Four O'Clock Sizzle: An Inspector Rebecca Mayfield Mystery (The Rebecca Mayfield Mysteries Book 4) by Joanne Pence Page B

the next. How could she have changed that much from Monday morning when she left his home, his bed, to return to her apartment to get ready for work, to tonight? She was loyal to a fault.
    And that, he realized, was the problem.
    The article had depicted him as anything but loyal. A guy who got women to fall in love with him only to dump them. One who sent flowers …. His hand went to his forehead. The roses. He had sent them thinking they might make her happy, let her realize how much she was on his mind.
    It had been a perfect storm of bad timing. And now that he’d walked away, he should simply say good riddance.
    He still was trying to convince himself that the “good riddance” sentiment was right and just, when Travis finally arrived.
    Richie took one look at him and decided Shay had been right in his warnings. Travis came into the bar wearing a red wig that made him look positively crazy. All he needed was clown face make-up and a red ball for his nose and he could get a job with Ringling Brothers. As soon as Richie saw him, he took his drink—Jack Daniels on the rocks—and moved from the bar to a dark table in the back of the room.
    The bartender gave him a “What the hell?” look. Richie rolled his eyes. He knew Johnny always looked out for him and would keep a close watch on Logan Travis.
    Richie quickly told Travis the results of Shay’s investigation of his former partners, Jason Singh and Mitch Voltz, leaving out the part where the two men thought Travis was crazy and his design badly flawed. Travis looked neither happy nor upset to hear there was no indication his former partners, or anyone else, wanted to kill him. 
    “Maybe it’s not Jason or Mitch who’s trying to kill me,” Travis said. “But somebody is. I know it. Somebody killed Shig Tanaka and I heard Bosque is missing. I bet he’s dead, too. I was in that magazine article, and so were you.”
    “Nobody was killed because of a magazine article,” Richie said.
    “It could have been a former lover pissed off at him,” Travis said. “Thank God I don’t have any of those. Not women, at least. And men are much more rational and understanding about such things.”
    Richie just nodded. Wasn’t that the truth!
    “I heard from a good source,” Travis added, his voice low, “that Tanaka was beheaded. Women don’t do things like that.”
    Richie sipped his whiskey. “True.”
    “Why was he killed?”
    A cocktail waitress came by, but Travis waved her off.
    “Whatever the reason, I’m sure it has nothing to do with you. You should go back home and stop worrying,” Richie said.
    “I don’t know about that, but before I go anywhere, I need to know how my app is working for you. Do you like it? Have you used it much?”
    Is there no ridding me of this weirdo? “I don’t know. I used it a couple of times.”
    “Let’s see,” Travis said as he took the phone.
    “Who’s this Tommy?” Travis asked. “He lies to you all the time.”
    Richie swallowed. “He’s my new manager. I wonder if I shouldn’t have given him so much responsibility?”
    “I don’t know, but there’s something going on with him.” Travis’s words were dire.
    “What about Rebecca?” Richie asked.
    “Whoa. Tense. Lies. I think she hates you.”
    “Great. That’s just what I want to hear,” Richie muttered.
    “But this last one … Hmm. Looks like there’s a problem with my app,” Travis said.
    “What do you mean?”
    “This guy, Shay. Obviously, the two of you talked, but the app recorded no reactions from him at all. No positive, no negative. Not a blip. I’ve never seen this before. Got to be something wrong. I’ll have to figure out what and work on it.”
    “Good,” Richie said with an inner chuckle. He always knew Shay had ice in his veins. “You do that.”
    “Anyway, I’m leaving,” Travis said. “Would you hire a security team for me? I want more than computers protecting me. All this trouble because of a sleazy magazine article