Bailed Out (The Anna Albertini Files #2) - Rebecca Zanetti Page 0,37

loved riding on his bike with him.” A slight color finally filtered into her too pale face. “You know what I mean.”

I blinked. “I do?”

“Sure. Aren’t you dating Aiden Devlin?” She leaned forward. “Is it true he’s the president of the Lordes now?”

The breath heated up my throat. “I’m not sure on either front.”

She made a sympathetic sound. “Then you’re probably not dating him. When those guys cut a girl loose, they do it completely. I’m sorry.”

I tilted my head and tried really hard to ignore the truth of that dagger to the heart. “Danny wasn’t a member of the Lordes, was he?”

“No.” She smiled. “They were just doing some business together.”

Finally we were getting somewhere. “What kind of business was Danny in?”

She shook her head. “I don’t know. It wasn’t like he shared that kind of information, you know? But we rode with Aiden and the Lordes a few times, and I know they had something in the works.”

“Drug related?” If the Lordes were running drugs again, I was going to shoot Aiden.

“I don’t think so,” Kelsey murmured. “I overheard one of the guys approach Aiden about drugs while we were camping out one night, and Aiden was very clear that the Lordes were out of the drug trade.”

“What guys?”

“Danny had a lot of business partners.” For the first time, Kelsey looked away. Her blush intensified.

I watched her carefully. “Like who?”

She didn’t look back at me.

Was she scared or just being careful? “You can trust me,” I said.

“I can’t trust anybody,” she said quietly, folding her hands on the pillow. “Danny kept me out of his business.”

I so didn’t want to ask the next question, but I couldn’t help myself. “Did anybody ride on the back of Aiden’s bike? Was he, um, camping out with anybody?”

“No.”

Relief filtered through me with a speed that should be embarrassing.

She shook her head. “In the few times I’ve seen Aiden, I’ve never seen him with a woman. At the camp out, a couple of women made moves on him, and he didn’t take anybody up on the invite that night. Not that I saw, anyway. I heard through the Silverville grapevine that he was dating you, so I figured that was why. I guess not.”

“Tell me more about this camp out,” I said. Just what were Aiden and Danny into, anyway? “Where was it and what was going on?”

“Hello?” The front door opened and a slightly, very slightly, older version of Kelsey walked in with her hands ladened down with bags. “I brought groceries and stuff to make for dinner since I gave you the day off.” The woman paused at seeing me, and her green eyes narrowed. “What’s going on?”

Oh, I recognized the big sister over-protective look in a second. I had two of those. “I’m Anna.”

“That’s right. The youngest Albertini?” She walked toward the compact kitchen and dumped several grocery bags on the counter. “I’m Krissy. I played volleyball against your sister Donna when I was a senior and she was a freshman, I think.” Krissy’s eyebrows lifted. “How is she, anyway?”

“Good. She’s selling real estate in town and is doing well,” I said. “How about you? She’ll ask when I see her.”

Krissy started unpacking the goodies. “I’m great. Took over the business for dad two years ago.” She shrugged. “Being a mortician grosses some people out, but I like it. There’s peace and comfort with helping people through grief, and I like working with Kelsey, who manages scheduling and the office.” Her voice didn’t change. “Why are you here, Anna?”

I cleared my voice. “I’m not here officially.”

“Yeah. I figured.” Her eyes sparkled. “Sisters, right?” She shook her head. “Kelsey has an alibi for when Danny was killed, and the police have cleared her.”

I couldn’t help it. “What about you, Krissy?” I kept my voice calm, too.

Her grin was instant. “Well, given the chance, I would have absolutely put a bullet in Danny Pucci’s head, but unfortunately, I was at the park concert with Kelsey that night and have about a hundred alibis to prove it.” She started putting groceries away as if she knew exactly where everything went. “Although I wouldn’t mind shaking the hand of whoever did end that loser’s life.”

I nodded. I’d felt the same way after he’d hurt my sister. “Where’s the rest of the family?”

Krissy chuckled. “You’re barking up the wrong tree for suspects, though I get it. I don’t remember Tessa well, but she certainly never seemed like a murderer.” She shook out a bag