Why’d you kill him?”
“I was going to ask the same thing,” Uncle Price said. “Sounds like you just wanted your character to be the murderer.”
“You kidding me?” Mikey squeaked out. “You think that guy was gonna pay me back? No, the mayor was gonna blackmail me for more. Darcy was two-timing me and ratting me out to anybody with a buck, and I figured why not get that necklace from the mayor and make us square? I hired Aaron to make everyone believe I cared. I even acted like I was working with Sheriff Price.” He slanted her uncle an apologetic look. “Sorry, but you coppers were on the take.”
Uncle Price lifted a shoulder. “Makes sense. But you poisoned the mayor? That seems pretty low, even for you.”
“Maybe. I didn’t count on Veronica getting in the way. That’s what messed me up. Guess her uncle was planning to give her the necklace in exchange for her not publishing that hit piece on him, but he was such a big guy that the poison didn’t hit him for hours. It was all I could do to keep Darcy and Veronica distracted. Not that I didn’t enjoy talking with Veronica.” He sighed. His eyes took on a mournful expression, but then he cheered up. “Maybe I’ll visit her in prison.”
Charly felt Aaron’s soft intake of breath against her ear. “Is that what you want, Mikey?”
His friend sighed deeply and slouched in his seat. “She took that necklace years ago.” Mikey’s pale lashes lowered as he a traced an invisible pattern against the glove compartment with his finger. Now they were talking about real life. “I believe her, Aaron. I think she wanted to change her life.”
“I’ll have my lawyers check out her case then.”
Charly glanced up at Aaron. Passing headlights illuminated the bristle on his cheek, but his torn expression was full of compassion for his friend. His soft side was showing again. Mikey’s eyes shone gratefully, and he nodded, for once at a loss for words.
Uncle Price grunted impatiently. “Okay, okay, back to when you were distracting the two women before the murder. Sounds like you were letting the poison do its work, but that’s when Charly found the mayor’s body,” he surmised.
“Yeah.” Mikey leaned back, blinking a few times before getting back to his story. “It was going to be a fantastic ending.”
Wordlessly, Charly’s uncle pulled out of the patrol car, his seat groaning in complaint as he opened the side door for Charly and Aaron like a chauffeur driver. “I think that about wraps up my interrogation then.”
“Uncle Price!” Charly shouted out. It was just like him to joke at a somber time like this. “Are you serious?”
He snickered and shook his head. “Well, the FBI is a different story. They questioned the last guy they brought in here for five hours. Have fun, kids.”
Aaron groaned and helped Charly out. “What happened to the good old days when the fuzz smuggled through the tunnels and took us all out so we wouldn’t have to suffer through all this questioning?”
Charly laughed. “They invented something called Miranda rights, I think.”
He wrapped his arms around her. “A kiss for luck?”
Yes. Yes. A million kisses. They’d need it. He held her closely, and for a moment, they were just a detective and his girl next door—or butcher from the Bronx—lost in each other’s embrace.
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Also by Stephanie Fowers
Enjoy wholesome romances, romcoms, and fantasy
HOPELESS ROMANTICS
Jane and Austen (2014)
Out of the Mouth of Babes (2018)
Roman and Jules (2020)
ADVENTUROUS ROMANTICS
In the Pursuit of Eden (2019)
Robin and Marian (2019)
BILLIONAIRE BACHELOR COVE
A Princess and her Billionaire Scoundrel at Sea (2019)
Her Billionaire Pirate of the Cove (2019)
BILLIONAIRE BACHELOR MOUNTAIN COVE
Her Broken Hero Billionaire (2020)
Her Billionaire’s Murder Mystery (2020)
TWISTED TALES
With a Kiss (book 1) (2013)
At Midnight (book 2) (2013)
As the Sun Sets (book 3) (2013)
COLLEGE ROMCOMS
Rules of Engagement (2005)
Meet Your Match (2007)
Prank Wars (2012)
FILMS
8Stories (2016)
About the Author
Stephanie Fowers loves bringing stories to life, and depending on her latest madcap ideas will do it through written word, song, and/ or film. She absolutely adores Bollywood and bonnet movies; i.e., BBC (which she supposes includes non-bonnet movies Sherlock and Dr. Who). Presently, she lives in Salt Lake where she’s living the life of the starving artist.
Stephanie plans to bring more of her novels out to greet the light of day. Be sure to watch for her upcoming books: including books from her Hopeless Romantic Collection, Adventurous Romantics, her YA fantasy “Twisted Tales,” romantic suspense, an apocalyptic science fiction series, Greek Romance Regencies, Steampunk adventures, Dystopian, epic romance, and more—many more—romantic comedies. May the adventures begin!
MY WEBSITE: www.fowersbooks.com
TWISTED TALES (including faery hunter guide and glossary): www.stephanie-fowers.com
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