Deadly Touch Read online

  Jordan Rivera was there alone, it appeared.

  He chatted with the hostess; Raina thought he was asking her about someone. The girl shook her head, and Jordan smiled and spoke softly again.

  The hostess led him toward a table.

  She thought Axel was saying something to her, but somehow it only registered on a back burner in her mind.

  She saw where Jordan was being seated and started to walk in that direction.

  She was surprised when Axel took her arm.

  She looked at him blankly for a minute.

  “Wait,” he told her softly. “Let’s see if he’s meeting someone.”

  “He was at my house earlier. With a woman. And her dog.”

  “So, let’s give it a minute. You’ve barely touched your food.”

  She hesitated, but then relented.

  The performers had taken a bit of a break, but they came back onstage, chatting for a minute, then moving into a Sonny and Cher number.

  Raina turned to Axel and Nigel.

  “How long do I have to wait?” she asked.

  “A few minutes,” Axel said, glancing over at Nigel.

  “He is waiting, it seems. I catch him looking at the door every few minutes, then at the time on his phone,” Nigel said.

  “Yeah, he keeps looking at his wrist, too. He must have recently worn a watch,” Axel noted.

  No one came.

  Raina tried to be patient, but it wasn’t working well.

  “No one is coming to meet him,” she said after a moment. She winced. “Sorry, guys, but at this point it doesn’t take a crack investigator to figure that out. He’s already downed one drink. He’s not a guzzler. Soon?” she asked.

  “Now,” Axel said softly.

  “You two go. I’ll observe,” Nigel said.

  “Remember, it’s date night,” Axel said quietly next to her ear.

  He took her arm as they wound their way to Jordan’s table. He’d been watching the door, then the duo onstage, and he jerked a little with surprise when he saw Axel and Raina appear in front of him.

  “Oh, hey!” he said. Then he smiled and stood and indicated the extra chairs at his table. “Please sit. What are you two doing here? I just found out about the place a few months back. Please, join me. I think I’ve been stood up.”

  “Are you waiting for Sara?” Raina asked him.

  He flushed, looking away. “Um, no. A new friend. Met her here a few weeks ago, then ran into her again. We were supposed to meet tonight.”

  “Oh, nice,” Raina murmured. “This afternoon I thought you and Sara...”

  “Yes. Kind of. But we’re not at that stage yet,” Jordan said. “I’d made this date and, well, looks like my bad. I have been stood up. So. Cool. The two of you out together. I guess everyone needs a break from a long day. Are things moving forward for you at all, Axel?” he asked as if the question were a polite one, and he wasn’t really all that interested.

  “Baby steps,” Axel said.

  Raina looked at him.

  He gave her a slight nod.

  “Jordan, were you supposed to meet a girl named Jennifer?”

  He’d been looking at the stage again. He jerked hard to stare at her.

  “How did you know that?”

  She glanced at Axel again. He was staring intently at Jordan.

  “Jordan, I’m so very sorry to tell you this, but Jennifer—the girl you were to meet—is dead.”

  Raina had seen Jordan’s performances in a few plays throughout their school years. He just wasn’t that good an actor. His look of surprise, quickly turning to one of sick denial, was real.

  “Dead? No.” He shook his head. “No, I just saw her the other day. We agreed to meet here. You have to be wrong. I mean...it can’t be.”

  “I’m afraid it’s true,” Axel said. “We’re so sorry.”

  Staring at Axel, Jordan slowly swallowed and his face wrinkled into a bewildered frown, as if he still wasn’t quite comprehending, but should be grasping at something.

  “That’s why you’re here,” he said sickly.

  Axel nodded.

  “The woman found in the Everglades.”

  “I’m sorry,” Axel said again. He let that sink in. Then he leaned forward. “Jordan, maybe you can help us. You were meeting her. How well did you know her?”

