“I do, too. But right now, it’s time to pay Lucy Busch a visit.” Then, he smiled at her. “Do you know how much I enjoyed my weekend with you?”
She couldn’t help but return the smile. “I’m hoping it’s as much as I enjoyed mine with you.”
He started the car and chuckled. When she asked what was funny, he said, “I was just thinking.”
“About what?”
He looked over at her as he was about to back up the car. “Drew 1, Drew 2, Drew 3, and Drew 4.”
Toni rolled her eyes. “I think I’m going to regret telling you about them. Your head is swelling.”
“In both places, sweetheart.”
She gazed down at his crotch and shook her head. “Remember, we agreed to conduct ourselves in a professional manner.” The last thing she wanted was to have Joanie gossiping about them the way she did with others in the department. She knew people would find out about them soon enough, but she wanted the decision as to when and how to be theirs.
“Yeah, I know. But when I look at you, all I can think about is what you look like naked. It’s distracting.” He grinned.
Toni blushed. But this wasn’t the time...and it wasn’t solving Maria’s murder. They needed to get back to business. “So, what is the connection between Lucy Busch and Maria Tindal?”
“Maybe Maria came with someone who was invited. Or she might have crashed a party.”
“You met her. Did she seem like someone who would do that? Crash a party?”
Drew shrugged. “She was a little too friendly...but I would still have to say no.” He paused a minute. “Maybe now is a good time for me to let you in on something.”
She lifted a brow. “What?”
“I doubt if you’ve heard but the type of parties Lucy Busch throws are wild. Everything is legal—barely—and she’s within her rights to host them, but sometimes things go too far, in my book.”
“What kind of parties are they?”
“They’re geared toward swingers.”
“Really?”
Drew chuckled. “Why do you find that so hard to believe. You’re from Florida. Aren’t there several swinging hotbeds in your state? In senior citizens housing areas, in particular?”
She glanced over at him. “You seem to know a lot about it.”
“Only because I investigated one a few years back. There was a murder within the swingers’ community. That’s how I remember Lucy Busch’s name. It had come up then.”
“Sounds like she’s a popular lady.”
“So now I’m really wondering how Maria got invited,” Drew said.
“I thought a swingers’ party was where couples swapped partners. Why invite spares?” Toni asked.
“Lucy probably just wanted to make things interesting, or solicit new recruits. But then, we don’t know for certain that this particular party was a swingers’ party. But we’ll find out.”
• • •
Less than an hour later, they were at Lucy Busch’s home. Not surprisingly, she lived right off of Commodore Boulevard, just a few communities away from where Jamia Roundtree lived. And like the Roundtrees’ home, the woman’s house spoke of elegance and wealth.
Lucy Busch, who appeared to be in her mid-forties, swept into the room with all the elegance of a woman with money. After introductions were made and she offered them seats, Lucy Busch said, “I’m not sure how I can help in your murder investigation, detectives. It’s simply dreadful what happened to Maria.”
“Can you tell us how you knew Maria Tindal? We understand she attended one of your parties—the one you held on Saturday, January fifth.”
“I knew Maria through her stepfather. Morey and I were both in the car dealership business, and I was well acquainted with him and his first wife, Diane. We spent a lot of time with them, me and my third husband, Palmer.”
Her third husband? Toni wondered just how many husbands the woman had had in her lifetime. She was only in her forties, or at least, that’s the age she seemed. Obviously, Botox could work wonders.
“What about you and Morey Evans’ second wife, Constance? Maria’s mother?”
A little frown settled on the woman’s face. “Morey broke ties with us after he married Constance. I understand she was the reason he stopped coming to our parties.” She sniffed. “I can’t say I liked Constance very much.”
“Yet you befriended Constance’s daughter?” Toni asked.”
“I ran into Maria at the mall. I hadn’t seen her since Morey and Constance’s deaths, and she looked like she could use a friend. I’d heard that her stepsister had cut Maria off financially, and that she was spreading rumors that Constance had arranged Morey’s