She had a way with those lines: not putting too much in it, not giving him anything that might count as a sign. Maybe she meant he needed to improve his dress habits, or maybe she was giving him a covert signal he was good-looking: the t-shirt might be a proxy for the wearer, so ‘good t-shirt’ would mean ‘good Vincent.’ In any case, he was going to say something about how he’d done okay yesterday, wearing this, but he didn’t want to turn things too morbid. What he figured, though, was that his clothes weren’t the problem. If they were going to have an honest discussion about liability, he’d have to confess he could never have his full attention on keeping her safe. There would always be part of him trying to impress, or looking for the subtext in what she said. He couldn’t just admit he liked her and then move on. But here she was still looking at him, and he was looking back, and he needed to say something.

He said, ‘Something I forgot to tell you.’

Her eyebrows went up a touch.

Vincent said, ‘Your father’s ex-security chief is missing. His wife hasn’t seen him since Sunday.’

A long pause—three, four, five seconds—before she said, ‘How do you know?’

Vincent said, ‘I called his cell phone. His wife answered and said he’s away on business for a few days. That’s what he’d told her, anyway.’

He went over what the wife—Deborah—had said on the phone. Wayne missing, and few details given. A lawyer who may or may not have been Terry Page looking for him.

Erin said, ‘Well, that seems significant, doesn’t it? Why didn’t you tell me?’

Vincent said, ‘I thought I could look into it myself. And if it turned into a problem, it wouldn’t be your problem too.’

Silence.

Then she said, ‘Is there anything else you’ve held back on that basis?’

Withholding stuff was one thing, but he couldn’t flat-out lie to her.

Vincent said, ‘I’d met Delroy once before. He works for Sly Crow.’

‘How do you know?’

Vincent said, ‘I went to Sly’s place in Santa Barbara yesterday afternoon and he was there. Delroy, I mean. Sly has a son too, almost as charming as he is. They both denied knowing anything about what happened to your father.’

Erin said, ‘For future reference, if something comes up, I want to know about it at the time. You work for me, and I’ll decide which problems I involve myself in, and which ones I’ll avoid. We can do without the false chivalry.’

He’d thought of it more as actual safety rather than false chivalry, but he said, ‘All right. I apologise. Do you want to come down and get some breakfast?’