Page 114 of Killer Body

“Grossly overweight,” I say. “Tania Marie said she was obese.”

Lucas

She found him on his boat that morning. He’d come down to do some work and ended up sleeping there. His first thought when he spotted her approaching the slip in casual pants and a lace-up burgundy sweater was that she’d come because of him, because ofthem.But her unsmiling expression, the look of determination, told him otherwise.

Now they walked the pier, and Lucas tried to make sense of what she had told him. There must be another explanation.

“It can’t have been Julie,” he said. “It makes no sense.”

“Not to me, either, but Tania Marie insists it was Julie. She talked to her, she said. Didn’t you tell me Julie would disappear for months at a time?”

“Weeks at a time. Months this last one. But she had too much self-control to go off like that. She had too much to lose.”

He paused at the pier railing, wondering how much he should say. Would Rikki be able to help? Or would she spread this story all over the newspaper?

“There’s something you haven’t told me.” She tilted her head, and the sun glinted off her hair, so shiny she must have just washed it. “I know it.”

“I’m trying to tell you everything. I just don’t know what’s important.”

“Is that true, Lucas?” Her unyielding eyes narrowed on him with lie-detector precision.

“Of course it’s true.” He hesitated, unable to look away from her. “There is something. I’m just not sure how important it is.”

She touched the tender place beneath his eye where the drunk had hit him. “Tell me.”

It was down to a simple choice, his loyalty to Bobby W or his belief in her.

“Bobby W has a trust,” he said. “If Julie violates the Killer Body code of ethics before or after his death, it’s going to cost her and her survivors a lot of money.”

She shuddered, and for a moment, he regretted saying it. “Ever the controller, isn’t he? Even beyond the grave. So, did he also dictate her personal life? Does the Killer Body code of ethics include dating, marriage, maybe?”

“I believe it does.”

“You’re not kidding, are you?”

“No.” He turned toward the ocean, wished he were out there on it, where it was easy to make the right decision, where he had only himself and the stars to depend on. “Bobby W doesn’t have a family. Killer Body is it. I told you this only to prove that it would cost Julie a fortune to violate something as basic as control over her weight.”

“Maybe it was out of her control.” Her eyes looked wet, catching the reflection from the sea. He questioned again his wisdom in trusting her.

“She’s controlled everything else. Lived her life by the book.”

“Perfect. She was perfect.” She clenched her fists. “Damn. That’s why she disappeared.”

“Why? You think she’s hiding until she can get the weight off? Come on, Rikki.”

She glared at him. “You really don’t get it, do you? Even the most rigid people can lose control, and when they do—”

He reached out for her, wanting to stop the pain that shimmered in her eyes. She jumped at his touch, pulled away.

“I have to go. There’s something I need to do.”

“Wait. I’ll go with you.”

“No.”

He hated the way she could shut him out like this. “Have it your way, only I think you owe me something before I go. The briefcase with Julie’s bank statements in it.”

“Damn.” She threw her arms around him. “The briefcase, of course.” And she was gone, dashing toward her car, calling over her shoulder, “I’ll phone you.”