“I think this whole town has been holding out on me. And I’m getting tired of it.”
* * *
Blum sat in Pine’s room that night as her boss got ready to go to dinner.
“That black dress you wore before should do the trick.”
“Well, it’ll have to since it’s the only ‘trick’ I brought. But I have to tell you, high heels are highly overrated.”
“Well, with your height, why bother?”
“I like looking down on men,” said Pine with a smile as she slipped into the dress. When Blum raised her eyebrows at this remark, Pine added, “I’m just kidding.”
She looked at herself in the mirror hanging from the wall. “Not that I care, but Lineberry’s already seen me in this.”
“When?”
“When I had dinner in Americus with Lauren Graham. He was there and came over and joined us for a drink.”
“And you still had it on when you went out with Eddie Laredo later that same night.”
“How did you know that?”
“Heard you two coming back in.” She added in a hesitant tone, “I don’t know where you went after that.”
“We went to our separate rooms and stayed there,” said Pine firmly. Although at the same time she was thinking it could have turned out differently, if she’d had a few more drinks and was not wrapped up in investigating serious crimes.
“Never doubted it.”
Pine glanced at her. “You’d fail a polygraph on that one.”
Blum smiled. “I have a different wrap from the one I gave you before. That will make the outfit look fresh to Mr. Lineberry.”
“I’m not trying to sell myself to the guy, Carol.”
“No, but you do want information. And within the bounds of reason and good taste you’re entitled to use every tool in your arsenal to get it.”
Pine shot her another glance. “Why do I think you want to use the term feminine wiles?”
“I didn’t think I had to. And there’s nothing wrong with using what you have to your advantage.”
She glanced at Pine’s earlobes. “Do you have earrings other than those diamond studs? Turquoise would look great with the wrap I’m thinking about.”
“No. I only got my ears pierced when I was fourteen, way after all my friends. I guess I wasn’t into it. I just have the ones I’m wearing.”
Blum rose, left, and came back a minute later with a pair of hoop earrings with turquoise stones set in them. “These will look great and will accentuate your long neck.”
Pine thanked her, and when she struggled to get them on properly, Blum assisted her.
Pine said embarrassedly, “My…my mom never really did…stuff like this with me.”
“Maybe after her modeling days she had grown weary of playing dress-up,” said Blum. “Besides, weren’t you the tomboy?”
“Yeah, but, well, it would have been nice…sometimes.”
Blum ran her fingers through Pine’s thick hair, smoothing out some areas. “I’m sure it would have, Agent Pine. I’m sure it would have.”
Pine started applying her makeup and lipstick. She said abruptly, “Jack Lineberry was in love with my mother.”
“How do you know that?”
“It doesn’t take a genius. I guess lots of men were in love with her.”
“Like mother like daughter.”
Pine shot her a glance. “Carol, where is this coming from? I am nothing like my mother. She never picked up a weight in her life. And she would have no idea what MMA even was. And if you told her I was an FBI agent…”
“What, what would she say?”
Pine finished with her makeup and put her compact and lipstick in her small clutch purse. “I don’t know,” she said offhandedly. “What does it matter?”
“It clearly matters to you, as it should.”
“I really don’t want to get into this.”
“You may get into it tonight.”
Pine glanced sharply at her. “What do you mean by that?”
“Lineberry was in love with your mother. Now he’s asked you out to dinner.”
“So?”
“So as great an investigator as you are, you’re obviously a bit underwhelming in your instincts when it comes to men.”
As Pine brushed her hair she said, “I’m not getting this.”
“Exactly my point. You’re not getting it.”
“You think Jack Lineberry is infatuated with me?”
“And you don’t?”
Pine put the brush down and looked over at Blum. “There was an awkward moment at his house when…”
“When what?”
“When maybe it seemed like he was seeing my mother sitting there instead of me. You know, like that time before.”
Blum silently clapped her hands together. “And there you are.”