Who's Cheatin' Who? by Maggie Price

Author:Maggie Price
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2008-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

HER APARTMENT COZY with candlelight, Melanie handed her brother a mug of steaming coffee. She settled with her own mug at the opposite end of the couch from him.

“Dinner was great,” Brent said, then arched a brow. “Did you learn to cook, or something?”

“Get real. The woman who prepares meals for the stable hands took pity on me when I told her my brother called at the last minute to say he was dropping by.” Melanie blew across the coffee’s steaming surface before taking a sip. “As you now know, her lasagna classico is killer.”

“I’ll say.” Brent retrieved the copy of the trade newspaper off the coffee table. “I bet the observer who snapped this shot of you falling off Something To Talk About got big bucks for it.”

“No doubt. The sportswriter filled up three columns with speculation about whether I’ll stay in the saddle during the Gulf Classic.” Melanie furrowed her brow against the uneasiness that had lain heavy in her stomach since she first saw the article. “I just wish the paper hadn’t also run that picture of me talking to Carl Suarez and identified him as the ‘frantic son of a murder victim.’ I have no idea how the observer who took the photo knew who Carl was.”

“I can guess,” Brent said. “He’s the spitting image of his father. Santos worked around stables all his life. Every observer would know him by sight. When they saw Carl with you, it would have been obvious he was upset. Maybe they wanted to know why and started running some checks. The police report on Santos’s murder probably popped up.”

“I imagine you’re right,” Melanie said. To help ward off the evening gloom, she had lit a dozen candles and plugged in the Christmas tree’s twinkle lights. But it wasn’t just the chill of the evening that sent a shiver up her spine. It was the thought that the teenager who’d witnessed his father’s murder was still out there somewhere, scared and alone.

Brent nodded. “I’ve talked a couple of times to the homicide detective who’s working Santos Suarez’s murder. As of this afternoon, they haven’t found any sign of Carl.”

“What about the phone he had that his dad gave him right after the crash? Or my cell? Have they been able to track either one?”

“He made a call on your cell to a pay phone in Mexico. Your phone’s been turned off since then.” Brent shoved a hand through his dark hair, leaving it rumpled. “He hasn’t made any calls on the other phone, which seems to confirm what he said about smashing it against a rock when he fell.”

“What about his aunt in Mexico?”

“She swears he hasn’t called. And that he hasn’t shown up there.”

Melanie huffed out a frustrated breath. “The killer wore a ski mask, so Carl didn’t see his face. But he did spot the tattoo on the inside of the guy’s wrist. Can the police track him that way?”

“They haven’t had any luck so far. I went by the Angelina Stud Farm this morning and talked to the employees there.

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