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flipped to a rock-video channel. “You had me ask her if she knew who killed her. It was no great leap to guess why she’s still around. The question is, why am I still around?”
    I thought I knew the answer to that one, though I wasn’t about to say so.
    I do have some sensitivity, after all. There are moments when I positively exude it.
    Justin hadn’t gone into the Light, if there was such a thing, because his mother couldn’t—or wouldn’t—let go.

CHAPTER FOUR
    M Y CELL PHONE RANG AGAIN . Justin picked it up off the couch cushion and tossed it to me. I checked the caller ID panel.
    Tucker.
    â€œHello,” I said, trying not to sound breathless.
    â€œThere’s some bad news coming down, Moje,” he replied.
    â€œI know,” I responded. “Alex Pennington was found dead in the desert today. Full of bullet holes.”
    Too late, I realized I’d made a mistake. I wasn’t supposed to know Alex had been pumped full of lead. And Jolie would get in a lot of trouble, maybe even lose her job, if I answered Tucker’s inevitable question.
    â€œHow did you find out?” he asked.
    I closed my eyes. Opened them again. Logged off the Internet. “I’m a detective,” I said lamely. “I have my sources.”
    Tucker thrust out an exasperated sigh. “Yeah,” he retorted. “Your sister, Jolie, the crime-scene tech. She’s so lucky you’re not talking to any other cop on the planet right now. Look it up in one of your Damn Fool’s Guide s , Moje—this is a serious breach of ethics.”
    â€œGot it,” I said. “But isn’t it a breach of ethics for you to call and tell me about Alex’s death before the next of kin has been notified?”
    He laughed, but it was a raw, broken sound. “You have a point,” he said. “I hate it when you’re right.”
    â€œGet used to it,” I replied. “It happens at least sixty-five percent of the time.”
    â€œDamn Fool’s Guide to Stupid Statistics?”
    â€œVery funny. Hilarious, in fact.”
    â€œI’m going crazy, Moje. I need to see you.”
    â€œAre you still living with Allison?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œSorry,” I chimed, with a brightness I certainly didn’t feel. “All booked up.”
    â€œMoje, be reasonable, will you? I’m not sleeping with her.”
    â€œSo you say.”
    â€œYou don’t believe me?”
    My eyes started to burn. “I want to. I really do. But the map of that emotional territory is clearly marked ‘Here be dragons.’”
    Tucker didn’t answer. What could he have said?
    â€œHow’s the investigation going?” I asked, to get things started again. I wanted to hold Tucker in my arms, get naked with him and lose myself in the wonderful world of multiple orgasms. I couldn’t, because even if he wasn’t having sex with Allison, he was in too deep. So I settled for stretching the conversation as far as I could, just so I could hear the sound of his voice.
    Pitiful.
    â€œIt’s not,” Tucker said glumly.
    I decided it might be in my best interests to be forthcoming about my plans to visit Helen Erland that evening, though I wasn’t about to let him know she was trying to arrange for me to see Vince in jail. He would have blocked that, on general principle. He’d hear about it after the fact, of course, but by then it would be too late.
    I threw him a bone. Part of the truth. But, hey, that’s better than nothing, isn’t it?
    â€œMrs. Erland asked me to investigate Gillian’s murder,” I said, and braced myself for meteor impact. Oceans were going to overflow. Continents would shift. A new ice age would begin.
    And here’s me, the flash-frozen mammoth with fresh grass in its mouth.
    â€œWhen,” Tucker countered evenly, “did you speak with Helen?”
    â€œToday at the convenience store