Jamie Quinn Cozy Mysteries Collection

Chapter 29

"You really don"t remember?" I asked.

"Well, sort of, some of it. Not really…" Duke sounded embarrassed.

"Jeez, Duke. Maybe it"s time for a twelve step program. You went home in a taxi because you were drunk, so--where is your car?"

"The Big Easy?"

"Yup." I took my burrito out of the oven and covered it in salsa.

"Can you give me a ride over there in the mornin"?"

"Sure thing," I said, and then I caught him up on everything he"d missed: Adam"s revelation under hypnosis, Spike"s camera in the ceiling, my conversation with Nick D., and the two silver cars that looked alike.

Duke whistled under his teeth. "This story just keeps gettin" weirder. When you pick me up tomorrow, let"s stop at that hotel Rosa stayed at. I have an idea."

"Are you being serious, or is this one of your less raunchy pick-up lines?"

"Ouch, that hurts! Of course I"m being serious. You"d know if it was a pick-up line. Nobody ever accused me of being subtle."

meI laughed. "If they did, they"d be lying."

Duke lived in a fourplex on Roosevelt Street. It looked nice enough, the yard was kept up, and there was a kid"s bike in front of the farthest door. He looked none the worse for wear when he slid into the passenger seat. He was clean-shaven and he smelled good.

"Hey there, you doin" alright today?" he said.

"Couldn"t be better, you?"

"I"m ready to kick some ass," he said.

"So, just a regular day, then?" I smiled.

He laughed. "That"s right, Darlin"."

"Where to?"

Duke directed me to a small hotel called Villa Alfredo on A1A, near the beach. He asked me to wait in the car while he went in. I turned on the radio and listened to the news on NPR. He was gone quite a while, but when he came back, he was grinning.

"Spill it," I said.

"I"ve got it! Witnesses say Steve Michaels was here the morning Spike got killed. He didn"t do it."

"What was he doing here?" I asked. "And why would they remember him?"

""Cause he was creeping them out! He sat in his car in front of the hotel all morning. He must"ve been stalking Rosa."

"That"s great news! Look out Marian; we"re closing in on you. Duke, you"re the best!"

Duke just smiled and nodded his head. "That"s what all the girls say, Darlin"."