“He made the comment after I told him about your upbringing in Alaska.”
“Alaska?” Elaine chirped. “How fascinating.”
“Not really,” Drex said.
“I’ve never known anyone from there. You must tell me all about it. Come in for a nightcap?”
He pulled the car to the curb in front of her townhouse, put it in park, but left it running. “If I’m going to Florida, I’ll need to get up early tomorrow and start making arrangements. Rain check?”
“Of course. Besides, you probably should follow Talia home.”
He glanced back at her. “I planned to.”
“I wouldn’t dream of inconveniencing you. Besides, I’m a big girl.” She got out of the car and shut the back door.
By the time Drex alighted and had come around to open the passenger door for Elaine, Talia was impatiently bouncing her key fob in her palm. “Thank you for dinner, Drex. It was lovely.” Her drop-dead glare put her sincerity in doubt. “Good night, Elaine.” She leaned in and air-kissed Elaine’s cheek. “I’ll be in touch.”
“Give Jasper my regards. Promise to call me tomorrow and let me know how he’s doing.”
“Yes, I will.” Without another word or glance at Drex, she turned and started walking toward her car, her high heels tapping the sidewalk with a marching cadence.
Elaine gave his shoulder a nudge. “I don’t care how big a girl she is, I can tell she’s upset. She hasn’t been herself all evening. Make sure she gets home safely.”
“After I walk you to your door.”
“Nonsense. It’s all of twenty steps.”
“You sure?”
“Go. I think she must be more worried about Jasper than she’s letting on.”
He gave a grim smile at the unintended irony. “I’m sure you’re right.” He kissed Elaine lightly on the cheek and bid her good night, then quickly got back into his car and peeled away from the curb in pursuit of Talia’s taillights.
Once he caught up with her, he stayed close and pulled into his driveway seconds after she pulled into hers. She opened the garage door remotely and lowered it as soon as her rear bumper cleared the opening.
Drex got out of his car and went around to open the trunk. He took out a duffel bag, closed the trunk, then headed up the path toward the garage apartment.
“How was the evening?”
Startled, he whipped around. Jasper was sitting in the dark on the screened porch, idly rocking in his chair. Drex gave him his good-neighbor smile. “You were missed. Feeling better?”
“Much.”
“Bad oysters, Talia said.”
“Must’ve been. Did you like the restaurant?”
“Superb. Thanks for the recommendation.”
A light came on. Talia appeared as a silhouette in the open doorway between the kitchen and porch. She looked at Drex but didn’t say anything. Jasper turned to her and extended his hand. She went to him and linked her fingers with his.
The gesture spoke volumes, the message was clear: We’re a pair, a united front.
Drex covered a yawn with his hand and hitched his chin toward the staircase. “Well…I’m bushed. Good night.”
Jasper responded with a good night.
Talia said nothing.
Drex climbed the staircase. The screen door was unlocked, but he used his key on the solid one. Inside, he crossed the living area in darkness, went into the bedroom, and switched on the lamp on the rickety nightstand. Then he returned to the bedroom door and shut it, preventing prying eyes from seeing him unzip the duffel he’d retrieved from his trunk. He took from it his laptop, binoculars, the audio surveillance equipment, FBI ID, and pistol.
Since connecting Talia to Jasper in Key West, he’d taken these items along whenever he went out. As a precaution. Just in case someone came searching the apartment. Someone to whom a locked door wouldn’t be a deterrent.
And if someone did come snooping, he wanted to know it.
So he’d taken another precaution.
He picked up the lamp by its base and lowered it to the side of the bed where he had sprinkled talcum onto the floor, but not so much that it would be noticeable unless one was looking.
“Huh.”
Between the time he’d left for his dinner and now, the powder had been smeared, as though someone had knelt at the side of the bed, perhaps to look beneath it or between the mattress and box spring.
He set the lamp back on the nightstand and switched it out, picked up the binoculars, opened the bedroom door, and went into the living room. At the window, he focused on the house next door. There were no lights on inside, but that didn’t mean that he wasn’t being