Read Ultimate Concealer, A Toni Diamond Mystery: A Toni Diamond Mystery (Toni Diamond Mysteries) for Free Online

testosterone hanging around Luke like a swarm of mosquitos could tone down the femininity of the room but he didn’t seem to mind.
    While they ate, he filled her in on Dwayne’s whereabouts. “You couldn’t find him because he’s got no address.”
    “He can’t be homeless.” Even Dwayne wouldn’t invite his own daughter to go live with him under a bridge.
    “No. The house is registered to a numbered company.”
    “Not his?” Unless the number was zero.
    He shook his head. “It’s a CPA who owns the house. Brent Hodgkin. I’m guessing your ex rents a room. But it’s in a respectable part of town,” he said, answering the question he must have known she’d ask first.
    She nodded, knowing she wouldn’t be happy until she’d seen Tiff for herself and urged her to share a hotel room with her for a few days while she got to know her dad. If Tiff had made up her mind she was going to spend some time with her father, well, she was going to do it. Toni had spent some time thinking today and decided the best thing she could do was to stay in Las Vegas herself until Dwayne inevitably lost interest in chaperoning a teenaged daughter around and broke her young heart.
    “What’s your plan?” Luke asked.
    “I’m going to play it by ear. So long as I know she’s safe I’ll try not to be too hard on her.” She pressed her lips together for a moment then let them go. “I think I’ll stay in a hotel for a few days with plenty of room so she can stay with me if things aren’t as rosy as Dwayne’s pictured them.”
    “What do you think the chances of that are?” his dark eyes regarding her.
    “Oh, I’d guess about one hundred percent.”
    “Poor kid.”
    “Yeah.”
    He pulled a computer print-out from his pocket. “This is the address where Dwayne lives. I’ve also added the contact info for my buddy. If you need anything, or Dwayne pulls any kind of crap you don’t like, well, my friend’s the kind of guy who can let a man like Dwayne Diamond know that messing with you, or your daughter, is a bad idea. All off the record, of course.”
    She smiled. “Thank you for this.”
    He nodded briskly but didn’t meet her gaze. She watched him for a second. He might have a truly excellent cop face, but she knew this man pretty well. “What aren’t you telling me?”
    “It’s nothing. Dwayne’s not unknown to the cops down there, that’s all.”
    Her stomach did a swan dive. “Define not unknown.”
    “He made free and easy with a woman’s credit card to the tune of a few grand. She was going to press charges and then next thing you know, claimed it was all a mistake. A lover’s quarrel.”
    “He always did make fools of women.”
    “She’ll be okay,” he said again, knowing she was thinking of Tiff.
    “Yeah. She will.”
    “You need a ride to the airport?”
    She shook her head. “My mom’s driving me. But thanks.”
    “Then I guess there’s not much more I can do.” He leaned forward, his dark eyes teasing and mesmerizing. “Unless I can help you take your mind off your troubles.”
    She nodded and he took her hand and led her to the bedroom where, for a few hours, if he didn’t make her forget that her only daughter had run away from home to visit her deadbeat dad, at least her cares were pushed to the back of her mind for a while.
    In the morning, Luke headed out early, kissing her on his way out. “Call me if you need anything.”
    She watched him head out the door. “Hey,” she called as he opened it.
    He turned.
    “Thanks,” she said.
    Since Toni had spent the afternoon the day before canceling all her appointments and reshuffling her responsibilities to other members of her team, she had nothing to do this morning but pack. The task didn’t take long since she was scrupulously organized, and she’d packed plenty of times for conventions and business trips. She estimated she’d be in Las Vegas for four days and packed clothes for six just in case. Her traveling makeup bag was