The After Hours Deception by Patti Larsen

Author:Patti Larsen
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Patti Larsen Books

***

Chapter Fifteen

Reggie’s reaction gave me doubts about her guilt, her shocked surprise at the detective’s statement raising some protective feelings in me, though I did my best to hide them from Elle Gordon. I wanted to keep her on my good side and that required a little bit of playacting that could maintain my cover. The detective thought I was a pro so I’d better act like one, hadn’t I? No way I was admitting to her now I was a bit of a fraud, that I had no idea what I was doing, and lose all respect I’d clearly gained in our interaction. Pride, you sucked, but still. If I was going to continue to be of help to Reggie, I had to keep my cool and follow the script or I’d be either heaved out the front door and told not to come back or down in lockup or an interrogation room.

Neither appealed, frankly. So, stand by and let my friend be interrogated it was.

“Whatever for?” My beautiful friend’s free hand clutched at her throat, the other still firmly grasping me. More bruises tomorrow, awesome. “I’ve already told the other detective everything I know.”

“Ms. Nolan,” Elle said, that level tone so Dad I blinked in surprise she hadn’t, in fact, just magically morphed into SSA Andrew Walker, “you were the last person to be seen with Mr. Carrigan. Not to mention several people witnessed him threatening you.” Whoops, including me. And yes, that had been part of my full reveal to the detective. I wasn’t very good at keeping secrets, though cooperating with law enforcement was kind of built into me.

Reggie’s already wide eyes grew wider. “This is outrageous,” she said. “You can’t think I killed Carson.”

Elle didn’t even twitch. “We just need to ask you a few more questions, and this isn’t the best venue for that conversation.”

I almost broke character and told Reggie not to go, heart pounding, positive the moment they got my friend into an interrogation room she’d crack like an egg. Confess to something she didn’t do—or did, crap—and I’d never see her again. Or my five percent. Petal, sheesh. Okay, but I was trying to be a friend and practical and they didn’t seem to go very well together in this particular situation. Who knew?

I needn’t have worried about Reggie. As the truth of what Detective Gordon said settled in, my savvy friend stiffened, worry vanishing in a wave of determined anger. She gathered herself physically, like a warrior queen preparing for battle, nodding to Elle in an elegant and decisive motion that made her gorgeous hair bob like a shining corkscrew crown.

“Of course,” she said. “Just as soon as I call my lawyer and have him meet us there.”

Elle had to be expecting that, because she nodded back and, at that moment, I saw not one, but two, epic women ready to face off in a contest of wills I was glad I wouldn’t witness. “That would probably be a good idea.

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.