Free Ruthless by Debra Webb Page A

myself.”
    “Don’t hold back on my account.” To Jess’s supreme irritation, rather than taking off the other car kept pace with theirs.
    She glared at the tinted window running right alongside hers. The idea that the driver could be armed—like last week when she’d had a weapon pointed at her from a car trailing her—had her barely resisting the urge to squirm.
    Deciding she’d had enough of the other driver’s tactics, whatever the motive, Jess opened her mouth to tell Lori to floor it when the other car abruptly lunged forward, leaving them behind.
    “It’s a rental,” Lori grumbled. “What an idiot.”
    Jess breathed a little easier.
    For the rest of the drive back to Birmingham she comforted herself with the notion that Lori was probably right when she mentioned the competitiveness of sports car drivers.
    Then again, denial was a common escape… even for those experienced enough to know better. Spears hadused rentals before. And there was Captain Ted Allen. His family hadn’t heard from him. His body hadn’t been found, though his vehicle had been. Maybe he was driving that rental. Maybe he still wanted revenge for Jess busting into his case, which seemed totally irrational unless his connection to Lopez was a financial one. That avenue, as well as several others, was under investigation.
    Don’t let your imagination run away with you, Jess.
Ted Allen was one of two places, in her opinion: soaking up rays on a sunny beach somewhere south of the border, or pushing up daisies right under their noses.
    Dread sent a shudder rocking through her.
    “You cold?” Lori reached for the AC control.
    “No.” Jess shook her head. “I’m fine. Just fine.”
    Jim ‘N Nick’s was on Eleventh Avenue in Five Points, near Lori’s old apartment. The atmosphere was casual, and the aromas coming from the kitchen were incredible. Jess’s mouth began to water as soon as they walked through the door. She’d had no idea she was so starved until she walked into the place. Usually she had to be reminded it was time to eat.
    No one was going to have to remind her at the moment. Food just tasted better lately—except for that pizza last night.
    Corlew waved them over to his booth. “I ordered burgers and sweet tea. You won’t get better anywhere in town.”
    “Thanks,” Lori said, as she waited for Jess to slide into the booth first.
    Corlew assessed her for a second or two too long. “How’s it going, Jess?”
    Jess would have to be deaf not to notice the way hisvoice softened when he spoke to her. Good Lord,
they
had been a long time ago. And even then there really hadn’t been a
them
. She had already been with Dan. But there had been something between her and Corlew. A spark… a glimmer of something that might have been had circumstances been different.
    A close call for any female. Buddy Corlew had been a womanizing shit. A damned handsome one, but a shit nonetheless. He had, however, been a friend on occasion. She was hoping this would be one of those occasions.
    Mostly, she surmised, today’s thoughtfulness was about making up for trying to make the BPD, Dan in particular, look bad last week. By all accounts, he’d spent a lot of time trying to make the department look bad. Not so unusual for ex-cops, especially ones who’d been fired. But he should get over that, Jess thought. Corlew was a PI these days. Carrying around a grudge wasn’t going to win him any respect, much less friends.
    “Going just great, Corlew. How’s the PI business?” As a private investigator he did basically the same work she did, just without all the rules and the ultimate arrests. Like her, he’d never been very good with rules anyway. The main difference between them was that she would never use anyone else to get ahead. Corlew would use anyone, anytime, for anything that might benefit him.
    “I heard you almost lost your ponytail,” Lori chimed in when the silence dragged on. “You made today’s early morning