely checked out? I had some of my colleagues run a complete background on him before agreeing to let her stay there.”
“Because a director of porn videos is so trustworthy.” It was going to take a bit of time to wrap his mind around the logic of that one. He headed the car back in the direction of the station house.
“Sometime I’d be intrigued to hear how you happened to know the Peavy award was given for porn flicks”—he winced a little at that—“but, yeah. Other than his interesting choice of occupations, Muller checks out okay. And Hannah is comfortable with him. She’s met him before, when he came to visit his mother. Of course she’d be appalled if she knew what he did for a living, but her friend never did, I’m guessing. There’s no reason to tell her.”
He could feel her regard as he drove. “Was the call about the case or something personal? If you had plans for this evening, you should have taken me to my car. I could have gone to the hospital and to Jerry’s alone.”
Grim humor filled him. He knew what she was asking. Wondered why the hell she’d even think it. He’d already made it pretty clear earlier today that she was the only woman who held any personal interest for him. It occurred to him then that she wasn’t exactly trusting when it came to