A Draining Murder: A Psychic Cleaner Cozy Mystery by S.E. Babin

Author:S.E. Babin [Babin, S.E.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-08-22T16:00:00+00:00

Roman’s eyebrows lifted at the enormous bowl of cookies ’n cream ice cream in front of me, but to his credit, he didn’t utter a word. Instead, he pulled the carton toward him, grabbed a spoon and sat opposite me.

“You saw him?” he guessed.

“I’m a fool,” I answered.

“No,” he said quietly. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry.”

I reached over and shoved my spoon into the carton. “You didn’t have anything to do with it.” Out of all of it, this was the thing that surprised me the most. He’d been willing to let me vilify him.

Our eyes met. “How long were you standing there?”

“Not long.” I grimaced. “Long enough to realize Ryan meant to do it and never cared about me the way I cared about him.”

Roman shook his head. “I don’t know that I’d go that far.”

“Wouldn’t you? He saw me as a job the entire time. Even when…” Tears sprang to my eyes, and I swallowed hard.

Roman took another bite and chewed thoughtfully. “This job isn’t easy.” His eyes crinkled at the edges. “And sometimes we make mistakes.” He waved his spoon at me. “Like holding you hostage in your room. Not my finest work.”

I rolled my eyes at him.

“And sometimes our job mixes with our personal life. Did Ryan take it way too far?” He nodded. “Do I think he meant it to happen the way it did?” Roman shook his head. “I think he cares for you.”

“But he cares about the job more.”

Roman didn’t refute my statement.

“Are you married?” I asked out of the blue.

He choked on a bite of his ice cream. “Goodness no.” His eyes twinkled merrily. “I mean, I locked you in a room for your own safety and half starved you because of your stubbornness. Sorry about that too, by the way. Lori didn’t tell me you’d refused to eat anything she sent after that.” His smile was sheepish, but regret haunted his eyes. “Anyway, I don’t think I’d be a good husband.”

“Mmmm,” I said.

He laughed. “It sounds like you agree.”

“No one is prepared for marriage, and I don’t think anyone can predict how a relationship will go. I got married thinking the world was my oyster, but it ended with me taking everything I could pack in my vehicle and hitting the road, going from town to town in hopes he wouldn’t find me.”

Roman’s eyes darkened. “I’m sorry for that too.”

I waved my spoon at him. “That was all before your time, though you have apologized to me quite a bit today. Everything alright?”

He sighed and pushed the carton toward me. “My investigation into Sarah’s death hasn’t been fruitful. Everyone is on edge.”

“The police don’t have anything?”

“Cause of death via strangulation. That’s it. No other physical evidence. No motive.” He ran a hand over his face. “The staff haven’t been all that open to questioning.”

My eyebrows lifted. “Why not?” Something he said tickled the back of my mind. Strangulation seemed odd. Didn't someone else mention a heart attack? Lori. That's who said she'd overheard the police talking.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.