Page 27 of Loving a Billionaire

He threw her a glare and pointed to the conference room. “I want you both in there as soon as he shows his face. Understood?”

“Yes, sir.”

Talia wished she knew why he was always snapping at her. What had she done to make him mad? She would think it had something to do with her recent undercover case with Austin, but the sergeant had acted that way with her since she first met him.

She wandered back toward the front door. Still no sign of Kurt. Then she moved to the window and peered outside. Kurt’s Honda Accord slowly pulled into a parking place. When he exited the car, he held a cup – probably black coffee, no sugar, no cream, just the way he liked it – and took careful steps toward the building.

Biting her lip, she tried not to laugh. Although she had a headache, too, at least it wasn’t breaking her skull with every step, and threatening to bring everything in her stomach up, like she knew his hangover was doing. She hoped the sergeant would be nicer to Kurt, instead of being harsh as he’d been with her.

When Kurt finally made his appearance, she walked toward him. His narrowed gaze stayed on her until she stopped in front of him.

“For some reason, Sergeant Feakes looks like he’s on the warpath. He wants us both in the conference room, immediately.”

Kurt cussed. “I hope my headache can withstand it.”

“So do I.”

Side-by-side she walked with Kurt into the conference room. When she noticed the others in the precinct, she breathed a sigh of relief. Thank goodness it wasn’t just her and Kurt the sergeant wanted to speak with.

Once she and Kurt took their seats, Sergeant Feakes did his customary pacing in front of everyone. By now, she was used to this. She assumed it was the man’s way of trying to get his point across. Sometimes it worked, but most of the time it didn’t.

“The mayor wants answers. Kalama Kane’s case is stretching into a week, and that’s too long.” He glared at Tyrone and Gibbs. “What have you found out?”

Henry Gibbs certainly didn’t fit the part of a police detective. The blond man’s clean-cut shaven face, and his classy threads, made him look like someone who took modeling seriously. If he had any muscles like Kurt, she’d be surprised. Now she wondered if his fingernails were manicured, too.

As Gibbs started explaining who he’d questioned and what they found, she moved her gaze to Kurt. His attention wasn’t on the sergeant or the other two detectives, but it was on her. When she met his stare, he quickly looked away. Her heart fluttered, but it wasn’t quite like the fluttering it did whenever Austin looked at her, or touched her, or kissed her.

“Russell and Hamill?” Sergeant Feakes’ voice rose higher. “You’ve had enough time to question Mr. Reeder. What’s going on with him?”

She glanced at Kurt to see if he was going to speak, but by the grimace on his expression as he squeezed his eyes closed, she realized he probably wouldn’t talk yet.

“Sergeant, as you know, I went undercover wearing an earpiece. I met with the perp last night. Kurt was able to get most of the conversation recorded. But during my evening with Reeder, I was led to believe he wasn’t involved with Kalama Kane. He mentioned helping her get out of a sticky situation when she worked for Belle’s Escort Service. Kurt and I wondered if this was a call girl service.” The other men snickered behind their hands. She rolled her eyes and continued. “But Reeder admits to giving Kalama money, but when she wanted more and he turned her down, they parted ways, and he claims he’d not seen her since then.”

Feakes paused and glanced at the others. “Have any of you heard of Belle’s Escort Service?”

Negative mumbling circled the group

“Russell and Hamill, I want you to follow up on this lead.”

“Yes, sir,” Kurt muttered.

Feakes cocked his head as he peered directly at Talia. “So are we taking him off the suspect’s list?”

“Yes, I think—”

“No, not yet,” Kurt interrupted.

She gasped and glared at him. What was he doing? After he had listened in on their conversation last night, why wasn’t he convinced as she was?

“Explain yourself,” Feakes snapped.

Kurt inhaled deeply and sat up straighter. “Because Reeder kept in touch with Kalama, and even gave her money to set up her own business – which he admits to not knowing what it was – Reeder had mentioned that they argued and she stormed out.”

“Seriously?” Talia shook her head, not believing Kurt. “That’s why you think he’s still a suspect?”

“Yes.” He met her glare. “Because he had upset her. And he even mentioned that she threatened him before leaving.”

“But nothing was done about it. Reeder hadn’t seen her since that day.”