“We’re actually going to the scene of the murder?” He wiggled his eyebrows in a comical way. “Just like old times—you and me searching for clues.” Then he narrowed his eyes. “You do realize that Ray’s gonna kill us both, right?”

“Probably, but unless we find something juicy that will help Danny, Ray doesn’t have to know that we even went there. If we do find something, though, he’ll be happy we did.” She paused and giggled. “Well maybe not happy, but not as mad.”

Victor rubbed his hands together. “Okay, so let’s play it by ear when we get there. If it looks like the dude at the front desk is into girls, unbutton the top two buttons on your blouse and take the lead. If it’s boys that ring his bell, I’ll use my charm to get him to tell us all he knows.”

As soon as they walked into the office, a pimply young man dressed in a T-shirt that read FOR A GOOD TIME, PRESS THIS BUTTON with an arrow pointing to a large circle below it, looked up at them. His eyes lit up when he got his first look at Jordan. “Are you looking for a room?”

Victor discreetly pointed to her blouse and moved in front of her, allowing her to open the top button. He frowned when he saw that she had only unbuttoned one and not both of them.

“My friend and I are reporters from the Daily Star. We’ve come all the way from Lubbock to investigate a murder that happened here a few days ago.”

Immediately, Stevie, according to his name badge, shook his head. “I’m not allowed to talk about that,” he said, his eyes never leaving the top of Jordan’s blouse, as if by some miracle he could unbutton the second button with his eyes.

“Oh, we won’t ask you any questions,” Victor fired back. “We’d just like to have a look at the room where the murder happened.”

“I can’t do that, either. It’s a crime scene.” He sniffed, and Jordan noticed the tiny white spot under his nose.

She stepped forward, leaning over, and said in as sultry of a voice as she could come up with—which wasn’t even close to being sensual, “No one would have to know, Stevie, and when I come back I could show you how extremely grateful I am.”

The clerk looked at her for a few minutes before handing her the key to Room 21. “It’s the last one on the left. You can drive your car down there and park right in front of it.” He lowered his voice. “And whatever you do, don’t disturb the crime scene tape.”

Jordan took the key from him and rewarded him with another smile before pushing Victor toward the door. As she was leaving, she said over her shoulder. “I love your shirt, by the way. Remind me to push the button when I return the key, Stevie.”

Victor nearly choked on his own spit as he followed her out the door.

They drove to the end of the building and parked in front of Room 21. After carefully making their way under the yellow tape, Jordan reached into her purse and pulled out two pairs of gloves. Handing a pair to Victor, she said, “Put these on. I got them from my mother’s stash. She uses them when she cuts up chicken. The last thing we need is our fingerprints showing up on something.”

She pushed the door open with Victor right behind her. It was a typical low rent motel room with cheap furniture, a slightly musty odor, and carpet stained with God only knew what. She wrinkled her nose, not even wanting to go there.

Even though the room had already been processed by the evidence techs, they spent over thirty minutes walking around the entire room and bathroom without finding anything that might help Danny. When they were ready to leave, sure this little trip had been a total waste of time, they made sure that everything they’d touched was back in its original spot.

Jordan retrieved her phone from her back pocket and began taking pictures of the entire room. When she was finished, something on the ceiling overlooking the bed caught her eye. She took off her shoes and climbed onto the mattress for a better look. After staring at the ceiling for several seconds, she exclaimed, “Oh, my God! It’s a camera.”