wouldn't do anything else."
A corner of Skip's mouth quirked up. "You're a Beck, that's for sure. Your dad would have done the same."
Before yesterday Ryan wouldn't have taken that statement very well. Today? It wasn't so bad.
The minute Ryan walked into Mariah’s apartment later, she knew immediately that he'd had a shitty day. He hadn't expected his meeting with the Harringtons to go well, and it looked like he was right. His shoulders were slumped and there were lines around his eyes and mouth that hadn't been there this morning.
"Shit, you look like hell," Knox said to Ryan. "I should have gone with you."
Both she and Knox had offered to accompany Ryan when he met with Lilly and Skip but he'd said that he would be better if only he were there. Knox had finished his meetings about an hour ago and he'd been sitting in her living room telling her fun stories about the cases he'd worked on with Ryan. Her man appeared to be well-liked by his coworker and for some reason that made her happy. It was clear that Knox thought that Ryan was damn good at his job.
As for Knox, she liked him. He seemed to be a straightforward guy with an optimistic nature, although serious as hell about his job. She'd asked him if he was married or had kids and he'd laughed loud and long. He said he wasn't the marrying kind so she kind of got the idea that he might be a little bit of a ladies' man. He was certainly good-looking enough to attract the opposite sex with his dark blond hair and soft brown eyes. Plus his grin was positively infectious. It was hard to be around him and not be smiling, too.
"How about a beer?" she offered, not waiting for him to reply. She grabbed one from the fridge and placed it on the kitchen counter. "I guess it didn't go well."
"Lilly Harrington cried."
Tears. Ryan couldn't deal with a woman crying. He never had been able to and from what she could see that hadn't changed in the last twelve years or so. Even happy tears were hard for him to deal with. He'd told her when they were younger that someone crying made him feel helpless and he hated that feeling.
Ryan took a long draw from the beer bottle before continuing. "They say that they had no idea that Brad was gambling. Actually, no. That isn't what they said. They said that they couldn't believe it, although I assured them that Brad had been in touch with at least two bookies. Then Lilly wanted to go lie down, and Skip asked me if I thought I could really solve this case."
"What did you say?" Knox asked, his smile gone for the moment, replaced with a worried frown.
"I was honest about the odds, just as I was in the beginning. I wasn't going to sugarcoat it. It isn't going to be easy. I told him we'd work the case as long as there were leads to follow." Ryan swung his gaze to Knox. "Speaking of leads, how did your afternoon go? I hope better than mine."
"I wish I had better news," Knox said with a grimace. "Steve Alton doesn't remember that night at all. He did say that he saw Trent Aldridge come and go because his balcony was right over the parking lot, but he doesn't have any recollection of that particular night. His exact words were 'Do you know how long ago that was? Shit, I barely remember what I had for lunch yesterday. Nights that long ago all blend together.' So, he's not going to be any help. As for Isla Foster's roommates, Jared found one still in Chicago and I went to see her."
"Let me guess, they don't remember Brad either?" Ryan said, taking another drink from the beer. "This is what happens when it's a cold case."
"They remember Brad, and they confirm that Isla was sleeping with him and that they all had some group sex a few times, but they don't know about that night in particular. They don't remember."
A muscle ticked in Ryan's jaw. "And Isla, who might remember, keeps cancelling. It's like she has something to hide from me."
Isla had always been a little different but the idea that she might have had something to do with Brad's death seemed crazy to Mariah.
"You think Isla killed Brad?"
Rubbing at his temple, Ryan shrugged. "Shit, I don't know. Not really. But she might