“Detectives!” Juliet and Lassiter, who had both just made it into the station only a few minutes ago, glanced up at the Chief’s voice. They found Karen standing in her office doorway. “There’s been a murder at the Waverly Inn. You need to get over there right away. You can get the details when you arrive.”

Lassiter glanced longingly at his first mug of coffee of the morning, but, ever the professional, he only took a sip before setting it down. “Come on, O’Hara. Let’s roll.” He began striding towards the front entrance, and Juliet immediately gathered her purse again before quickly following her much taller – and faster – partner out of the station.

The Waverly was a rather upscale downtown hotel, and it only took them a half hour to get there. Juliet had tried to get Lassiter to stop for coffee on the way, but he muttered that he could wait. Internally, Juliet groaned – it was never a good thing when he went without caffeine. Striding into the hotel, they were informed of the room number by a uniformed officer in the lobby, and Juliet gave the man a sympathetic smile when Lassiter sharply reprimanded him for having a small scuff on his badge.

Silently taking the elevator up to the fourth floor, they easily found the scene, discovering immediately that they were actually dealing with a double homicide – a man and a woman – both shot once through the heart. The couple, both blondes, were nondescript, without anything particularly unique about them, like any number of others who visited the area. The wounds were clean with no outward signs of struggle, indicating the possibility that it had been a professional job.

“Tourists,” Lassiter observed scathingly, glancing around the room. “We need to get their check-in information.” Juliet nodded to one of the officers who instantly hurried away to obey orders.

At first glance, nothing seemed to be particularly strange to Juliet – well, apart from the fact that two people were lying dead on the floor. Pulling on her gloves, she wandered over to their luggage, quickly opening one of the suitcases, hoping to find some indication of why they were in Santa Barbara. Digging through the anticipated clothing and toiletries, Juliet suddenly felt her fingers brush against something that felt all too familiar – and all too out of place.

“Carlton,” she called grimly. As her partner joined her, she lifted out the gun and showed it to him.

Lassiter raised a surprised eyebrow. “Well, well. What have we here?”

“This certainly isn’t the kind of thing you pack for a relaxing vacation,” Juliet observed, checking to see if it had been fired.

Answering automatically, Lassiter said, “I don’t know. You never can tell when you might run into a situation that requires…” He cleared his throat and let whatever he was going to say fade away as he realized Juliet was staring at him incredulously. Avoiding her eyes, he moved to unzip the other suitcase.

Watching Lassiter, Juliet shook her head, wondering if he ever took his holster off for any reason. He probably even took it swimming with him – supposing, of course, he ever actually unwound enough to go swimming. She was distracted from her thoughts, however, as Lassiter pulled out a matching automatic from the woman’s luggage.

“One gun might be protection, but two is just suspicious. What the hell are we dealing with here?” he asked speculatively.

Unable to come up with an answer, Juliet simply started going through the room, looking for clues as to the identity of their victims. Opening the desk drawer next to the bed, she noticed some writing on a hotel pad. Lifting it out, she read, Meeting to negotiate terms of shipment. Reservations. 7PM, Friday. Santa Barbara Bistro.

“Look at this. It seems they were going to meet someone tonight.” Juliet handed the paper to her partner.

Frowning, Lassiter stared at the writing, his mind clearly trying to read between the lines. “This doesn’t sound like they were here on vacation.”

The two detectives glanced at each other, their instincts telling them that something was going on.

****

“Jeremy and Marilyn Sanderson,” Karen Vick read off of the file her detectives handed her. She glanced up at Lassiter. “And there were weapons in their luggage?”

“Yes, Chief. None of their other belongings shed much light on why they were in Santa Barbara, although the lab has informed me there is some strange activity on their laptops. We’re trying to run the ballistics to see if there is any record of the guns having been involved in prior crimes.”

Karen picked up the note, which was now carefully covered by its evidence bag. “Meeting to negotiate terms of shipment,” she murmured. “This wouldn’t normally raise any alarms, but, together with the guns, it seems suspicious.”

“I agree,” Lassiter said firmly. “I think we need to check it out.”

“I’m listening, Detective. Any suggestions?”

Lassiter’s response was immediate. “We could send in an undercover team posing as the Sandersons to the restaurant tonight. See if we get any bites.”

Carefully considering his idea, Karen replied, “I’m not sure. This could be a legitimate business meeting for all we know. And, besides, what if the victims are already known? The operation won’t get very far.”

At this point, Juliet decided it was time she offered her own opinion. “Even if it’s nothing, it still can’t hurt to check it out. And, with surveillance outside of the restaurant keeping an eye on everything, no one should be in any real danger even if the team is made.”

Lassiter nodded in agreement as Karen thought about what Juliet had said. If, indeed, something was going on, it would be remiss of them not to follow up on this lead. Besides, it might help them identify who murdered the Sandersons. Finally, Karen made up her mind. “All right. You two will go in as the victims. We’ll set up surveillance outside.” Expecting her head detective to jump at the opportunity, as he was continually begging to go undercover, she was a bit surprised when he hesitated. “Yes, Lassiter? Is there a problem?”

Unable to meet his superior’s eyes, Lassiter let his gaze slide to the side. If he had been anyone else, the flush on his cheeks would be called a blush, but Detective Carlton Lassiter didn’t blush. “Umm…Chief…while, normally, as you know, I would be more than willing to take on an undercover mission of this nature, I…uh…” He cleared his throat uncomfortably as he obviously searched for the right words.

Frowning in confusion and an impending sense of dread, Karen muttered, “Spit it out.”

“Well, a few weeks ago, I was at the Santa Barbara Bistro, and I thought this guy might have been skipping out on his check. So I…uh…incapacitated him.” Lassiter winced as he mumbled, “As it turned out, he was the owner.”

Their eyes widening, Karen and Juliet stared at him, easily imagining the scene he probably had caused. More than likely, the waitstaff had his picture posted everywhere with orders to keep him out at all costs. There was no way they were going to let him in without making a fuss.

Sighing, Karen decided not to question Lassiter about his off-duty activities, although she did briefly consider bringing in another psychologist for him.  “Well, that means you definitely can’t go in with O’Hara.” Juliet nodded even as her partner sighed in frustration, his expression downcast with disappointment. “We’ll have to find someone else.”

Juliet considered the possibilities. “There’s Johnson on the third floor. And Evans has been angling for more fieldwork.” She mentioned two men in the department, even though she didn’t consider either option particularly promising.

Shaking her head in denial at these suggestions, Karen mused, “This is going to take someone with the ability to think on his feet. And people skills in case you have to talk your way out of something. Not to mention it would help if you had worked with him before, O’Hara, as you’re not going to have much time to prepare.”

As the Chief reeled off her list of requirements, only one name stood out to Juliet. She knew Lassiter wasn’t going to like it, and, frankly, Juliet had a few doubts as well, although she had to admit she trusted him to watch her back. Obvious problems aside, however, there was no denying that he was good at talking his way through situations, and they had been involved in several cases together, so they knew how each other worked. Well, Juliet mused, she knew as much as anyone about how he worked.

Honestly, the more she thought about it there really didn’t seem to be another viable choice.

Taking a deep breath, Juliet hoped she wasn’t making a huge mistake.

“What about Shawn?”