  “I knew her from here. She was sweet, bubbly, and she loved the music. She came with friends, and said it was because they could hear one another. She was nice. Always up. I never saw her in a bad mood. I never saw her do anything other than smile and...” He broke off.

  He didn’t quite sob, but he looked as if he might cry any minute.

  Raina wasn’t sure she’d ever seen Jordan appear quite so lost or bereft.

  “I, uh...” He broke off. He shook his head again. “Oh, God! She’s the one you found in the Everglades! How could anyone...?” He stared at the two of them. “Her coworkers? Did you talk to them? They all worked somewhere near here. And they knew her at the coffee shop. I just saw her there.”

  Again, he stopped speaking.

  Raina wasn’t sure what, but she thought something in him changed slightly. She thought there was a growing anger in him.

  “What is it?” she asked. “Jordan, do you know something?”

  He shook his head. His jaw looked to be locked.

  “I don’t know how anyone could have done something like that to her. It would be like killing a kitten. If I knew who did it...”

  “Okay,” Axel said. “Tell us about meeting her. Everything. Anything you can think of.”

  Jordan started to talk. He described Jennifer much as they had already heard her described. Raina realized she was watching the crowd again.

  The front, the players on the stage.

  Then she noted someone else coming in who she knew.

  “Excuse me. It seems we have other friends here tonight. Well, old teachers, anyway. I suppose we’re friends now.”

  Jordan looked across the room. “Yeah, Frank Peters and Loretta Oster. They come here all the time. Well, I assume. I’ve seen them a few times. I come maybe once a week, depending on work.” He shrugged.

  “Do you talk to them?” Raina asked.

  Jordan shrugged. He had grown into a handsome man with his dark good looks, and that night he’d dressed in jeans and a casual jacket that added to his appeal. But at the moment, he was sunk down into the chair and his face appeared drawn and sallow.

  He didn’t seem interested in the newcomers.

  “Jennifer,” he said softly.

  “You didn’t see her likeness on the news?” Raina asked.

  “What?”

  “We had a sketch of her on the news. That’s how she was identified,” Axel said.

  He shook his head. “We’ve been busy at work. I wasn’t all that concerned to tell you the truth, sad though that might be. I mean, it’s terrible. It is sad, when we hear someone has been killed. But this is Miami. We’re not a particularly bad big city, but we’re a big city.” He looked at Axel and then at Raina. “I didn’t know I knew the victim in the Everglades.”

  Raina couldn’t help herself; he’d been her friend forever. She stood and reached out to him. He stood, as well, and she hugged him, and to her surprise, he started to cry. “I didn’t know... I just didn’t know,” he said.

  “I’m so sorry, Jordan. I’m so sorry.”

  After a moment, he regained control. He nodded, wiping his face. An old-football-player-turned-attorney shouldn’t cry, she thought.

  He sat. She had one eye on him, another on Loretta Oster and Frank Peters.

  They’d chaperoned in the Everglades together a long time apparently. And now here they were together for a night out.

  Were they a couple?

  “Excuse me.
I’ll be right back,” Axel said.

  He stood and walked over to Frank and Loretta, leaving her with Jordan.

  Jordan didn’t notice him go.

  He opened his mouth to speak, but then paused, staring downward, looking for words, and then looked up again. “We’d never been alone. I mean, nothing had gotten serious. I just knew her. I was seeing Sara, but that wasn’t a serious thing yet, either, you know? And maybe I shouldn’t be taking this the way I am. Maybe I appear ridiculous to you. But Jennifer didn’t deserve to die. She deserved the best. She was a rare kind of person, just a really good human being wanting the very best for others. Does that make sense to you?”

  “Absolutely,” Raina assured him. “I didn’t know her, but I’ve learned a lot about her. Everyone loved her. She was a good person. It’s okay to be upset, Jordan. It’s really okay.”

  He was silent a minute and then he stared at her, shaking his head. “It’s not okay,” he told her.

