Free Swift Edge by Laura Disilverio

sure you didn’t see anyone or anything?”
    I shook my head and regretted it. “No. I told you. I heard someone on the ice and a door closing, but that was it. I saw nada.” Sugar poured into my bloodstream, and I began to feel almost human. “I don’t think it was premeditated,” I mused, “because the attacker used a weapon of opportunity—Bobrova’s cane. Wouldn’t he—or she—have brought a gun, a knife, a rope, a candlestick if he intended to kill her?”
    Montgomery shrugged. “Maybe, maybe not. Whoever it was clearly knew Bobrova would be there alone. He probably also knew about the cane. Everyone we spoke to this morning said she carried it everywhere.”
    “I wonder if this is connected with Dmitri’s disappearance.”
    “I wonder if Dmitri beat her,” Montgomery said, finishing his coffee. “Maybe her saying ‘Dmitri’ to you was an accusation.”
    “Maybe.” I needed to think about it some more.
    Montgomery caught the glint in my eye. “This is a police investigation now, Charlie. You stay away from it.” He put his forearms on the table and leaned toward me. He smelled like coffee and spicy aftershave. Irresistible. If I hadn’t been hungover.
    “Of course,” I said. “I wouldn’t dream of intruding on police territory.” I licked sugary goo off my fingers.
    He snorted.
    “I do have an obligation to my client, however, to continue investigating the disappearance of her partner.” I smiled at him and got to my feet. “So could you take me back to my car now?”
    *   *   *
    I’d been planning to swing by Dellert’s on my way back from the Ice Hall to get started on Dan’s missing kid, but the attack on Bobrova had changed things. Gigi could handle the initial interviews at Dellert’s while I pursued Dmitri. I pulled into the office lot, not surprised to see Gigi’s yellow Hummer parked out front since it was already after nine. I felt like I’d been up for two days. I found both Gigi and Kendall at their desks when I went in. Gigi had on a pink turtleneck, stretched to capacity by her ample bosom, and a purple velvet jacket. A bigger-than-life-sized sea horse brooch of purple, teal, and green crystals glinted on her lapel. Her jaw-length champagne-colored hair was immaculate as usual, and she greeted me with a smile that faded as she took in the particulars of my appearance.
    “Oh, Charlie. Were you doing some process serving this morning? I could’ve told you not to try it at a breakfast place. Luckily, syrup is easy to get out. Soak your coat in warm water and—”
    “It’s blood,” I said and marched to the fridge for a Pepsi. I stuffed the coat under my desk and pulled out the gym bag where I kept a change of clothes.
    “Are you hurt?” Gigi asked at the same time Kendall said, “Why are you wearing cleats?”
    “No,” I told Gigi, then turned to face the teenager. Apparently, she wasn’t feeling guilty about trying to get me arrested yesterday, because there wasn’t a trace of self-consciousness on her face. “I wore the cleats so I wouldn’t slip on the ice.”
    “You wore cleats on the ice? At the Ice Hall?” Kendall sounded appalled, as if I’d admitted to swindling sweet grannies out of their life savings or having sex with giraffes. “That is so verboten!”
    “Believe me, a few cleat marks on the ice is the least of their worries today.”
    I told them about Bobrova.
    They sat in stunned silence for a moment when I finished. Finally, Gigi said, “I know you probably feel badly that you didn’t get there earlier, Charlie, but I’m grateful you didn’t surprise the attacker. Why, he might have killed you, too.”
    I shot Gigi a surprised look. I had been blaming myself for not moving quicker, for not finding Bobrova in time to prevent the attack, but how could Gigi know that?
    Kendall had a more predictable response. “What will her students do? Nationals are next week, and the Olympics are in February. They can’t switch coaches