Murdered in the Man Cave (A Riley Reed Cozy Mystery) by R. Barri Flowers Page A

running, but gave her
the courtesy of another minute or two. "Brent's niece, Emily is
staying with me while the police complete their investigation."
    "Who could do such a terrible thing to
someone who was loved as much as Brent London was, especially in
Cozy Pines?" Annette asked, while allowing Mama to do her
business.
    "I've asked myself the same thing," I
admitted. "I honestly don't know. I'm sure the police will figure
it out."
    She frowned. "Everyone was so looking forward
to having Brent as our guest at the next book club meeting."
    "He was looking forward to it, too," I told
her, even if I suspected that Brent was a little nervous that he
might somehow be tripped up by the Alzheimer's. "So I suppose that Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca is back on as our reading selection."
    "I guess it is," Annette said. Mama suddenly
whimpered, indicating she was ready to leave.
    It gave me a good excuse to move on. "Well,
I'd better start my run now."
    "And I'd better go before Mama gets too
restless."
    "I'll see you later," I told her and started
to jog down the sidewalk.
    Annette called out to me, as if she had a
sixth sense, "Be careful."
    "I will," I promised, though I had no reason
to be concerned for my safety. Cozy Pines was a fairly safe place
to live and certainly to jog. I assumed she was referring to
Brent's murder and me being a witness after the fact. Since I had
not seen the killer and had no clue who it might be, I doubted I
was a target.
    I picked up the pace and made it to the
beach. Aside from a few ripples, the ocean was calm this morning
and did wonders to help me take my mind off of Brent.
    * * *
    At home, I found Emily dressed and in the
kitchen.
    "Good morning," she said cheerfully.
    "Morning."
    "I figured since you put me up for the night,
the least I could do was make you breakfast. I hope you don't mind
me helping myself to your kitchen and food?"
    Though I was usually possessive of my
kitchen, in this case I really did want Emily to feel at home for
as long as she was there. I smiled. "Not at all. Knock yourself
out. I'll just go freshen up."
    She grinned. "Okay, see you in a bit."
    As I washed my face, I wondered if she had
truly come to terms with Brent's death and what she would do
now.
    When I came back downstairs, Emily was seated
at the table in the breakfast nook. She had made coffee, toast, and
oatmeal.
    "Looks great," I told her.
    "I just worked with what I had."
    I flushed, thinking I should have stocked the
refrigerator with more food, but I didn't know I was going to have
a guest.
    "I didn't put any sugar in your coffee," she
said.
    "Thanks, I take my coffee black," I told
her.
    We ate in silence for a moment, both caught
up in our thoughts, before Emily asked curiously, "So why were you
at my uncle's house yesterday?"
    "He wanted my advice on redecorating his man
cave."
    "Oh, yeah," she mumbled thoughtfully. "He's
been talking about doing something like that for a while." She
paused. "Now this happens..."
    I felt her pain as much as anyone could as
someone who was close to him though not a family member.
Unfortunately, there would be more pain to come. I felt she had a
right to know what Brent was going through before he was
murdered.
    "Brent was in the early stages of Alzheimer's
disease," I told her.
    "What?" Emily nearly choked on her
oatmeal.
    I repeated myself. "I just found out a couple
of days ago."
    She frowned. "And he didn't tell me?"
    I really wished he had, so I wouldn't be left
to shoulder the burden. "He wanted to hold off for as long as
possible, so you didn't consider him to be a burden," I told
her.
    "I wouldn't have," she insisted, biting off a
piece of toast.
    "I'm sure that was the case, but Brent just
wanted to make sure you were strong enough to be able to deal with
it."
    "You mean because of my past drug use?" She
regarded me as though she could read my mind.
    I chose not to confirm it. "Brent has always
been a strong man, physically and mentally. The thought of you
seeing