“Also, I got a new job today, but I don’t think my new boss, Mr. Bishop, had time to come over here and destroy my room.”
Duke paused a second, looked at her with surprise, and asked, “Gray Bishop hired you?”
“Yes. At Old West Town.” She glanced at Garrett. “Guess I’ll have to get used to everyone knowing everyone in this small town.”
Garrett was impatient to move along. His silent pros and cons debate had yielded a surprising result. He needed to fix things with Jessica. Pronto. But in private.
“What else do you need to know, Duke?” His tone came out more impatient sounding than he intended.
“Calm down, Garrett. I’m almost done. It’s a pretty big mess in there, but I didn’t notice any suitcases. What personal possessions of yours are missing, Jessica?”
She shook her head. “Actually, nothing of mine was in there. I had an overnight bag from my car that I returned to the back seat this morning when I left for the interview because it only had dirty clothes in it.”
“So the damage is solely to the room? No private property destroyed or personal belongings taken?”
“No. I guess not.” She looked at Garrett as if in question. He shook his head. Neither he nor Seth had left anything behind in the room.
The gesture was not without Duke’s notice. “And you, sir? Did you leave anything inside the room this morning?”
“No. I didn’t.”
Duke smiled to himself some more and scribbled several lines in his notebook. “What about Seth? Did either of you notify him?”
“No,” Garrett said, at the same time she asked, “How did you know Seth stayed last night?”
Duke glanced up at her blushing cheeks, and then at Garrett. His grin went ear to ear. “Actually, ma’am—I mean Jessica—I wasn’t implying that Seth spent the night with you. He owns the motel.” He coughed in one hand as if trying to keep from laughing out loud. Meanwhile, Garrett prepared for her further anger.
Jessica sent merely a curious gaze back to Garrett. “Seth owns this motel?”
Garrett pushed out a sharp breath and gave Duke an irritated look. “Yes. He does.”
“And you didn’t mention this because, why?”
“He asked me not to.” Shit. That was possibly a very loud strike two.
Her eyes narrowed still staring at him as if she wasn’t certain whether to be angry about that piece of information or not. He suspected there were plenty of other reasons for her to be angry.
“Can I get your phone number, Jessica?” Duke asked.
“Sure.” Spell broken, she turned to the sheriff. “For this case?”
“No. Since you aren’t currently married, I thought maybe we could go out together for coffee later and chat. What do you say?”
“Are you drunk?” Garrett asked him in a wholly uncivilized tone, before realizing that Duke was simply yanking his chain.
Duke grinned again. “No. Not drunk. Just kidding. I need your phone number because it’s standard operating procedure in case I have to ask you about anything that comes up pertaining to the investigation.”
“Okay.” He handed her his phone, and she punched her phone number into the device. Duke studied Garrett with amusement shaping his face as she added her number to his digital phonebook.
“Do you have somewhere else to stay tonight?” Duke asked her.
“I don’t know. Why? Are you offering to put me up somewhere? Your house maybe?” She sent a “so there” look Garrett’s way.
Duke glanced at Garrett again, a smile firmly lodged in place. In return, Garrett gave him the harshest, most satanic stare he could muster. For as much as the idea of Jessica becoming a permanent part of his life made him edgy, the idea of her with another man besides Seth made him freakishly livid. Another check in the pro column to add her to his life on a regular basis.
“I’d be happy to find you a place. Not at my house, of course, because…well, I don’t want to die.” A short laugh escaped as he sent a pointed look Garrett’s direction.
Jessica said, “Thanks for the offer. Not to worry. You don’t have to find me a place to stay.” Garrett hated that she didn’t look at him when she said it.