Numbers Never Lie (Crimson Romance) by Shelley K. Wall

frequented a health club on Smith Street, where he sometimes spent a couple of hours or more working out at night. Trev watched from outside as much as he could, but never really saw Thomas talk to anyone other than the staff. According to the file, the assault charge occurred at the health club. One of the staff eagerly provided the details. It was filed by a girlfriend he’d dumped. Apparently, she wasn’t very happy about being jilted and attacked him in the parking lot. He tried to hold her off and in the process knocked her down. Later, when he threatened to file charges also, hers were dropped.
    The sound of his cell phone jolted Trev back to reality as he sat outside the health club Wednesday night. He chewed on the stir stick from the coffee he’d purchased at the drive-thru earlier, remembering a skirt, heels, and the song “Suzie Q.” Not like him to drift off like that. He frowned.
    “Yeah?” he muttered into the phone without dropping the stick in his mouth.
    “The first chick was apparently boring as hell, man.” Nate didn’t say hello or how’s it going, he just stepped straight to the facts. “She has two kids. She gets them right after work and goes home. She lives with her mom — or her mom lives with her, I don’t know which it is. I can find out if you want. Other than that, there’s nothing. She gets very few calls and isn’t seeing anyone.”
    That pretty much matched with the information Cheryl derived.
    “Okay, well I thought it might be good to check her out. She’s Henry’s — I mean Sophie Henderson’s assistant, so she might have access to all her email, passwords, etc.” He mentally crossed one name off the list. “What about the other girl?”
    “That’s a little more interesting.” Nate baited Trev a little, making him wait for the details. “Callie’s residence didn’t match with the records. She’s in an apartment that she’s only had for the past four months. Prior to that she lived down in Stafford.”
    “Why does that matter? People move all the time.”
    “The address she lives at now is two blocks from Sophie,” Nate added flatly. “Before Stafford she lived in New York and worked for a large real estate company in their IT department.”
    “Really? She doesn’t sound like a New Yorker.”
    “She’s not. She graduated from Stephen F. Austin in ninety-nine and took an internship in New York. Apparently she hated it and moved back to Texas the following year.”
    “Okay, so she moved close to her friend and decided to get away from the cold. What else?” Trev didn’t see any relevance yet on her, either. He began to think he’d wasted everyone’s time on these other people.
    “There’s a boyfriend, too. A really creepy guy — dark hair, dark mood, and around almost every night. Gone by morning.”
    “No kidding? She acted like she was single and looking when I met her the other night.”
    “From what I’m told, this is not the kind of guy you bring home to Mom or introduce to your friends.”
    “Hmmm. Maybe he’s not really a boyfriend.”
    “Probably not, more like a boy toy if you ask me. Some girls really like the bad boys. Hell, most girls like the bad boys.” Nate’s voice remained monotone.
    “Yeah, and speaking from a guy’s perspective, we’re all bad boys, given the chance. You know you’d give your right arm to be someone’s boy toy.” Trev laughed at the possibility.
    “Hell, yeah. Who wouldn’t?” An appreciative chuckle came through the phone.
    “Okay. Well, thanks man. Oh, hey. How’s your dad doing?”
    “So far, so good. He hasn’t had any more fainting spells but he’s taking it easy. They’ve scheduled surgery for next week. Putting in a pacemaker. I’m still coming back tomorrow, though. It’s really weird being here. Like everyone’s just watching every step he takes, waiting for him to fall or something. We’re all driving him nuts. My sisters are crying all the time. I’ve got to get out of