Deadly Little Secrets Page 0,59

it. Suffice to say,” she grinned at the chef. “It was great.”

“I have dessert for you, if you’ve room to enjoy it,” Melanie said. “It’s something I only made a small quantity of, but I found some beautiful blueberries in the market. Do you both like blueberries?”

“Oh, yeah,” Ana enthused. “When I was a kid, there was this blueberry thing, with ouzo and pine nuts…ohmygosh.” He enjoyed the catlike look of pleasure on her face. “Ever since, I adore blueberries.”

Melanie’s face took on a sharper, more keen look. “Blueberries? Pine nuts? Really?”

“Yes, it was just…” Ana seemed at a loss for words. She made a very Italianate gesture with her hands. It intrigued him, to think she’d grown up in Italy, and Greece. He’d traveled around the world, with Dav and escaping his own demons, but not the way she had. “Simple. Marvelous. Really magnificent. Of course,” she laughed ruefully, “it might be far better in memory than reality, but at the time…”

“You grew up here? Where?”

“I’d bet that was in your Italian phase,” Gates answered the question, letting Ana off the hook from explaining her traveling childhood. “Ana’s well travelled,” he explained to the chef.

Melanie grinned, a fierce-looking thing rather than the gentle smile she usually brought out for customers. “That could be quite a winner around here if I could duplicate it. I know you have business tonight, but I’d be appreciative if you might be willing to stop by for lunch one day, on me of course, and tell me more about that dish.”

“Really?” Ana accepted the card Melanie held out. “Sure. I mean, I’m no cook so I don’t know how…” She trailed off because Melanie was shaking her head, still grinning.

“Doesn’t matter. If you can give me the gist, I can play with it until I get something good.”

“Okay, sure.”

“Wonderful. I’ll let you get back to your discussions,” she said, then pointed at the notes. “But next time, Gates, bring the lady here for fun, not business. You don’t enjoy my food as much when you’re working, and hey,” she finished with a whimsical note, “it’s alllllll about the food.”

They laughed together, and Melanie moved to another shadowed table. They heard her pleasant inquiry about the meal, but the answers were lost in the general rattle and clank of the waitstaff and the effective barrier of the plants and banquettes. Gates found it reassuring. No one could have heard their discussions either.

“Did we get anywhere?” he asked, flipping through the pages he’d written. “I think we’ve got more questions than answers here.”

“That’s always the way it is.” Ana’s voice held a note of enthusiasm and energy he’d not heard before. This was the Ana he’d sensed lurking under the surface. It was…arousing. “Look here.” She pointed to a series of questions they’d written down. “I can take this and do a Boolean search on the keywords. May turn up something useful. I can drill down on this one.” She pointed at another name, another gallery Dav had used for purchasing art. “Of all the galleries your Dav used, this one wasn’t hit. Sometimes it’s the blanks that mean more than the bumps, you know?”

It was interesting to hear his own thoughts echoed in her words. He often thought the negative spaces spoke louder than the chatter. He was already intrigued by her. Hearing her enthusiasm, he wanted her even more.

How odd to become so entranced with a woman because of her mind. Not that the body wasn’t prime, he decided, leaning back once more to study her, because it was. She wore another of the conservative suits. He’d admired it that very morning as she sat with them at their early lunch. Now, hours and a dreadful day later, she still looked good, well put together.

“What? Did I spill something on my shirt?” Ana said, distracted by his scrutiny.

“Not at all. I was just thinking. I agree with Melanie. I need to bring you back here without files. Perhaps we’ll come back on Friday night.”

“I’m never without files,” she said, putting up a small defensive wall around the idea of the date. Perversely, it made him want to jump the wall, get to the heart of her.

“Never?” he teased. “That’s interesting.” He laughed as she considered the words. Obviously it was more natural for her to quip—a quick sharp response—than to ponder before speaking. Something had changed her, he decided. The Rome incident she’d referred to. He hadn’t been able to break through the clearances