He stood on the doorstep holding a brown paper bag. “After you called, I decided to sneak out early. I still feel terrible I missed your call last night because I was so wrapped up in that damned tournament. I didn’t even notice you’d tried to call until, like, two in the morning.”

“Hmm. Two in the morning was about the time I was being hauled to jail by the police,” Drue said.

His eyes widened behind the horn-rimmed glasses. “You didn’t tell me you got arrested!”

“Come on inside and I’ll fill you in on all the sordid details,” she said. “And when I tell you what I’ve been through, you’ll see why I look the way I look.”

“You look fine to me,” he said. “But what’s up with the skunk stripe in your hair? Is that a new thing?”

She yawned. “Tell you in a minute. I had a late, late night, and then a crazy, crazy morning. I’m about to fix some coffee. You want coffee, or maybe a beer?”

He held out the paper bag. “I brought you a smoothie from that place up the beach, as a peace offering.”

“Kale Yeah? I love that place.” She lifted the plastic cup from the bag. A straw poked out from the plastic top. “That’s so sweet,” she said. “I’ll have it later, if that’s okay. I gotta get some caffeine in my system before I pass out on my feet.”

“I had them put some B12 powder in it, for energy,” Ben said. “Try that first, and then the coffee.”

Drue shrugged. “Okay, sure. Good idea.”

He sat down at the kitchen table opposite her. “Okay. Now I want to hear all the gory details. How did you end up in jail?”

She hesitated and then plunged ahead, into the story. “I broke into a room at the Gulf Vista,” she said. “Well, I didn’t actually manage to break in, but I was about to, when a security guard caught me. They called the cops, and had me arrested for breaking and entering and trespassing, but I’m pretty sure my dad can make them drop the charges. And then I sort of tricked Neesa into coming over here—”

“Slow down,” he said. “Tell me everything.”

“I know you said this whole thing was a waste of time, but Ben, it really wasn’t. After you guys left the office last night, I watched and rewatched the hotel security video from the night Jazmin was killed, and I figured it out.”