"Talk to me, Abby," he said.

"You-you have her phone," I said. "That's not good."

"Whose phone?"

"Verna Mae Olsen. A witness I was supposed to meet. From what I'm seeing in this parking lot, I'm guessing that might not happen."

"Where are you?" he asked.

"Look out the window and you'll see me."

"I'll do better than that," he said.

The line went dead, and a second later he pushed open the glass door, ducked under the crime scene tape and strode in my direction. He held something in one latex-gloved hand and the badge clipped to his belt glinted in the halogen lights that had been set up to better illuminate the lot and storefront.

My heart was hammering now. Jeff's presence, plus his possession of that phone, equaled more than skunk trouble. By the time he reached me, my mouth was so dry I wasn't sure I had enough spit to talk.

Jeff wore his cop face—tired and all business. I'd seen that look when we first met, the awful day when my yardman was murdered and he drew the case. He held up a small black cell phone enclosed in a Baggie. "Who is this Olsen woman?"

"I-I interviewed her a couple days ago and she asked me to meet her here."

"You can ID her?" he said.

"ID her? You mean..."

"I need you to look at a body," he said, his tone less brittle, tinged with genuine regret.

"Oh, no. What happened, Jeff?"

"I'm guessing a robbery got out of hand. Guessing. That theory could change." He gestured for me to follow and led me toward the coffee bar, a.k.a. the Last Drop. As we walked, he put the cell phone in his pants pocket, removed his gloves and balled them up. Those went in his other pocket.

The rain had picked up by the time we passed the crew of cops on the sidewalk outside the shop. Several nodded at me in greeting. I'd met them when I went with Jeff to one of Houston PD's favorite watering holes. DeShay, his new partner, was talking to a tall young woman with grape hair, low-riding capris and a nose ring. I knew DeShay better than the others, and he looked my way, saying, "Hey, Abby. What's up?" like it was no big deal I'd show up at a crime scene.