Guarding the Socialite by Kimberly Van Meter

Author:Kimberly Van Meter
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Silhouette
Published: 2010-10-11T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

After they’d returned, Emma retired to her bedroom and Dillon took his post on the sofa, both dealing with what had been revealed in different ways. For Dillon, he’d been intrigued and saddened by the events that led to Emma opening Iris House, and her past led to a load of questions as well as gave insight to Emma as a person. But before he could delve more deeply into the side that he’d seen in the car, he had business to attend to and that took his immediate attention.

Early the next morning, he procured the house schedule, Emma’s included, before heading off on his own errands. First up, he wanted a chat with Robert Gavin. The man was a loose end that needed tying before he could be written off as a suspect.

Dillon rang the buzzer to the exquisite multimillion-dollar Victorian, lovingly restored with no expense spared, and wondered if Gavin came from money or made it himself.

To his surprise Gavin answered the door.

Dillon flashed his badge along with a disarming smile. “Hullo, Mr. Gavin…I’m Federal Agent Dillon McIntyre. May I have a moment?”

The man, wide in the shoulders with a slight paunch and a chin that had started a slow slide into his neck, didn’t seem surprised to see him. In fact, he seemed resigned, as if he’d known sooner or later some kind of law enforcement would come knocking at his door. Interesting.

“Would you like something to drink?” he asked solicitously as they walked into a formal living room, full of spindly French provincial furniture that definitely didn’t look comfortable or picked out by a man’s hand. Dillon declined and Robert sighed as he levered himself into a high-backed chair that was too girlie for words. “What can I do for you, Agent McIntyre?”

Dillon took a quick look around the room, his attention flitting briefly to a framed picture of an elderly woman wearing a stylish yet dated high-necked frock with multiple strands of pink pearls looping around her fragile neck and wondered aloud with a gesture toward the portrait. “Family?”

“My aunt,” he answered, saying it like ont instead of ant, which Dillon found noteworthy. He filed away the information for later. “This is her home. She left it to me.”

Dillon flashed a grin. “How nice of the old gal.”

Robert smiled but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Forgive me, Agent McIntyre…”

“I know, get to the point. Right. Were you in a romantic relationship with Charlotte Tedrow?”

Robert’s skin tone flushed a dull red at the neckline and he stiffened a bit but he answered. “I suspect you already know the answer to your question, so ah, yes, we did enjoy each other’s company from time to time. She was a lovely girl with a generous heart. I was distraught when I heard the news.”

“And how did you meet?”

Robert paused a moment, a shrewd light entering his eyes. “Is this a formal interrogation?”

Dillon chuckled. “This is a polite inquiry, Mr. Gavin. An interrogation has a completely different protocol, in my experience.

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