Jeopardy in High Heels (High Heels #12) - Gemma Halliday Page 0,63

the sink. "He's home early."

"Better start rehearsing that story," Marco advised, placing his last banana peel rose bud.

We went out to the living room to find Ramirez sitting on the sofa with the twins on either side of him. I leaned down to give him a kiss on the cheek. "Hi, honey."

"Hey." Ramirez nodded amicably at Marco, and then his gaze shifted back to me. "Where's your car?"

"It's in the shop," Livvie said.

"On account of an unruly salad," Max chimed in.

"But don't worry. Mommy washed it out of her hair," Livvie said.

"And I almost threw up in Aunty Marco's car," Max added. "It was cool."

Ramirez shot me a look.

I sent him a big, innocent smile.

Marco cleared his throat nervously. "Well, would you look at the time? I've gotta run. Lovely to see you all," he said as he practically did run toward the door.

It took all I had not to run right along with him, as my husband gave me a long, hard stare.

"Anyone hungry?" I asked, trying at a diversion. "Aunty Marco made snacks!"

This was met with a chorus of cheers, and I took the opportunity to slip into the kitchen.

Unfortunately, Ramirez slipped right along with me as I grabbed the charcuterie board toddler style. I got a small reprieve as Ramirez found a beer and popped the top and I laid out the kids' snack in front of the TV, but the hard stare was still waiting for me as soon as the kids were settled.

"So, the minivan," Ramirez said as he steered me back into the kitchen and away from children's earshot. Which was a sure sign this conversation was not going to be pleasant. "Where is it?"

"In the shop," I said, parroting Max's explanation.

"Uh-huh." He took a long sip from his beer. "And why?"

Defeated, I sighed. "I had an accident today."

A line of worry crossed his brow as Ramirez reached out to put a hand on my arm. "You okay?"

No. "Yes." I launched into a quick explanation of what had happened, leaving out as many scary parts as I could.

Which clearly hadn't been enough, as the worry line was that much deeper when I finished. "You sure you're okay? You didn't get an EMT to check you out at the scene?"

"I'm fine," I promised him, even though a warmth blossomed in my chest at his concern. "Really. Just…a little shaken. It's the car that's not so fine."

He shook his head. "Don't worry about that. It's fixable. You're not."

The warmth went into full bloom as he took a step forward and wrapped his arms around me.

"I'm fine," I repeated. A statement that started to feel a little more honest in his safe embrace.

Finally he pulled back. "So what do you think happened with the brakes? Were they acting up at all earlier?"

"No," I said slowly. "But it's possible someone might have tampered with them."

"Tampered?" He frowned. "Who would do that?"

"Well…" I bit my lip.

Ramirez set his beer down on the counter, the hard stare back. "Maddie."

One word had never carried so many threats before.

"It's slightly possible I might have accidentally upset the suspects in Dog's murder today."

"Suspects."

I was wrong—this word was equally full of unspoken threats.

I took a deep breath, reminding myself I was not a child to be chastised but a full-grown adult who had set out fully intending to mind her own business that day.

"I had coffee with Laura Delmoore's son and found out that Dog's estate, which Laura helped build but is getting none of, is worth 20 million."

Ramirez's hard stare remained. "Go on."

I licked my lips. "We also 'did lunch' with Rupert Blick, who argued with Dog just before he died."

"We?"

"Dana was with me." Mentioning Tina would just open a whole other can of worms. One likely to raise Ramirez's blood pressure into dangerous territory. So, to protect his health, I let that detail slide.

"Of course she was." Ramirez sighed. "Is that all?"

"Well, we did find out that Aunty Mae lied about her husband getting Dog off of In the Kitchen. In fact, he'd been trying to sign him for another three year contract. Plus, Mae is on antidepressants. And likes vodka."

He raised an eyebrow but thankfully did not ask how I'd found that out.

"And it was after lunch that your brakes went out?"

"Yes. Well, and after we crashed Caitlyn's hula fitness class and confronted Blakely about her weed habit. Those are Wives Numbers Three and Four."

"I know who they are." Ramirez shook his head. "Okay. Look. I know that you love Ralph,