Free Unmanned by Lois Greiman Page A

went to work?” he asked finally.
    “I do serious work at my office, Lieutenant Rivera,” I said. It was sort of a preemptive excuse.
    “Yeah?” His tone was stiff. “Lepinski still can’t decide about luncheon options?”
    “Listen—” I said, but Julio interrupted.
    “She is a very brave woman, Lieutenant.”
    Rivera shifted his thunderbolt gaze back to his father’s look-alike. Gone was that moment of tender anger. Now all-out rage flashed across his features. “Are you aware that someone tried to kill her last night, Manderos?”
    Julio hesitated an instant, then, “I was told that a man named Will died while visiting her.”
    “Shot between the eyes,” Rivera said, “while, or shortly after, she was standing directly in front of him.”
    Julio shook his head, his expression troubled. “This is a terrible thing indeed, but surely no one would wish our Christina harm.”
    Rivera snarled a smile. “Hit men are funny.”
    Manderos considered that a moment, then shook his head. “I do not believe that was his intent.”
    “Really?” The lieutenant’s eyes were narrow. “Maybe you were a friend of Mr. Swanson’s?”
    If Julio was getting tired of Rivera’s shitty attitude, he didn’t show it. “No, I knew no one by that name, but look at her,” he said. His tone almost seemed reverent. “Is she not beauty itself?”
    My gaze skipped from one to the other. Julio’s eyes were soft and earnest. Rivera’s looked like they could scorch your shorts. “What the hell are you getting at?” he asked, shifting his glare to Julio.
    Manderos shook his head sadly. “Surely you have not walked so long amidst evil that you cannot think of an innocent reason a man might wish to spend an evening with a lady of Christina’s caliber.”
    Rivera turned his black eyes back toward me. His nostrils actually flared. I considered scrambling over the coffee table and out the front door like a shrieking virgin. “Nothing too innocent,” he said, then looked back at Julio, expression closed, eyes flinty. “Where were
you
last night, Manderos?”
    For a moment Julio’s eyes widened, and then he smiled the smallest degree. “I was in the company of a friend, Lieutenant.”
    “A friend who’ll corroborate your story?”
    Julio paused, sighed. “A friend who is married.”
    Rivera took a step forward. “So you have no alibi. Tell me, what made you decide to visit Ms. McMullen’s office this afternoon?”
    “I wished to make certain all was well.”
    “Why today? Do you stop by often?” He was starting to crowd.
    “I fear my duties at the club keep me too busy to do as much socializing as I would—”
    “Then why did you—”
    “Oh, for God’s sake,” I said, and stepped between the two. I should have done it sooner, but all this talk about beauty and innocence and the dark looks and the flared nostrils had pretty much unhinged my jaw. Still, enough was enough. “Julio…” I turned toward him, showing Rivera my back. “…thank you for bringing me home.”
    His eyes were gleaming, but with anger or humor or some other emotion, I couldn’t tell. “It was an honor, Ms. Christina,” he said, and lifting my hand, kissed my knuckles with slow deliberation. His lips felt firm and shivery hot against my skin. “You will call me if ever you are in need, will you not?”
    I cleared my throat and refrained from giggling like a nervous majorette. “Certainly.”
    He nodded and turned toward the door. I followed him.
    “Wait. You don’t have your car,” I said, but he smiled and turned in my mini-vestibule.
    “I’ve no wish to intrude on your day any longer.” He glanced at Rivera. I could only imagine the lieutenant didn’t look any happier than he had during the first few months of our acquaintance. “I believe the two of you have much to discuss. There is a bus stop just around the corner. I have not been so long from my humble roots that I do not remember the value of public transport.”
    He