Page 26 of Diamonds in the Mud

I sighed and set my cup down. “Are you friendly with either Beau or Wyatt?”

Faye glanced down at her hands. “Wyatt comes in now and then.”

“Who does he hang out with?” I asked.

Her eyes jerked back up to mine. “Who doesn’t he hang with? Jocks, bikers, yuppies, ma and pa types.” She shrugged. “The man is far more popular than his brother, that’s for sure. It’s funny,” she started, but then she stopped and shook her head.

“Funny?” I prodded.

She rolled her eyes. “It’s just… Beau is far better looking than Wyatt.” She smiled.

“Does Beau come in often?”

She shrugged. “Sometimes he comes to pick up his father. I’ve never seen him drink.”

“Wyatt’s involved with…” I pretended to pull out my notepad to look, but Faye beat me to the name. “Clara Mangrum.”

I nodded. Clara Mangrum worked at the station, but I still didn’t know whether in Internal Affairs or records. I was going to make a point to find out.

“They’ve been going out again for a few months,” Faye added. “Before that… we used to be a thing.”

“Is that why you started shaking it up with his old man?” I asked, not caring to go light on her at this point. “Couldn’t keep the son?”

Her eyes jerked to mine. “Henry takes care of me, unlike Wyatt.”

“Financially? Because I can think of a few laws⁠—”

“No, in other ways.” She picked up her coffee to sip. “Do you have any other questions? Because I need to head up and shower.”

“How often do the Reapers come in here?” I asked instead of asking any other questions about the murder.

Faye looked surprised. “Too often if you ask me.” I waited. “At least five times a week. Every day during the winter.”

I nodded. “Troublemakers?” I asked, already knowing the answer.

She shrugged. “Sometimes. Only twice we’ve had to call you guys in to help out. For the most part, I think they know we’re the only ones in town that will deal with them, so they play nice.”

“Right,” I said, knowing that was probably the reason Felix Woolf had pulled Declan O’Malley out of my grip and out of the bar last week. There was no doubt in my mind that Felix and Declan knew who I was. Even though I didn’t work the beat, they knew. “What do you know about Jameson Lorenzo?”

Faye’s eyebrows arched and she smiled for the first time. “Now that’s a man I’d like to sink my teeth into.” She purred and when I didn’t respond, she continued. “He’s quiet. Watchful. Kind. A good tipper. I can tell he doesn’t like the shenanigans that a few of the others get into. He seems all business. Like Felix and Ben, though I’ve seen those two cut loose. I haven’t seen Jameson relax so much as a muscle. Oh, he looks relaxed, but there’s just something…” She dropped off.

“Right,” I agreed. There was something unexplainable about the man. The piece of the puzzle I hadn’t quite found yet.

I stood up from my stool and downed the rest of the now lukewarm coffee. “Thanks for that.” I motioned to the cup. “Let me know if you think of anything else.”

“Sure.”

“Oh, one more thing.” I stopped. “What other tricks do you have going?”

I watched her eyes widen slightly before she lied. “None.”

“Make sure it stays that way,” I warned and walked out.

I had a couple of hours to kill before I went to meet Jameson. Just enough time to head into the mayor’s office and ask the mayor’s coworkers the new questions that I had.

Chapter Seven

“To be a diamond, you have to go through a lot of pressure and heat, but in the end, you come out shining.