She wore a pretty dress of royal blue that hugged her willowy body, her slender legs in sheer blue hose, black pumps on her feet, red hair hanging past her shoulders, thick andshining.
Elena looked from Joaquin to Mia and back again. “You know eachother?”
“We’ve met.” Joaquin left it up to Mia to reveal exactlyhowthey’d met. “How are youdoing?”
“Fine.” Mia’s gaze shifted to Elena, and Joaquin could tell she was trying for Elena’s sake not to lose hertemper.
She must have seen the paper. Well, he’d known shewould.
Then it hit him. “You’reCaptainStarr, the officer who helped my cousin through her firstyear.”
Mia nodded. “I resigned my commission three yearsago.”
Elena beamed, oblivious to the tension between them. “How fun that you already knew eachother.”
“Elena!” Tío Danilo yelled. “There’s someone at thedoor!”
“I’ll be right back.” Elena hurriedaway.
For a moment, neither Joaquin nor Mia spoke, an awkward silence stretching betweenthem.
Mia lowered her voice. “Thanks to your paper, I got a half dozen calls from reporters wanting to know if I was a murderer. Andy’s sister called, too, and asked where I’d hidden her brother’sbody.”
“I’m sorry.” What else could he say? “That must have been tough. You should know that the reporters who called probably got your name from the police report, not from ournewspaper.”
“The police report is already available to themedia?”
“It’s a public document.” He could see on her face that she hadn’t known that. “Would you like adrink?”
Amigo, you are the last man on earth she wants to have a drinkwith.
She fought back her irritation with visible effort. “Sure. But just to be clear, I don’t likeyou.”
“Yeah, I noticed.” He led her toward the kitchen. “Wine? Beer? Soda? My cousin David here makes a wickedpaloma.”
“White wine,please.”
“A beer for me and white wine for her,” Joaquin called to David, quickly telling him who Miawas.
David handed the wine glass to Mia. “Thanks for what you’ve done for our country and for supporting mycousin.”
Mia took the wine and gave David a tight smile, as if the attention made her uncomfortable. Or maybe it was just being with Joaquin that bothered her. “Thankyou.”
Joaquin led her to a quiet spot in the dining room. “Any news on yourfriend?”
She gave him a wary look. “Is this on or off therecord?”
“Tonight, we’re just two people who care about Elena having a conversation at a party in herhonor.”
She seemed to measure him through those blue eyes of hers, worry chasing the irritation from her face. “They still don’t knowanything.”
“I’m sorry. Are you twoclose?”
She shook her head. “I was his XO for a time. He was injured on one of our deployments and discharged. I did my best to stay in touch withhim.”
“I’m sure he appreciatedthat.”
Mia took a sip of wine. “He was bitter about how the Army had treatedhim.”