Page 14 of Black Orchid Girls (Detective Amanda Steele)

“You can order dinner in, on me.” She hoped that would be enough to sweeten the pot. Becky loved Zoe, and vice versa, but this was an unexpected drop on her friend’s agenda.

“Okay. It’s a deal.”

“There’s money in an envelope in the kitchen drawer. You know which one?”

“I do.” With that, her friend hung up. No need to hash over logistics. Becky knew the routine and had a key to Amanda’s house, as Amanda had one for Becky’s place.

Trent pulled onto the Somners’ street, located in a nice neighborhood that boasted sizable mansions with long front walkways leading to prestigious double doors—most of them painted black with gaudy brass hardware. He parked in the double-wide driveway for number 3503.

“Here goes,” Amanda said as they got out of the car and walked up to the house.

She felt miniature standing next to the large structure and lifted the brass knocker. She was just about to release it when the door opened.

A woman in her late forties with thinly plucked eyebrows stood in the foyer. “Yes?”

Amanda pulled her badge, as did Trent. Melissa Somner looked just like her DMV photo. She was certainly the picture of prim and proper. She even had the “looking down her nose” thing down pat.

“Mrs. Somner, we’re Detectives Steele and Stenson. Could we come inside and speak with you for a moment?” Amanda wanted to know if Melissa’s husband was home too, but she’d wait to ask once they got in the house. She didn’t want to set the woman on edge.

Melissa squinted and laid a hand flat to her chest, her fingers spread, which emphasized her slender digits and the diamonds encrusted around three of them. She also had a French manicure that had unquestionably been done by the hands of a skilled esthetician. She studied Amanda and Trent, peering down that nose like a scientist on an experiment.

“It’s about your daughter, Chloe,” Amanda added.

Melissa stepped back and gestured for them to enter.

The front area was palatial and something one might expect in the lobby of a fancy hotel. The ceiling stretched above them two stories, and a balcony on the second floor overlooked the marbled entry.

Melissa crossed her arms and stuck out her small chin. “What about Chloe?”

“Is there someplace we could sit?” Amanda was sure to keep her tone neutral and level, not wanting to upset the current emotional balance. It would be toppled like a high rise in an earthquake soon enough.