has just been handed the keys to the new Cadillac/Hummer dealership on the Southside. Lincoln’s is the only dealership that sells all makes of GM cars. It’s a state-of-the-art facility. They even have a rotating dais inside to display special cars. Last time I drove by I saw a huge yellow Hummer spinning around.”
Nathan huffed. “Who’d want a Hummer these days? You could take a week’s vacation for the same price as a tank of gas.”
“But you couldn’t drive over a row of compact cars now, could you?” Cooper joked. “ ’Cause that could really come in handy during rush hour.”
“I’m glad your sense of humor’s still intact!” Nathan laughed. “Listen, why don’t I show up a little early tonight? You can talk about anything you want and I’ll listen while giving you the best shoulder rub in the world. My fingers are well-developed after years of flying over a computer keyboard. You can’t let all this mad skill go to waste.”
“No, I certainly can’t. You made me an offer I can’t resist.” Cooper smiled into the phone.
Nathan was true to his word. Moments after Cooper welcomed him inside the small apartment above her parents’ detached garage, he gave her a tender kiss and a lingering embrace. He then positioned himself on the sofa and gestured for her to sit on the floor in front of his feet.
As his long, nimble fingers worked her tight muscles, Cooper closed her eyes and began to talk. She rehashed every detail from the night before, beginning with the encounter with the truculent Bank of Richmond secretary, followed by her pickup going lame. She recounted how Edward Crosby had pulled over to help as succinctly as she could.
“What was he doing out in the country at that time of night?” Nathan asked curiously. “Didn’t you say you’d just crossed the Goochland County line?”
Cooper leaned back into Nathan’s strong hands as they kneaded the taut muscles beneath her shoulder blades. “I don’t know. I never thought to ask. In all honesty, we didn’t talk much. Once Ashley called, we tore over to her house and then, well, nobody felt like speaking.”
Nathan dug his first two fingers into the tissue on either side of Cooper’s spine and walked them from the top of her pelvis to the base of her neck and back down again. She moaned with pleasure.
“You’re a magician, Nathan. I hadn’t realized how tense I was and it’s such a relief to let out all the things that have been bouncing around in my head.” She closed her eyes and felt her body sinking into the floor, as though she were transforming from a solid state into a liquid one. “I can’t stop thinking about the victim, Miguel. Why would someone do that to him?” She swallowed hard and immediately grew tense again. “They tied him up and put him in a trunk like he was a piece of luggage.”
Just as Nathan put his arms around Cooper and embraced her from behind, there was a rapid tap on Cooper’s door. Ashley burst into the apartment, calling, “I hope you two are decent, because I’m coming in!”
Nathan kept his hands on either side of Cooper’s flushed neck, but after giving her shoulders a final, reassuring squeeze, he rose from the sofa in order to give Ashley a hug. “How are you doing?”
Ashley managed a thin smile. “I do declare—you are the sweetest man, Nathan Dexter.” She patted him on the arm and then sank onto the sofa. After kissing Cooper on the crown of her head, she said, “I thought we’d better get things out of our systems before we go down for supper.” Reaching into a zebra-striped purse, she removed a Love Motors newsletter and pointed to a boxed article on the inside page. “This is Miguel. He was the Employee of the Month last month.”
Cooper stared at the photograph of the young man. Miguel Ramos looked to be in his early twenties. He had a round, friendly face and a shy smile, as though he was reluctant to look directly at the camera. Even so, Cooper believed she saw a glimmer of pride in Miguel’s dark eyes and the tilt of his chin.
Miguel Ramos is a relatively new member of the Love Motors team, the blurb began. A former employee of Double A Auto in Norfolk, Miguel has been overseeing the West End lot since he started work this fall and our inventory has sparkled ever since! The first to arrive and