Page 22 of Only You

“We’ve already talked to them,” her partner said. “You seem to know a lot about her.”

Declan frowned. “She was my manager. Fitzpatrick’s is a family business.”

The man didn’t look satisfied.

“Stop,” Eileen said to him. “Declan has an alibi.”

“You would know this how?” Francisco asked.

“Remember, I was here last night.” She had been dancing in his arms when she got the call about Irene.

“Okay, do you know if she was seeing someone?”

He studied both of them. “I just heard she was dating someone new, but she was private about her personal life. She talked about her parents and brothers, but the guys were different. I know that she moved up here after a bad breakup.”

“And you never met him?” Francisco asked.

“No. They broke up beforehand.”

“Is there anyone she was really close to here? Someone she might have confided in?” Eileen asked.

“Sandy, my head chef. She’s the one who insisted we start serving those red velvet pancakes for brunch you love so much.”

“Is she here today?” Francisco asked.

He nodded. “I can get her for you.”

“Thanks,” Eileen said.

He rose out of his chair, but before he left them, Eileen stopped him.

“I’m really sorry, Declan.”

“Yeah, me too.”

He headed off to tell his people that one of their family was gone. His head pounded, and his heart hurt. Nothing about today was going to be good.

Five

Eileen watched Sandy Howard as she absorbed the pain of the news. Again, it would probably be one of the worst days of her life. The African American woman had kind eyes, and Eileen remembered her wide smile last night. Every time she saw the woman, she had been smiling.

Some days, being a cop sucked.

“I’m sorry,” Sandy said as she wiped away her tears.

“No problem,” Eddie said in that soothing voice of his. He was much better at working with the criers than she was. She detested crying herself, so she knew it showed on her face. That’s why she and Eddie were a good team. She kept them on track while he comforted the witnesses.

“Did she ever talk about her ex?” Eileen asked, trying her best to keep her voice gentle.

“Yeah. She’d had to move out of Richmond because of that asshole. She blocked his phone number, but she knew he was looking for her.”

“He didn’t know about her move to Baltimore?”

She shook her head. “I guess not at first. But she told me he found out about it through some mutuals. Some guy sheworked with had been here to visit friends, and they came into Fitzpatrick’s. She thought maybe he’d told him.”

“Did she ever tell you his name?”

“Yeah. Bradley…no Brantley Brown.” She rolled her hazel eyes. “I never met the guy, but he sounded like a real creep.”

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