The Baby Came C.O.D.. Marie Ferrarella

really busy with another case, as it is.”

      So Devin was working. No ego, no attempt at crowing or rubbing the matter in. Maybe he’d been too hard on Devin, after all. Evan thought a minute. “How about the cruise entertainer?”

      She was the first one Devin intended to question. “By all means, include her.”

      It wasn’t that easy. “I haven’t got an address for her, or a number. Or a name, for that matter,” he added, thinking out loud. “She called herself Siren.”

      “Original,” Devin commented dryly. “That’s where the detecting part comes in, brother of mine.” He tapped a pencil on his desk, thinking. “I’ll need the name of the cruise line—and anything else you can think of. Fax everything to me when you’re ready.”

      Evan was ready now. “I don’t have to fax it—I can give you everything you asked for right now.”

      Jotting them down for his own sake as he went, Evan recited the women’s names. There was a grand total of three. He added in everything that seemed relevant, including the fact that as far as he knew, two of them were in relationships now. They might even be married. He’d lost touch.

      “You’re right,” Devin agreed, looking the names over. “It’s a short list. Sure you haven’t forgotten anyone?”

      Evan knew that Devin hadn’t meant it as a criticism, but it still smarted. “You’re the one who’s always had women pounding at your door, not me.”

      His brother was referring to their formative years, Devin thought with a smile, when for some damn reason, Evan had hung back, refusing to avail himself of the ready companionship that was out there. But that was all in the past These days, Devin had more-serious thoughts on his mind than the easy, pleasurable loving of willing women. More and more, one woman was beginning to take center stage.

      “Only because you weren’t interested,” Devin reminded him. He had the feeling his brother could do with someone in his corner. “Look, like I said, I’m busy with another case right now, but I can take a commuter flight and be up there in forty-five minutes if you need me.”

      The offer was unexpected and appreciated, even if Evan didn’t know exactly how to make that fact known without embarrassing both himself and his brother. Because he didn’t know how else to do it, he let it slide without comment.