a smoking gun. It’s a public lodging. Other people own cars like his. Even if his car was parked there, he didn’t murder anyone. Who is this woman? What do you know about her? How does she know Rafe?”
“I can’t discuss an active case with you. I bent the rules to tell you I was looking at him, but it seemed fair to warn you since you’re helping me out with Zoe.”
With that, the detective left.
I reached for the phone. Called Rafe. Got his voicemail.
My fingers tightened around the phone. Where the hell was he? Why wouldn’t he take my call? The message I left was short and sweet. “Call me.”
C HAPTER 6
----
By the next morning, my nerves still hadn’t settled, so I drove to the golf course to find Rafe. His car wasn’t in the parking lot. Undeterred, I hurried into the brightly lit Pro Shop. Rafe’s whipcord-thin assistant, Jasper Kingsland, slid off his stool behind the counter and snapped to attention.
“Where’s Rafe?” I demanded, leaning over the counter.
Jasper took a step backward, bumping into his stool. “He’s not here, ma’am.”
“I can see that. I need to talk to him. It’s very important.”
“He called in sick today, Mrs. Jones. I don’t know anything more than that.”
“What about his golf lessons? Does he have any scheduled today?”
“He told me to cancel everyone.”
“Damn.”
All this avoidance and absenteeism didn’t sound like Rafe. He was in trouble. I knew it, sure as I knew my name. If Britt was looking at him for murder, Rafe needed a good lawyer. Fortunately, a lawyer was about to marry into my family.
Today was Tuesday. The senior men’s league played golf on Tuesday. Inspiration struck. “Is Bud Flook on the course?”
“Yes, he is. The seniors teed off an hour ago, shotgun start.”
“I need a golf cart.”
“You can’t go out there if it isn’t an emergency, ma’am.”
“You’re going to have an emergency if you don’t hand me a cart key.”
Wide-eyed, Jasper reached under the counter for a cart key and dropped it on the counter. “Take it.”
I grabbed for it. “Thanks.”
As I strode out, I heard Jasper mutter, “Gotta stay away from redheads.” Though I normally would be insulted by such a sexist remark, I let it go. This couldn’t wait another minute. Britt had a very narrow focus when it came to suspects. If someone connected to one of Britt’s cases acted oddly, Britt interpreted that behavior as an indication of guilt.
In fact, the detective operated under the mode of “guilty until proven innocent.” Given Rafe’s odd behavior right now, I had no doubt Britt would come after him like a vengeful bloodhound. That wasn’t fair. I’d solved several of Britt’s cases, and I wouldn’t let Rafe be railroaded on the guilty train if he didn’t deserve it.
I bounced along the unpaved access road that ran behind numbers one, three, and five. The maintenance crew used this rutted lane for their equipment, but so did the ladies when they needed to use the bathroom in a real toilet back at the shop. Sometimes a portable toilet wouldn’t do.
I zipped past three foursomes before I found Bud’s group putting out on number five, a dogleg par four. I waited in the shade by their carts until they finished.
As Bud strolled back to the cart, his bushy eyebrows shot up when he saw me standing beside his golf bag. “Cleo! What a surprise.” His stride faltered. His sharp eyes searched my face. “Delilah’s okay, right?”
“Yes, Mama’s fine. I’m sorry to bother you, but I need to talk to you about an urgent matter. Would you ride with me to number six?”
He nodded to his playing partner, Bert McGowan. “I’ll catch up in a minute, Bertie.”
He settled next to me, questions in his eyes. I waited until his buddies pulled away. The next group began hitting their approach shots to the green. With balls dropping all around us, I had to talk fast. “I need to hire you.”
“You’re in legal trouble?”
“Not
Rebecca Alexander, Sascha Alper