Free Playing Dead by Allison Brennan

he talked to and what they said. She didn’t know if it would help, but it might give her another path to travel.
    Right now, all she had was the advisor. She’d left a message for him after talking with Tammy. She tried his number again, but when voice mail picked up, she immediately hung up.
    She glanced at the time in the lower right-hand corner of her computer screen. Damn, she had to put this aside and go to her interview with Ben Holman, the owner of the warehouse that had burned down. She turned off her monitor, washed her face, and reapplied the light makeup she wore during the day.
    She left in her Jeep and just as she merged onto the Business 80 toward Roseville, her cell phone rang. She glanced at the caller ID and saw that it was Dave Kamanski’s cell phone number. Normally she loved talking to her “brother”—the son of the man who’d taken on guardianship duty when her father had been sent to prison. Dave was ten years older than her and had been a rookie cop when she’d moved into Detective Bill Kamanski’s house. Dave had trained under her father and they’d been friends. Tom’s actions had hurt him nearly as much as they had Claire.
    But now . . . Claire didn’t dare tell Dave her dad had contacted her. He was still a cop, a solid cop, and he’d insist she report it.
    “Hi,” she answered.
    “Kings game, seven o’clock, my house. Phil, Manny and Jill, Eric. Phil’s cooking.”
    “I sure hope so,” she teased.
    “Think Jayne is free tonight?”
    Jayne Morgan was the computer expert at Rogan-Caruso and the closest thing Claire had to a best friend. She suspected that Dave had a crush on Jayne, but sadly it wasn’t mutual.
    “I can ask, but don’t count on it,” Claire sidestepped.
    “But you’re game?”
    “I don’t think I can.” Mitch was picking her up at eight. She hadn’t introduced him to her “family.” That would necessitate her explaining to Mitch about her father being a killer—and a fugitive. Not to mention that Dave and Phil Palmer, his longtime partner, always gave her boyfriends a hard time. Mitch could probably hold his own, but they’d jab at him about being a freelance writer with no visible means of support, and no real job.
    “Okay, ’fess up. What are you doing?”
    “I have a date.”
    “Bring him by. Someone we know?”
    “No.”
    “New guy?”
    “Sort of.” She’d been seeing Mitch for a few months.
    “Well? Doesn’t he like basketball?”
    “He likes to play, not watch.”
    “You’re dating an athlete now?”
    “No, though I’d bet he can beat you at racquetball.”
    “Bullshit. Your boyfriends are all wimps.”
    “That’s not true.”
    “You should date someone who’s your equal, Claire, not someone you can mentally and physically run circles around.”
    “Yeah, yeah, tell me something new.”
    “So you’re not going to bring him?”
    “Not yet. I haven’t told him—well, I just like things the way they are, okay?”
    Dave softened. “Claire, if you want to talk about your dad—”
    “No,” she said quickly. Too quickly? She cleared her throat. Oliver Maddox had also talked to Bill, but Claire hadn’t wanted to listen to what they’d discussed. But now she needed information . . . Would they realize something was up if she started asking questions? She’d have to tread carefully. Dave, Phil, and Manny were all smart cops. She needed to get Dave’s dad Bill alone. Bill had a soft spot for her. She didn’t feel good about exploiting him, but right now she needed all the information she could get.
    “How about if I come by for the first half?”
    He snorted. “Your date won’t mind?”
    “No need to be snide, David.”
    “Ouch. You must be pissed to call me David. ”
    “Later. I have an arsonist to interview.”
    “The West Sac warehouse fire?”
    “Yep.”
    “Be careful.”
    “Always.”
    She hung up and pulled off the freeway, then turned into an upscale development in Roseville, a sprawling suburban city