Beach Town Trouble (A Port Grace Cozy Mystery Book 2) by Emily Page Page B

feet.
    “Somebody called in a tip that got her arrested.”
    Georgia’s eyes grew wide. “It had to be the partner! Whoever she was working with has turned on her. Otherwise, how would the caller have known what she was up to, since we know they couldn’t have seen her from the road like they said?”
    “So the partner must stand to gain something from Tim Sr.’s death, too,” said Ryan. “It wasn’t just to help out Camila. Why else would they turn on her?”
    Georgia’s head was buzzing.
    “I hope Crimbleton knows what she’s doing and can get a confession out of Camila,” she said. “I’m dying to know who the partner is.”
    “You want me to do what I do and dig into Camila’s life?” said Ryan, wiggling his eyebrows at her.
    “Yeah, and humor me, would you?” she said, her brow creased in contemplation. “Look into little Timmy Jr., too, while you’re at it. Something tells me he’s not a squeaky clean as he looks.”
    “Sure thing. You mind giving me a ride back to the bed and breakfast so I can get working?”
    “Yeah, but I have to drop Cupcake off first.”
    Georgia tried to relegate Cupcake to the backseat, but he inevitably ended up in Ryan’s lap in the passenger seat, much to Georgia’s entertainment. When Georgia pulled up in the police station parking lot, Cupcake barked happily at arriving at their destination…right into Ryan’s ear. He rubbed it crossly while Georgia, laughing, extracted Cupcake from the car.
    “I’ll wait here,” said Ryan.
    When Georgia entered the station, she caught Rutherford and Peak with their ears pressed to the interrogation room door.
    “Hey, boys,” she said, making them jump.
    Peak blushed, and Rutherford scratched at his mustache.
    “Lawyer kicked us out,” said Peak, pointing a thumb at the door.
    “He’s here, is he?” said Georgia.
    “Yeah, and he’s expensive,” said Peak. “You should see his suit. He thinks he’s all that and a bag of chips, too.”
    “Crimbleton get a confession before he got here?”
    “No,” said Rutherford sourly, “but we have plenty on her anyways. She’s admitted to taking the body from the morgue. We can lock her up just for that.”
    “She says she did it on her own?” said Georgia.
    “Uh, yeah,” said Rutherford. “Who else would be crazy enough to go along with that plan?”
    “Right,” said Georgia, figuring explaining her theory would just be a waste of breath with these two.
    So, Georgia wrangled Cupcake back into his cage, but not before she’d given him a goodbye kiss on the nose. But doing so reminded her of Mittens, and she felt a lump form in her throat. She bid the deputies a speedy goodbye and hurried back to Ryan.
----
    J ulie called the next morning while Georgia was brushing her teeth.
    “Yeah, Jules, how is she?” she said, foamy blue toothpaste still lining her lips.
    “She’s totally fine,” said Jules in her usual sunny, carefree tone. “It turns out it was just a really big hairball.”
    “A hairball?” said Georgia, anger suddenly flushing her cheeks.
    “Uh, yeah. Is something wrong?”
    “Yes, Jules, something’s wrong! You called me to say Mittens was having trouble breathing yesterday! How long did it take the vet to tell you it was just a hairball? Ten minutes? You should have called right back! I’ve been imagining her staying overnight at the vet, hooked up to a breathing tube!”
    “Well, geez, Georgia, I don’t own a cat. How was I supposed to know all the hacking and wheezing just mean she was going to hack up a big, gross ball of fur?”
    “That’s not the point, Jules! You should have let me know she was okay as soon as you found out.”
    “You’re right, Gee-Gee. I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking. Truth is, I got distracted.”
    “With what?”
    “I called Cooper right after I called you. I was freaking out, and you were far away, and he had told me to call if I needed anything. But by the time he showed up, Mittens was already free to go,