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with the camera. She studied Stacy's collection of
expensive equipment and sighed. She couldn't afford any of it.
    "Won't be long." Stacy's smile
lightened up her broad Slavic features so that they were almost pretty.
    "Fine. I'll keep jogging. Be back in
fifteen."
    Lucy opened the door while Stacy bustled
into the back room with a wave. Fifteen minutes later, Lucy returned. The room
was too hot and she swiped a trickle of sweat from her temple. Not wanting to
lose her rhythm, she paced the tiny shop floor until Stacy appeared, clutching
an envelope.
    "I don't think you'll be happy with
these either," she said.
    Lucy took the envelope and sifted through
the photos. Same story as last time. None were clear enough.
    "Damn."
    "Maybe you need a new camera,"
said Stacy.
    "Maybe I need a new job."
    ***
    Nick poured over a table-full of evidence
with two of the force's homicide detectives. The investigation had just become
a joint operation between the Major Fraud and Homicide squads with Nick in
charge. But so far the team had come up with nothing. They checked the
surveillance records from the previous night and Nick had watched the apartment
complex himself this morning. It was always difficult to separate the residents
and the unknowns, but they had half a dozen potential murderers, including
Mollino's girlfriend. She was shaping up to be the most likely suspect.
    Except they didn't have a clear ID. Surveillance
shots of her leaving the building didn't show her face and none of the
residents who were questioned could identify her fully. She was blonde,
twenty-something and well-endowed. That's it. Could be half the women in Morethorn.
    Nick called on Mrs. Mollino to break the
news to her. Janet, an attractive thirty-five year old brunette, didn't shed a
tear for her husband. In fact, she poured herself a glass of champagne and
raised it to the portrait of a smiling, young Mollino above the fireplace. She
didn't know who his girlfriend was either.
    "But I hired a private
investigator," she said in her lilting, English accent. "Perhaps she
has some photographs. I have her card somewhere." She stood but Nick put
up a hand to stop her.
    "It's okay, Mrs. Mollino, we know
who she is." He silently cursed his luck as he and Dave crunched over the
mansion's driveway to the Commodore.
    "Now what?" asked Dave as they
drove down Bellerae Road.
    Nick hated what he was about to say but
he had to say it. "You know what," said Nick, punctuating the
sentence with a curse. He'd give anything to avoid the meeting he now had to
have. It looked like his apology was about to happen in person after all. Damn.
    Dave glanced at him and grinned. "Juicy
Lucy it is then."
    "Her name's Lucy Hudson." Nick
didn't know why he defended her but he felt compelled to. He hated that
ridiculous moniker. "She lives in Richmond."
    Dave cut across a lane and turned right
into Punt Road. "I know."
    Of course he did.
    ***
    The cool shower soothed Lucy's hot skin
and self-directed anger. She couldn't believe she'd fucked up yet again. It
wasn't like her. There had to be something wrong with the camera. She needed to
get it checked and that meant visiting Matt, a guy she'd dated a while ago who
owned a camera shop in the city and had sold her the equipment. She turned off
the faucets and stepped out of the shower, wrapping the soft yellow towel
around her body. He'd probably want to see more of her than she was willing to
show this time. She sighed as she ruffled her hair with a second towel. She'd
just have to tell him she was in a relationship and couldn't skip out to the
back room with him. Whether he would believe her or not remained to be seen.
    In a way she wasn't lying. She felt like
she was in a relationship because she couldn't stop thinking about one man. One
hot, sexy man who was definitely not interested in a relationship with her, or
anything else.
    Pity.
    The front door buzzer sounded and she
wrapped the towel tighter and padded across the floorboards to the