Free The Survivors Club by J. Carson Black Page A

bad. Now I wouldn’t go there if you paid me.”
    Tess watched the dogs, who were hanging out in the front yard with a watchful eye on Jaimie. One of them was an Australian shepherd.
    “Did George bring his dog over here?”
    “All the time. Is she okay?”
    “She was taken to Animal Control.”
    Her mouth flatlined. “ That figures! It was that stupid bitch, Pat, am I right? Anyone who’d do that to a dog after she lost her human, that’s just plain evil! “ She crossed her arms and glared at Tess. “I have half a mind to go get her.”
    “She’s already been adopted.”
    “Well, that’s good. At least she’s got a home.” Jaimie looked out at her own pack. “Adele was always welcome. She loved coming here.” She nodded to the Australian shepherd. “Bandit and Adele got along great, but that’s true of most dogs. Pat should have called me and I would have come and got her. She would have been a happy dog.”
    Tess asked her again (how many ways could you answer the question? She was about to find out) regarding George Hanley’s relationship with the other people on the board of SABEL.
    “He got on great with everybody. People loved him.”
    “Anyone who didn’t?” Danny asked.
    “Nope. He was just that kind of guy.”
    “Was there anyone he was really close to?”
    “Not really.”
    “No one he might’ve rubbed the wrong way?”
    “Nope.”
    Danny said, “Anyone else besides SABEL members who had any interaction with George that you’ve noticed?”
    “Nope.” She paused. “Except for my brother Michael—he was his financial advisor. You might want to talk to him.” She started down the steps of the house. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got six stalls to clean.”
    Tess remembered the notation on George Hanley’s calendar. “What’s his name?”
    Jaimie Wolfe stopped and turned to look at them. “Michael. Michael DeKoven. He lives in Tucson—he’s in the book.”

    “So what do you think?” Tess asked Danny as they drove out.
    He buzzed down the passenger window of the Tahoe and rested his elbow on the door and watched the scenery fly by. “She’s smooth.”
    “Lying?”
    He shrugged. “Could be. But there’s nothing I can point to.”
    “So, your first impression.”
    Danny turned to look at her, the sun bouncing off his aviator shades. “I don’t think she works and plays well with others.”
    Tess nodded.
    “I bet you could figure her out, guera . You know, use your X-ray vision.”
    “Doesn’t work that way.”
    “I bet you remember every word she said. That would drive me nuts.”
    “I file most stuff away.”
    “What, like filing cabinets in your head?”
    “Memory is selective for everybody. If I don’t think about a thing, I don’t think about it. Just like everyone else.”
    Danny said, “My wife remembers everything.”

CHAPTER 14
    Michael DeKoven’s office was twenty-three floors up, the second level from the top of the Dystel Energy Building at One South Church in Tucson.
    Tess was on her own—Danny had to testify in court on another case. As she stepped into the elevator, she was joined by a man in bicycle togs and a racing bike.
    He noted that she’d hit the button for the twenty-third floor. He didn’t reach past her for another.
    Tess recognized him as Michael Ross DeKoven himself—the head of DeKoven Financial.
    Tess knew he was thirty-five—the oldest of the four DeKoven siblings. He was youthful and athletic, with brown hair and the square jaw of a comic-book hero. Tess knew he had a wife and two children, a boy and a girl. His wife was a little younger but not by much, and she had worked as a financial advisor at DeKoven Financial.
    As she stepped in, Tess was aware he was watching her out of the corner of his eye. They both watched the floor numbers change.
    Finally, he said, “Are you the lady detective?”
    Tess smiled at him. “That’s right.”
    “And remind me, why are we meeting today?”
    “I wanted to ask you about