‘Cab, really? Do you have to bother Diane today?’

‘I do,’ he said.

He knew she wanted to snap at him, but was restraining her temper. ‘Well, I’m going to be over there myself in a couple of hours. If you’re still there, I’m going to kick you out. Unless you can play nice and forget about work and just have cocktails with us, that is.’

‘Not today, I’m afraid.’

‘Your mother’s coming, too.’

‘Yes, she told me.’ He added: ‘You said you were going to increase security here at the house.’

‘I did. We should have two men inside right now.’

‘Inside,’ Cab said.

‘Yes, inside. Maybe you haven’t noticed the torrential rain and sixty-mile-an-hour winds. Do you really expect me to have people standing outside in the storm?’

Cab frowned. ‘No.’

‘Well, good, can you get off my back? Not that I would typically complain about you being on my back.’

He didn’t take the bait. ‘What do you want, Caprice?’

‘I wanted to apologize for yesterday.’

‘That’s not necessary.’

‘I overreacted,’ she went on. ‘I’m not used to people telling me no. Actually, I enjoyed having you stand up to me. It makes me even more interested in you, personally and professionally.’

‘Professionally, I’m in charge of solving crimes, and you’re in charge of protecting your pretty political ass.’

‘That sounds about right. And personally?’

‘Personally, nothing is going to happen.’

She sounded disappointed. ‘Don’t I have a chance to persuade you? I can be very persuasive if you give me an opportunity. I’m not looking for a commitment. Neither one of us wants the white picket fence, do we? We’re not signing up for marriage and kids.’

Kids. Cab thought again: Boy or girl. No, he didn’t want a commitment, but he wanted more than he would find in bed with Caprice.

‘I was going to call you today,’ he said. ‘I found out what happened between Birch and Diane.’

‘No comment,’ she said.

‘I want to know if you and Lyle knew about it. I want to know who else knew.’

‘And I repeat: No comment.’

‘Fine. You won’t talk. Let me tell you what I think. You and Lyle found out what happened that Saturday night. You knew exactly what Birch did to Diane. You knew you were running a monster on the ballot.’

Caprice’s voice tensed with frustration. ‘Cab, you are playing with fire here. This kind of scandal is exactly what Diane’s enemies want, and it will do nothing to protect her. Do you really want to be a tool for Ramona Cortes?’

‘You’re talking about politics, Caprice, but I’m talking about murder. People died. Your fiancé died. Don’t you care what really happened?’