him and looked down at the pool, where people had already begun the weekend. A couple dozen people were in the water or lounging around it, with a waiter going in-between tables, taking orders.
“So, Dylan, you were here when Brandon got the fitness job, right?”
“Sure.”
“Did you hear anything about where he came from? Or where he went when he left?”
“Nah. He wasn’t exactly a guy’s guy, you know. The most I saw of him was if he happened to be in the weight room when I was, or down in the bar. I never really talked to him.”
“And Krystal never said anything about him?”
He looked at her sideways. “You mean like whether or not they were, you know, doing it?”
“Could be. Or anything else about him.”
“All I got from her about Brandon was that she hated his guts. She thought he was a creep. She wasn’t even going to aerobics those last few weeks he was here. Said it wasn’t worth it to have to breathe the same air as him every day.”
Casey stared down at the pool, not seeing it. Who all hated him? Or loved him? Or maybe both? Sissy. Shelly. Bernie. Maria. Krystal. All of the other women listed on those folders. Had one of them killed him? And then killed Andrea because she thought she was involved with him? Would any of them have the strength to take on a guy as huge as he’d been?
“Have you heard any rumors about where he went?”
“Oh, there are all kinds of rumors. Which ones do you want to hear? That he went to work for Arnold Schwarzenegger? That he’s living in Guadalupe with his gay lover? Or that he got put up in an apartment by his Sugar Mama, working his glutes and waiting for her to die so he can inherit her fortune?”
“Do any of them seem likely?”
Dylan grinned. “All of them, actually.”
Casey could have believed any of them, too, before she’d learned he was lying in the morgue with a toe tag that said, “Wayne Pritchfield.” Now the theory that stuck out was the Sugar Mama one, seeing how he’d died in an apartment close to Raceda. Had one of his jilted ladies or blackmail victims found him, and brought an end to his greedy polygamy?
“So,” Dylan said. “I’m pretty hungry.”
Casey wasn’t. But what else was she to do? Binns could get in touch with her wherever she was. And being in the Flamingo was giving her the willies. “Okay. Let’s go.”
After a quick and unfruitful stop in the gym to check for Dylan’s phone, he led her to his car, a dark green Toyota Corolla.
“Too far to walk?” Casey asked.
“It’s on the other side of town. We could walk, but it would take forever, and I’m so hungry…”
Casey got in the car.
“Oh, this is so exciting!” Death’s head was suddenly between Casey and Dylan, arms over the backs of the seats. “Your first date in such a long time!”
“It’s not a date,” Casey said.
Dylan sighed so heavily Death’s head wavered. “I know. You’ve already made that perfectly clear.”
Whoops.
Death fell into the backseat, laughing.
Casey rolled her eyes. “Dylan, don’t give me the whole injured little boy thing. It was only two nights ago you and Krystal barged into my office, clothes flying.”
He went red. “I know. I’m sorry. I’m…” He gripped the steering wheel so hard Casey was afraid he was going to snap it.
“Forget it. Tell me about this restaurant.”
He gave a shaky smile, and relaxed his hands. “It’s Cuban. They make a great shrimp enchilada.”
“Bet it’s not as good as Del’s.”
“Who?”
“Big guy in the weight room. He’s going to be a chef.” Which made her stomach knot, because who knew if that was only because he had made sure Andrea was no longer his loan officer?
She just couldn’t believe that.
But Del would certainly have the strength to kill a guy like Brandon. The only question was…would he have reason to? He’d said he was making good money at the insurance company. Why wasn’t that enough to be seed money for a loan, or at least to satisfy Andrea that he was a good loan candidate? Was Brandon was blackmailing him, too, and taking his money? Or maybe Del had a history Andrea couldn’t ignore, and Brandon couldn’t resist? But there wasn’t a folder with his name on it. It seemed like Brandon only targeted women.
When they got to the restaurant Casey and Dylan had to wait only a few minutes for an empty table,