Deadly Interest (48 page)

He paid for his gas with a twenty, and I’d
expected him to head directly back out the door. Instead, he
turned, and nearly bumped into me.

I got a good look at him, and knew
immediately that I didn’t want to mess with this guy. While he
might have been handsome, he was badly bruised, which skewed the
symmetry of his face. I willed myself not to react—anyone who
looked like that was best avoided.

He must have been in a fight recently. From
the looks of him, maybe more than one. He grimaced when he saw me
there.

Solidly built, he moved well, effectively
avoiding a collision with me. Beneath his open winter jacket, I
could see he was well-muscled. I snuck a quick glance at the
battered face again. I could only wonder what the other guy looked
like.

Taking an involuntary step back, I said,
“Oh, sorry. Today just isn’t my day, is it?” His grimace faded, a
little. All I wanted at this point was to pay for my stuff and get
out of the man’s way. If he proved to be a troublemaker I didn’t
have a prayer.

Kill ’em with kindness, I thought, and
injected friendliness into my voice. “Sorry about almost hitting
you,” I said. “I was talking to my sister.”

“
No problem,” he said in a
softer voice than I’d expected. “I’m getting rid of the car anyway.
In case you’re interested.”

A red Firebird. Yeah. Not exactly my style.
I stepped back a little, leaning to look out the windows,
pretending to consider it. “Hmm,” I said. “Nice car. I’ll think
about it.”

“
Well, in that case,” he
reached in his jacket pocket and took out a business card. “That’s
me.”

I read the card,
feeling
a paradigm shift in my brain.
“Oh,” I said, almost to myself. I looked him over again, seeing a
bit more of the handsome and a bit less of the bruising. After a
moment’s hesitation, I pulled out a card of my own, and handed it
over.

He studied it and nodded. “I read your
magazine all the time,” he said. “It’s great.”

I shook my head and
laughed, wondering if anyone told the truth anymore. “It’s not a
magazine, it’s a television show. Like
60
Minutes
. But I’m sure you meant you read
the captioned version, right?”

“
You got it,” he said. He
smiled then.

And I found myself smiling back.

Holding our respective cards, we gave
awkward nods, and he headed out to his Firebird to start pumping
his gas.

The Christmas card guy had started back into
his monologue, and I waited for a break in the story to step up to
pay.

Back out in the cold afternoon, I handed the
card and the drink to Lucy before filling the tank

When I got back in she asked, “What’s this?
Who’s Ron Shade?”

“
Take a look,” I said.
“He’s a P.I.”

I heard the soft purr of the Firebird next
to me, and Ron Shade, private investigator, drove off with a
roar.

“
What does it mean?” she
asked.

I thought about it for a moment before
pulling into traffic. “You know how I accidentally got mixed up
with all those bad people?”

She nodded.

“
Well he does that sort of
thing on purpose. That’s his job.” I wondered what this Shade
character would think if he knew the excitement I’d just been
through this week. Probably pooh-pooh it—all in a day’s work for
him.

“
Oh.” Lucy was silent a
moment, then brightened as she handed it back. “Hey, maybe next
time you have a problem with bad people, you should call this guy
to handle them instead. That way you can stay safe.”

I gave the card a look, pocketed it, and
smiled at her. “Sounds like a plan to me.”

THE END

Connect with Julie Hyzy
online at
www.juliehyzy.com

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Books by Julie Hyzy

Artistic License

Alex St. James series

Deadly Blessings

Deadly Interest

White House Chef Mysteries

State of the Onion

Hail to the Chef

Eggsecutive Orders

Manor of Murder Mysteries

Grace Under Pressure