Silk Stalkings by Diane Vallere

Harvey’s dead. Charlie, I know you know him. I saw you talking to him before they argued.”
    â€œI talked to a lot of people last night. Ever hear of mingling?”
    â€œThat wasn’t mingling. You know him. Who is he?”
    Charlie stared out the window for a long time. “I can’t talk about him. Not yet.”
    â€œYou better talk about him soon. I have to tell Clark what I saw. He could have something to do with the murder.”
    â€œHe didn’t.”
    â€œThen tell me who he is. Tell me why he was arguing with Harvey.” She was silent. “Charlie, this doesn’t look good.”
    â€œDid you hear what they were arguing about?” she asked.
    â€œNo.”
    â€œDid he see you?” she asked.
    â€œHe had to. He looked right at me when I tried to stop him.”
    She tapped a pen on the mouse pad and then threw it at the wall. It bounced off and landed on the desk, and then rolled to the edge and fell to the floor. Charlie punched her fist into the mouse pad and the whole desk shook.
    â€œCharlie, what’s going on? Who is that guy?”
    â€œThat guy is the closest thing I have to family.”
    Before I could react, Charlie held up her hand to stop me. “Remember how I told you once that I bounced around different foster homes after I was given up for adoption?”
    I nodded.
    â€œThe older I got, the less anybody wanted me. Eventually I took off with everything I owned, which wasn’t much, and hitchhiked until I ended up in Encino. I moved in with a mechanic because he said he had a room for rent. His name was Ned Rains.” She tipped her head toward the street, and even though the man with the ponytail wasn’t there, I knew who she meant. “He wasn’t much older than I was—twenty-two to my fourteen. It was his auto shop. I didn’t have any money, so I took care of the food and laundry and stuff, but that got real boring real fast. I started hanging around while he worked on cars, helping him when I could. He taught me about engines and oil changes and transmission flushes.”
    â€œWere you and he— I mean, did he— I mean—”
    â€œNo. He understood that I’d had a hard life up to that point, and he took me in. He even helped me try to find the people who gave me up for adoption. When it was time for me to leave, he gave me two thousand dollars and said I should forget the past and start a life of my own. I moved here, got a job at the auto shop, and saved up until the owner was ready to sell to me. This has been my shop ever since.”
    â€œBut you and Ned kept in touch.”
    â€œYes. When you first came to town and found out my secret, I needed to get away. I showed up on his doorstep without much more than I did the first time.”
    â€œDoes Clark know any of this?”
    â€œWhat does Clark have to do with it?”
    â€œYou’re having a relationship with him, or I think you are. There’s this thing people do when they’re in a relationship. They talk about what made them the person they are. It’s sometimes referred to as ‘getting to know each other,’” I said, using finger quotes.
    â€œClark knows I’m a private person, and he knows if he so much as glances at a background check of me, I’ll kick him to the curb.”
    â€œClark’s not dumb. He’s going to look into anybody connected to Harvey Halliwell, and it won’t take long for him to start asking questions. Why is Ned here? Why now?”
    â€œI told you, I can’t talk about that.” She looked up at me. “You’re not going to turn this into your latest rescue mission, are you?”
    â€œI’m just trying to find out the truth. Somebody killed Harvey Halliwell.”
    â€œNed didn’t do it. Their argument was about something else. Let me talk to him first before you go to Clark.”
    â€œI don’t feel good about this,” I