At Risk by REBECCA YORK Page A

with Formica and chrome fixtures and black and white vinyl tile on the floor. Instead of big flat-screen TVs with sports events, there were a couple of clunky old television sets showing I Love Lucy segments. You could eat at the counter or at one of the booths or tables in the back, and the waitresses all wore pink uniforms with white aprons.
    When they walked in, Rafe nodded to a man who was already sitting at a table for two. He looked up, saw Eugenia and gave Rafe a questioning look. He answered with a small shrug.
    As they walked back, Eugenia saw that his police detective friend was about Rafe’s age, with light brown hair cut almost military short, blue eyes and a solid build. He was wearing a blue sports jacket and gray pants, an outfit considerably less grand than what Cumberland had worn the night before.
    “Pete Grady, this is Eugenia Beaumont.”
    Although he obviously wasn’t pleased to see her tagging along, he said, “Nice to meet you—although I wish the circumstances were better.”
    She nodded. “Nice to meet you, too. I understand you’re an old friend of Rafe’s.”
    “Yeah, we got in trouble together back in the day.”
    He picked up his coffee cup and carried it from the smaller table to a nearby booth that could accommodate all of them. When he sat down, Rafe and Eugenia sat opposite him.
    He gave Eugenia a considering look. “When Rafe and I arranged to get together, I didn’t expect to see you here.”
    The blunt words made her realize that perhaps she’d made a mistake in insisting on coming along. Her presence definitely made this a business meeting.
    “So are you here to make sure I’m not telling Rafe anything he doesn’t want you to find out?”
    “I guess you could talk on the phone for that.”
    The detective nodded. Shifting in his seat, he looked at Rafe. “What is it that you want—exactly?”
    A middle-aged waitress with dyed yellow hair came over.
    “Coffee?”
    “Yes, thanks,” Rafe said. He picked up the menu and studied the selections.
    “The blueberry pancakes are good,” Pete said.
    “Sold.”
    When the waitress came back with their coffee, they all ordered breakfast, with Eugenia opting for, “two eggs over with wheat toast and bacon.”
    Once they were alone again, Pete gave Rafe a questioning look.
    “I was hoping you could keep me in the loop on the investigation,” Rafe said.
    The detective waited a beat before answering. “I could lose my job if anybody found out.”
    “Yeah,” Rafe agreed.
    Pete flicked his eyes toward Eugenia and then away, making her wish she hadn’t crashed this party. There might be things Pete wouldn’t risk telling Rafe in front of her that he’d say if the two men were alone
    “Well, if there is anything you can share, I’d appreciate it,” Rafe said.
    The food came, and the men poured a liberal amount of syrup on their pancakes.
    They discussed the case in a general way, with Rafe doing more of the talking, filling in his friend on what he’d observed so far. Probably Grady was thinking that she’d been stupid to get into the voodoo business. But nobody said it out loud.
    Toward the end of the meal, the detective forked up a bite of pancakes, chewed and swallowed.
    “Cumberland is bucking for a promotion,” he said.
    “Oh yeah?” Rafe answered.
    “He thinks he’s going to make deputy chief.”
    “Will he?”
    “He’s not well liked in the department.” He glanced at Eugenia. “If he can crack a high-profile case, that would be another check in his column.”
    “And I’m high profile?”
    “Not exactly. But Villars has been a power in the business community for years.”
    “So he’d have enemies.”
    “Undoubtedly.”
    “Do we know if any of them were at the ceremony last night?”
    “Can you tell me who was there?” Grady asked.
    Rafe got out his cell phone and went down the list of guests.
    “Nobody rings a bell,” the detective said. “But you might want to check out a guy named Sam