What Janie Saw(104)

                As if sensing he was being scrutinized, Nathan turned and looked first at Janie and finally at Rafe.

                “He was surprised to see me here,” Janie said.

                “I’m surprised to see him here.” Rafe didn’t sound pleased. “He’s received more than one outreach award from us, but he’s never bothered to—”

                Mitzy cleared her throat, loudly.

                “Not that he’s receiving one tonight,” Rafe supplied smoothly.

                “Maybe,” Mitzy said, “it’s not the prospect of an award that got him out of Adobe Hills.” She smiled pointedly in Janie’s direction.

                Now, instead of a canary, Rafe looked like he’d swallowed a lemon.

                Janie’s appetite returned. Nathan was not her type, but watching Rafe’s hackles rise was the best thing that had happened all night.

                “This lasagna’s great,” she said after four bites.

                “It’s from a restaurant in town,” Rafe said, “called Yano’s. I’ll take you there some night.”

                Mitzy shot her a sly glance. Definitely pleasure, not business.

                And then Rafe added quietly so no one else could hear, “Brittney worked as a hostess there during the summer. She made it clear to another employee that she was single—which means she and Derek were definitely not a couple.”





                                      CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

                WHILE JANIE’S MOUTH opened to a silent, lingering “Oooh,” Rafe downed three bites of lasagna quickly. He’d learned, at these functions, not to attempt leisure. Other officers seemed to feel that they had to stop by, shake hands with the sheriff, make small talk. And that meant too often he’d either eaten cold food, or simply pushed the plate away and didn’t get to eat at all.

                Neither put him in a good mood.

                “You’re kidding.” Janie smiled as Candy Riorden and, yes, a boyfriend, came up, introduced themselves, smiled covertly at her and then disappeared into the crowd.

                “I’m not. See the boy at the end of the buffet line?” He waited while Janie located a young man busily switching a full pan of steaming vegetables in for an empty one.

                “That’s Samuel Pynchon,” Janie whispered. “The preacher’s oldest boy. What did you do to him? He looks ready to throw up.”

                “I didn’t do anything to him, he did it to himself. And I’m aware that he’s the preacher’s kid,” Rafe whispered back. “I’ve known him since he was a baby. Maybe that’s why he felt comfortable asking me when I’d started dating you—”

                Someone else interrupted them. This time, a dispatcher and her husband.

                “You did tell him we weren’t dating, right?” Janie asked in a low voice after the dispatcher and her husband had walked away.

                “No, I didn’t. It’s none of his business. Plus, I didn’t want to explain why we’re here together. Let him think what he wants. But then he mentioned that Brittney worked for Yano’s, which we—”

                “Had already discovered,” Janie finished.