  To her surprise, he stood and started to walk away from her, heading toward the door. He stopped halfway there and came back.

  “I’m sorry,” he said again. “I can’t stay here. I didn’t mean to be so rude. Good night.”

  “Jordan,” she said, standing, as well.

  But he was moving fast then, heading out of the club as quickly as he could go. She stared after him, remembering the strange feeling she’d had after touching the couch where he had been sitting at her house that day. Was it because Jordan had known Jennifer Lowry? Perhaps because he had cared about her so much? They had only seen each other here and never really had a date.

  And he’d been with another woman that afternoon.

  Raina heard a voice behind her.

  “Well?”

  It was Nigel, certainly weary of holding down the table himself.

  “He didn’t kill her,” she said with certainty.

  “But?”

  She shook her head. “I don’t know what it is. He had no idea she was even dead. I guess he never saw that likeness in the news, and Jennifer’s name hasn’t been released to the media yet. But his behavior was so strange.” She turned to look at Nigel. “It seemed as if he was really and deeply involved with her, but he’d only seen her a few times.”

  “We should join Axel,” Nigel said, pointing closer to the stage where Axel was now at a table with Frank Peters and Loretta Oster.

  They were both dressed for a night out. Not an elegant night out, but a casual Miami night out. Loretta was wearing a flowery maxi dress with little studded sandals.

  Frank was in a light denim jacket and an open-neck blue shirt, hair freshly washed and slicked back.

  Raina realized she had always thought of the two as teachers. Not that she had seen much of them since she’d left middle school.

  But she had come across them now and then. Especially after they had become involved with the fundraising event.

  “Hi!” Loretta said. For the first time, Raina found herself wondering about Loretta’s and Frank’s ages. When she’d been thirteen, anyone over twenty had seemed ancient. Now she realized when she’d been thirteen, the two had probably been in their mid-to late twenties. They were still young.

  And involved? If so, for how long?

  “Hey!” she said, forcing a smile.

  “Take a chair,” Frank told her. “It’s nice to see you out. You are one hardworking young lady. Your act was wonderful.”

  “I’m not really an act. I was just showing a training technique. I’m hoping they’ll have children working with animals. It’s amazing how therapeutic animals can be.”

  “Pit Bulls and Parolees,” Frank said.

  “Something like that, yes. Dogs are incredibly loyal creatures and working with them can be good for children and adults,” she said. She glanced at Axel, who’d pulled out a chair for her.

  How had the conversation been going thus far?

  “We didn’t get to meet,” Nigel told them.

  “You’re Detective Nigel Ferrer, a very old friend of Axel, and a county detective. Axel has been telling us all about you.”

  “Oh, good things, I hope.” He frowned teasingly at Axel. “Did he tell you that I’m always hungry, or something like that?”

  “Hungry—for information,” Axel protested.

  Raina smiled and hoped her smile wasn’t too plastic.

  Frank leaned forward and said, “You’re all just out for the night? The three of you?” He leaned back. “Strange date,” he said, eyeing them one by one.

  Loretta giggled. “Frank! Please. They’re all grown-ups...”

  “They are not on a three-way date, Loretta,” Frank said. “I saw that sketch on the news. It’s online, too. I think I saw that young lady in here a few times. I’m betting that’s why the three of them are here. Raina, are you giving up dog training to join law enforcement?”

  “No, not at all,” Raina said quickly.

  Loretta giggled. “Then there is something going on between the two of you!”

  “The two of them?” Frank said. “There’s three of them.”

  “Well, she was with Axel last night,” Loretta said. “Such lovely young people—it’s a delight. Okay, well, perhaps the reason you’ve met again is not the best, but fate will have its way. Lovely, lovely, lovely!”

  Frank didn’t seem to think anything was too lovely. He might not have heard a thing Loretta had said.

  He stared from Axel to Nigel.

  “You’re here because that girl in the sketch came here, and she’s the victim you found in the Everglades,” he said.

