Baby It's Cold Outside by Gemma Halliday

Author:Gemma Halliday [Halliday, Gemma]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Gemma Halliday Publishing
Published: 2014-12-01T06:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FOUR

We had crawled at a snails pace down Lake Tahoe Boulevard toward Pioneer Trail in one of the few cabs desperate enough to brave the weather. What normally would have taken five minutes, took us twenty. Finally we pulled up to the address on file for Andrew, a small cottage next to a dilapidated apartment building. I escorted the Claus family to Andrew Phillips' door—which thankfully stood under a large awning—and knocked with one hand and ran a hand over my hastily brushed hair with the other, attempting in vain to smooth it.

"Who is it?" a deep voice snapped from the other side.

I leaned toward the door. "Tessie King, Mr. Phillps. Can I come in?"

He opened the door as far as the security latch would allow, smiling through the crack at me. He blinked several times as he gave Tate and Britton the once over. I wanted to blurt, "I know, right?" but I bit my tongue.

"Um, I'm kind of busy right now. Is this something that can wait?"

"Time is of the essence, I'm afraid. I promise we only need a few minutes of your time."

Britton pushed in front of me. "Hi, Andrew." She did a cute little flirty bounce-and-wave move that almost emptied the top of her dress. Which Andrew obviously enjoyed very much by the way he stared and the huge smile on his face.

He closed the door, unhooked the latch, and waved us in, following Britton with his eyes the entire time.

Even though the man standing before us was tall and lanky, just like the guy on the video, I understood Britton's earlier sentiment about him. He was clean-cut, well dressed, and very polite, even his bed was made. Well, other than the gawking, but Britton had that affect on most men.

"Ignore the mess. I'm just sorting through my, uh, guest gifts." He pushed the heavy snow globes and other items into a box quickly and set them on the desk. Continuing to stare at Britton's cleavage, he asked, "What can I help you with?"

"Well," I muttered, wandering into his line of sight. "We need to know where you've been this afternoon." Unwilling to divulge too much information after the way Alfie had acted earlier, I avoided any specific time or details.

"Why?" His eyes darted between us as he backed away, his hands fidgeting, gaze dropping to his feet. He finally looked up, glancing between the three of us.

Tate took the lead. "We've had an incident at the Royal Palace, and we just need to make sure you weren't involved in any way." Tate placed a reassuring hand on Andrew's arm, which Andrew quickly shrugged away.

"Involved in what?" Andrew asked, his head cocking to the side, eyes narrowing.

I stepped in front of Tate. "I'm sure it's nothing you've done, but we do need to clear you. We've just gone through some gift shop receipts and narrowed down the suspects. Unfortunately, you are one of them. So, we just need to know where you've been this afternoon.

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