She turned away, settling her gaze on the crowded bar. But her thoughts seemed to be miles away.

“The phone thing is weird,” she murmured.

“Agreed.”

“When she came to visit me, she had it in her lap the whole time.”

Brandon watched her, absorbing details he hadn’t noticed at the courthouse. Her dark hair had glints of red in it, and loose strands fell around her neck. He liked the bun, and he couldn’t look at it without wanting to pull it loose. She wore a chunky man’s sports watch that seemed at odds with her feminine clothes, and for some reason the combination was unbelievably sexy.

Brandon sipped his ice water.

“Was Vanessa having a problem with anyone?” he asked.

“A legal problem?”

“Any kind of problem. The thing with her landlord, for instance.”

“I can’t discuss her legal issues.”

And there it was, the dodge he’d expected. If it had been a homicide investigation, he could have compelled her to give him at least some information. As it was now, though, he needed to rely on persuasion.

“How’d she seem when she came to see you?” he asked, going for the indirect approach.

Leigh’s expression turned wary. “How do you mean?”

“Did she seem stressed out? Upset? Scared?”

“She was stressed out. But that’s not remarkable. I mean, people don’t generally come see me to tell me how great their life is going.”

“What kind of law do you practice?”

“All kinds.”

He tamped down his impatience. “Does Mendez and Larson have a specialty?”

“Officially, no. But we do a fair amount of work going after psycho exes, stalkers, and online perverts.”

He eased forward. “Psycho exes?”

“You know, pissed-off boyfriends and husbands. Guys who harass and trash and post revenge porn, that sort of thing.”

For the first time since he’d shined his flashlight on that abandoned Toyota, Brandon felt like he was getting somewhere.

“Is that what was going on with Vanessa?” he asked. “And before you say anything about privilege, you should know that time is working against us here.”

“I don’t know. I wish I did.” Leigh looked sincere, but he figured that was an expression she had in her arsenal after years as an attorney. “We had a short preliminary conversation—mostly about our fee structure, to be honest with you. She seemed to be concerned about money. And then she left. When I didn’t hear back, I assumed she decided not to hire us.”

“Until today.”

She nodded.

Brandon leaned back in the booth. He hadn’t had time for more than a quick Internet search, but he hadn’t come up with this psycho-stalker angle when he’d run Leigh’s name. She must not be established in the specialty yet. Which meant Vanessa might not have gone looking for help with some guy giving her trouble. Maybe she simply needed some legal advice.