  “Yes,” Axel said. It was his turn to lean forward. “So, you knew her from the sketch? You knew you’d seen her and she came here?”

  Frank waved a hand in the air. “It was a sketch. A good one. But no one knows anything from a sketch. And I can’t say I knew her. I believe we’ve seen her. But tons of people come here, young and old.”

  “Did you ever see her with anyone?” Axel asked.

  “With anyone? What a question. Of course I saw her with someone. She came in with lots of people. Well, several people. She seemed to talk to a lot of people. Did I know them? No, I can’t say I did.”

  “But you noticed her,” Raina said softly.

  Frank shrugged. “She was a pretty girl. Of course I noticed her, anyone around her noticed her.”

  “She wasn’t that pretty,” Loretta said.

  Frank shrugged again. “She had a light about her. She was always smiling. I guess that made her pretty. Hey, if this is an interrogation, you’d better drag us down to the station. But there’s no more I can tell you.”

  “We’re looking for help,” Axel said quietly.

  “We would love to help,” Loretta said. “I just can’t think of anything more to add. Frank?”

  “Sorry, I’m not trying to be a jerk. We saw her, yes. We didn’t know her. She liked to sit close to the stage and watch the entertainment. She did seem to come with the same group of friends, but she was friendly to everyone.” He finished speaking and rose. “Sorry, my evening is shot for me. I didn’t want to believe that pretty girl is dead, but now I guess we have to. Loretta, come on. Let me take you home.”

  “Is it all right?” Loretta asked anxiously, looking from Raina to Nigel and then Axel.

  “Of course, and thank you,” Axel said, rising, as well, bringing Nigel and Raina to their feet.

  “If we think of anything, we’ll call you. I wish there was something more we could offer,” Frank said. “Anyway, good night.”

  He took Loretta by the arm and they headed out.

  “And he’s such a great guy, chaperoning kids,” Nigel said.

  “He has been a chaperone on field trips for years,” Raina said. “He would be in charge of the guys, always respected and liked.”

  “He was weird,�
� Nigel said.

  “Yes, but not as strange as Jordan,” Raina muttered.

  Both of them looked at her. “Oh, no,” she clarified. “I believe with my whole heart that Jordan was stunned, that he knew nothing about Jennifer being dead, and he did care about her. He cried. The Jordan I’ve always known is not a crier. No, Jordan didn’t kill her. He was just weird. But it’s true, I mean, most of us are decent human beings, and it’s horrible and painful to hear about any murder, but when someone you cared about is murdered, it becomes more.”

  “Think we’re done here?” Nigel asked Axel.

  Axel was quiet a minute. Then he shook his head. “Bartenders. They know everything.”

  Eleven

  They split up.

  There were three bars spread out along the three walls that surrounded the opening, one of them a distance from the musicians.

  Nigel walked across the far wall; Axel and Raina started at the stretch down from the stage.

  They ordered. He’d been drinking soda with lime all night and had noticed Raina was opting to do the same. He told her she was welcome to something stronger but she shook her head.

  “Whatever these strange ‘touch’ intuitions are, I don’t want to mess with them in any way,” she told him.

  “Have you gotten anything in here?” he asked her.

  She shook her head. “Nothing. I still can’t figure out Jordan or Frank Peters. Jordan was broken, and then angry. And Frank was strangely callous for a man who has dealt well with young people all his life. That’s why he and Loretta are still at it, I imagine. Never anything improper in any way. They can both discipline and gain respect at the same time. Good people, one would think.”

  “And did you know they were a pair?”

  She shook her head. “I don’t think they were back when I was in school. You have to remember, I was thirteen at the time and I haven’t been involved with alumni groups or anything like that. We’re still looking for a needle in a haystack.”

  Axel nodded, but he wasn’t so sure. For the moment, he said, “You know, you’re not a bad partner.”

  “Partner?” she queried, smiling.