Claws of Justice by Emmie Lyn

Author:Emmie Lyn
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Publisher: Sweet Promise Press
Published: 2020-04-24T04:00:00+00:00

19

“I’m not the enemy,” Conrad said.

He wasn’t a friend, either, I told myself. What was the something in between called? Frenemy?

“I noticed how much you liked these.” He handed me a waxed paper bag.

I had an unhealthy weakness for cinnamon-covered donut holes. The aroma was intoxicating, and the taste was to die for. What? Not the best thought but I popped one in my mouth anyway. I hoped this craving wasn’t going to get me in trouble.

“Conrad, why do you need my help?” I mumbled around the mouthful of deliciousness. “You’re the reason Hitch was shot.”

While I waited for his denial or flimsy excuse about that disaster, the kittens decided that Jasper was a mountain to be conquered. They climbed over her paws and up her side, even tackled her fluffy tail. Jasper tolerated all of it. No, I think she enjoyed the attention.

Conrad ignored the kittens and said, “That was never part of the plan.”

“What plan?” I looked at him, sensing there was a lot hidden behind that comment.

“Our plan,” he answered as if that clarified anything.

“Yours and Maxine’s?”

His eyebrows jumped up and he let out a harrumph.

“Listen, Conrad. I think your words were, ‘I need your help.’” I was getting tired of his cat and mouse game, and my survival instinct told me to get rid of this con man.

“Okay. I’ll level with you, but don’t tell Hitch. Deal?”

I paused for effect before I crossed my fingers and lied right to his face. “Deal.” This poker face stuff was getting easier. Hitch would be proud. I think. Or else, he’d think I’d put myself in a dangerous situation—sitting on the floor with a cat in my lap while this suspected killer I barely knew plied me with my favorite snack and got me to make a stupid promise. Where was Hitch, anyway?

Conrad leaned toward me in a time-tested sincerity ploy. “Harry came up with a plan. I didn’t want any part of it, but if I hadn’t agreed, he would have found someone else. And that would have been much riskier. He could trust me.”

Right. Trust me. I didn’t think so. That sounded like a con man’s famous last words. I nodded my head so he’d continue.

“Harry needed money,” he said. “No one else knew this, but his wife was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s disease. He took care of her for as long as he could, but when it became impossible for him to do it alone, he found the best care money could buy. I suggested a facility in the Blueberry Bay area, and I think that’s where Charlotte is.”

That tugged on my heart strings. If it was true. I ate the last donut hole, found a tissue to wipe my sugary mouth, and waited for him to continue.

“In hindsight, his plan sounds terrible, but I can’t go back and change what’s already set in stone.” He dragged his hand along the stubble on his chin and sighed deeply. “Harry wanted me to steal his bonsai tree so he could make an insurance claim.

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