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Kimberly Kaye Terry
him since he left the firm? he felt compelled to ask and silently confirmed what he
thought he saw. There was something there.
Why would I have spoken with Mr. Holt? she asked without any change in her
low voice.
The waitress skated over, tottering on her skates and almost landed the platter in
Greg s lap before he helped her regain her balance. Whoa! Here, let me take that, he
offered, removing the drinks from the platter before he helped the woman place the
plates on the table.
The waitress cheeks, already red from the exertion of skating, turned even redder
as she thanked him before she left the two of them to eat their lunch.
No reason. You had more contact with him than I did. I thought perhaps you d
heard from him, he explained, picking up the thread of the conversation before the
waitress delivered their lunch.
She took a delicate bite of the veggie sandwich and chewed thoughtfully, before
carefully swallowing. Greg took a healthy bite of his corned beef, waiting for her to
speak. As he waited, he glanced at her lunch and as usual, wondered how she
stomached eating nothing but vegetables and tofu as she was a practicing vegetarian.
She took a small sip of her tea before answering.
No. I haven t heard from Mr. Holt, was all she said, but Greg knew she wasn t
telling the truth. Obviously, she didn t want him to know something and the flush that
ran underneath her bronze cheeks gave witness to her embarrassment. He left it alone.
It was none of his business anyway.
But, if the firm is in agreement, I could contact him if you were interested in
procuring his services for this case.
That shouldn t be an issue. I ll let the partners know and then I can alert Grimes. If
we have to go with another detective, he has to agree to foot the bill.
That will be fine, Greg. As soon as you let me know, I ll contact Mr. Holt.
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Pull My Hair
They finished eating their lunch in companionable silence sprinkled with occasional
conversation. When they d finished eating, Greg signaled the roller skating waitress
over to bring him the bill. After signing the slip, he glanced at his watch.
I m going to try and leave the office earlier this evening, hopefully, around six or
so. I can do a lot of the paperwork at home. I ll contact the partners when we get back to
the office and give them a heads-up and then you can contact the Holt brothers about
securing their services. Feel free to go home, Renita, anytime after that. We have an
early day again tomorrow. I m sure anything you have can wait until then. You ve been
working long hours as I have. Take the evening off. I need to get home to Liza as soon
as I can.
Thanks for the offer, but I think I ll hang around, I have some paperwork to
organize. And if you need me, you know where to find me, she said as she sipped her
cola. May I ask you a personal question, Greg? she asked, and surprised, Greg
quickly glanced up at her face.
Of course, Renita. Shoot, he said.
Are you and Mrs. Colburn having problems? she asked, taking her eyes off him,
suddenly caught up in picking at what appeared to be imaginary lint from her dark
blue jacket.
For a minute, Greg was tempted to deny any problems he and Liza were having.
He d never discussed his wife or his marriage with Renita. He had several friends who
he d had since college, but he d always tended to keep to himself and had never felt
comfortable discussing his marriage with any of them.
Why do you ask? What concern is that of yours? he asked her bluntly.
I m sorry, that was rude of me to ask. It s none of my business, she said and rose
as though to leave the table.
Greg reached a hand out to forestall her standing. She glanced from her hand to his
and a dark flush, once again, stained her cheeks. The look she threw him was unsettling
and he slowly removed his hand from hers. Please, sit down.
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Kimberly Kaye Terry
She hesitated, as though unsure. Greg didn t know what was happening, but he felt
as though something else was going on other than the obvious. There were
undercurrents occurring that hadn t been there minutes before.
Renita slowly sat back down in the bench and looked at him with an expectant
expression settling across her face.
I m a little touchy about the subject of marriage, if you want to know the truth.
Renita, you didn t do anything wrong. We ve known each other long enough for me to
know that, he apologized.
Is it anything that you can talk about? she ventured to ask.
It s a long story. Much longer and complicated than even I knew until recently.
He confessed. He knew his answer was ambiguous at best, but his confusion and anger
over the situation was still too raw for him to hide.
You don t have to talk about it, Renita assured him.
Greg was silent as he thought about the complicated situation with his wife. He and
Renita had never spoken about personal matters, but he needed to talk with someone.
Maybe as a female, she d be able to shed light on the subject. God only knew, he was
confused as hell.
A week ago my wife s mother called me.
She looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to go on.
It wouldn t be so strange an occurrence, I guess, had I d ever spoken to her before.
But, I ve never seen her, much less spoken on the phone with her.
Did she want anything in particular? she asked.
Aside from the fact that she was asking to borrow several thousand dollars? he
asked and laughed humorously. Not much, except to tell me things about my wife that
I had no idea of. Things that Liza should have disclosed to me a long time ago. I feel as
though I don t really know who my wife truly is, he said grimly.
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Pull My Hair
Chapter Nine
Liza allowed the warm, gentle spray from the shower to cascade over her body. She
raised her arms, her small breasts lifting high as she ran her fingers over her hair,
smoothing the short, wet strands away from her forehead.
Since she d cut her hair, she d experienced a liberation she never had before.
Although she wasn t quite ready to go au natural as her friend Karina had done, not
ready to give up the ease and manageability the relaxer gave her, she liked not
spending hours combing, detangling, deep conditioning, blow drying, hot iron& the
whole styling madness she went through once a week at her favorite salon.
Although, according to Karina, being natural, sans chemicals of any type wasn t
difficult at all. Liza was honest enough to admit that she had a ways to go before she
was prepared to entertain the thought of allowing her natural kink free rein.
Life was a process, a journey. At least that s what Karina s Big Momma used to
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