“Thank you for the coffee,” she murmured.
He took a swig from his cup, set it down and crossed his arms on the table. “You’re welcome. So tell me about yourself, Callie.” He hesitated a moment. “May I call you Callie? I’ve heard your uncle talk about you so much I feel I already know you.”
She frowned and took another drink. “I didn’t realize you knew my uncle that well.”
He nodded. “Oh, yeah. I’ve known Judge Lattimer for quite a while. I volunteer at the youth center where he does.”
“I didn’t realize that.”
“Yeah. He told me you’re a college professor.”
“I am. I teach at the University of Virginia.”
“Too bad about what happened to him. He’d said the two of you were going to Hawaii for his retirement.”
Lieutenant Weaver’s words were friendly enough, but they lacked any kind of emotion. Added to her growing unease was the picture of this man standing over Carlos Allen’s lifeless body. As she remembered it, Marty Weaver hadn’t appeared to be concerned at all.
Her hands began to shake. She clenched her fists and stuck them in her lap. What was keeping Seth? She took a deep breath and tried to smile.
“It was nice of you to keep me company, Lieutenant Weaver...”
“Marty,” he interrupted. “Please call me Marty.”
“All right, Marty. As I was saying, it was nice of you to keep me company, but I really don’t want to detain you. If you need to get back to headquarters, I understand.”
He shook his head and took another drink of his coffee. “I’m in no hurry. To tell you the truth, I was glad to see you when you stepped in that elevator. I’ve been thinking about you since I saw you yesterday outside that bar. You looked very upset.”
“I was upset. It’s not every day I see a man killed. Especially someone I had hoped would have information about the attempts on my uncle’s life.”
He nodded. “I can understand that.” He leaned closer. “I know you’re having a tough time right now with your uncle hurt, but I want to let you know I’d be happy to help you any way I can.”
The words surprised Callie, and she blinked. “Help me?”
“You know, like try to take your mind off things for a while. Maybe you’d have dinner with me one night.”
Callie swallowed hard and stared at him. “You want to take me to dinner?”
“Yeah. How about it?”
A shadow fell across the table, and Callie glanced up to see Seth towering over them. “How about what?” he asked.
Marty shrugged. “Nothing to concern yourself with, Dawtry. This was a private conversation between Callie and me.”
Seth darted a glance at Callie. “Really? Am I interrupting?”
Callie shook her head. “No, Marty and I were just having a cup of coffee together. How was your visit with Uncle Dan?”
“No change. He didn’t respond at all to me.”