Free Brittle Shadows by Vicki Tyley

left.
    “Let’s start
again, shall we?”
    “From where?”
    The corner of
his mouth lifted. “From wherever you like.” He extended a hand across the
table. “Ethan Kelly’s the name.”
    She laughed.
“Pleased to meet you, Mr Kelly. Mine’s Jemma Dalton.” His hand felt cool and
dry against her hot skin.
    For the next
few minutes they did nothing more than drink their cappuccinos and indulge in
small talk.
    “Sorry about
yesterday, by the way,” Ethan said, pushing his cup to one side. “Family
crisis.”
    She waited for
him to elaborate. He didn’t. “Everything okay now?”
    He rocked his
hand. “Time will tell. Any more unwelcome visitors?” he asked, making it sound
as if she were contending with nothing more threatening than a couple of pesky
mice.
    “No, thank God.
Which reminds me,” she said, using the opening, “did you get a chance to look
into those missing security transactions like you said you would?”
    “I did.” He ran
a finger under his nose. “It seems as if the fault may lie with the software. I
checked the logs for the last couple of months myself, and it appears it might
be an ongoing, if intermittent problem. I have spoken to the security company
and they have assured me they will investigate. So thank you for bringing that
to our attention.”
    “It’s what I do
for a living.” Not for one second did she believe it was a software glitch.
“Tell me, how well do you know Gerry?”
    “Gerry Hobson?
The security guard?”
    She nodded,
making a mental note of the surname.
    “He’s been
doing the job for as long as I’ve been around. He’s not a friend or anything,
but we chat from time to time. Why?” His eyes narrowed, realization setting in.
“Come off it. You don’t seriously think he could have altered the log files?
Even if he knew how, he’s not stupid enough to risk his livelihood.” He shook
his head. “Not good ole Gerry.”
    Changing her
mind about asking if ‘good ole Gerry’ had access to the master key, she
switched tack. “How about access to the apartment after Tanya’s death then? Do
you know if anyone else besides the packers was given a key?”
    “I would have
to check our records, but unless you or your lawyer authorized it, I doubt it
very much. Where are you heading with this?”
    The words clutching and straws sprang to mind. She sighed. “I wish I knew.”
    He motioned at
her empty cup. “Can I get you another?”
    “No thanks. I’m
all coffeed out.” She leaned forward, her forearms resting along the table
edge. “Ethan, you never said if you and Tanya knew each other or not.”
    He didn’t
flinch. “Only in passing. In fact, I’ve seen more of you in the last couple of
days than I saw of her in the whole time she was living in the apartment
complex.”
    “Was she ever
with anyone when you saw her?”
    He frowned.
“Not,” he said, drawing out the word, “that I recall. I really didn’t take much
notice.”
    Jemma was
tempted to check under the table to make sure he actually was a man. Tanya used
to attract attention wherever she went, especially of the male variety. A
thought struck her and she almost laughed out loud. Not married, successful,
good-looking, immaculately groomed and attired – Ethan was probably gay. All
the best ones were.

CHAPTER
10
     
    Jemma tapped her watch, signaling
she had to go. Ethan acknowledged her with a nod and kept talking, the person
on the other end of the phone evidently too important to put on hold.
    Head down, she
left the café and retraced her steps back toward the apartment. Besides Gerry’s
last name, what had she discovered? Either the security company’s software had
a bug in it or someone made a habit of editing the audit log. She knew which
one she had her money on, despite Ethan’s assurances.
    “Jemma!”
    She turned,
hunting for the source. Marcus and a tall woman she didn’t recognize were
crossing the street in her direction. Jemma waved and moved to the outside edge
of