worried about her, and she’d vowed never to put her in a spot like this, but it wasn’t her fault she’d been falsely arrested.
Kim veered into her condo complex, and Marci groaned at the sight of the news vans outside the building.
“How did they know I was coming home now?” Marci muttered.
“They’ve had someone camped there all night waiting for your story.”
“Well, then I’ll give it to them,” Marci said as she reached for the door handle.
“No, you won’t.” Kim gripped her arm to stop her. “Austin is waiting to help us get in. You’d better not say a word until we get you an attorney.”
“But I can’t let all my sweet customers think I stole their money. The press can tell them that.”
“Marci,” Kim said, her eyes narrowed. “They can also twist everything you say and find some way to hang this crime on you. So I’m warning you, keep your mouth closed for once.”
Tears stung Marci’s eyes. Did her sister really think she was so stupid?
Austin wove through the reporters, fending them off with a terse “no comment”, then appeared at her door. Kim jumped out, and she and Austin surrounded Marci, herding her toward the entrance to her unit.
The reporters flocked around them, pummeling her with questions.
“Do you know where Paul Pendergrass is?”
“Did you know he was stealing money from people?”
“Did you help him escape?”
Marci bit her tongue. If she’d helped him escape, she wouldn’t have spent the night in the pokey by herself!
Austin threw up an arm to ward them off as they rushed up the steps to her second floor apartment. Two of the blasted reporters trailed them like rabid dogs, but Kim and Austin managed to keep them at bay while Austin unlocked her door.
Marci practically fell inside from Kim’s push, then Austin slammed the door in the vulture’s faces. But instead of relief, her stomach lurched.
Someone had broken into her apartment and ransacked it. The couch cushions were scattered on the floor, the cabinets and drawers wide open, papers littering the floor as if they’d been pawed through.
Then she glanced inside her bedroom and moaned. The destruction in there was even worse.
Her clothes had been rifled through, underwear hanging from the drawers, the bed tousled, her satin comforter stripped and tossed on the floor, the mattress askew.
Who had been here? And what had they been looking for?
*~*~*~*
A smile curved his mouth. Marci Turner was out of jail. It looked as if her twin and her husband had bailed her out.
He slid deeper into the seat of his car and focused his camera on her apartment as she entered. The cameras he’d installed while she’d wrestled on that cot in her cell last night would come in handy.
He would know everything little Miss Turner did. Every conversation she had. Every phone call. Every visitor.
And when she connected with Pendergrass – which he had no doubt she would – he’d follow her pretty ass right to the man.
Then he’d have them both right where he wanted them.
C HAPTER S IX
Marci’s emotions pingponged like a yoyo. Fear mingled with the sickening feeling of being violated.
“Who did this?” Kim whispered.
“The cops probably searched the place,” Austin said.
The cops?
Detective Muller’s handsome, dark-stubbled face flashed in her mind. Sexy or not, having a badge didn’t give him the right to paw through her house and tear it up like an animal.
She saw a red negligee hanging over the side of her chest of drawers and grimaced. He certainly had no right to look through her underwear.
Furious, she glanced around for her purse and cell phone. “Did you get my things from the country club, Kim?”
Kim averted her eyes. “I’m afraid the police took them, sis.”
“They took my purse?” Granted it was a knockoff Luis Viton but she’d paid fifty dollars for it!
“Yes,” Kim said. “When I went back to the bridal room, they were searching
Kim veered into her condo complex, and Marci groaned at the sight of the news vans outside the building.
“How did they know I was coming home now?” Marci muttered.
“They’ve had someone camped there all night waiting for your story.”
“Well, then I’ll give it to them,” Marci said as she reached for the door handle.
“No, you won’t.” Kim gripped her arm to stop her. “Austin is waiting to help us get in. You’d better not say a word until we get you an attorney.”
“But I can’t let all my sweet customers think I stole their money. The press can tell them that.”
“Marci,” Kim said, her eyes narrowed. “They can also twist everything you say and find some way to hang this crime on you. So I’m warning you, keep your mouth closed for once.”
Tears stung Marci’s eyes. Did her sister really think she was so stupid?
Austin wove through the reporters, fending them off with a terse “no comment”, then appeared at her door. Kim jumped out, and she and Austin surrounded Marci, herding her toward the entrance to her unit.
The reporters flocked around them, pummeling her with questions.
“Do you know where Paul Pendergrass is?”
“Did you know he was stealing money from people?”
“Did you help him escape?”
Marci bit her tongue. If she’d helped him escape, she wouldn’t have spent the night in the pokey by herself!
Austin threw up an arm to ward them off as they rushed up the steps to her second floor apartment. Two of the blasted reporters trailed them like rabid dogs, but Kim and Austin managed to keep them at bay while Austin unlocked her door.
Marci practically fell inside from Kim’s push, then Austin slammed the door in the vulture’s faces. But instead of relief, her stomach lurched.
Someone had broken into her apartment and ransacked it. The couch cushions were scattered on the floor, the cabinets and drawers wide open, papers littering the floor as if they’d been pawed through.
Then she glanced inside her bedroom and moaned. The destruction in there was even worse.
Her clothes had been rifled through, underwear hanging from the drawers, the bed tousled, her satin comforter stripped and tossed on the floor, the mattress askew.
Who had been here? And what had they been looking for?
*~*~*~*
A smile curved his mouth. Marci Turner was out of jail. It looked as if her twin and her husband had bailed her out.
He slid deeper into the seat of his car and focused his camera on her apartment as she entered. The cameras he’d installed while she’d wrestled on that cot in her cell last night would come in handy.
He would know everything little Miss Turner did. Every conversation she had. Every phone call. Every visitor.
And when she connected with Pendergrass – which he had no doubt she would – he’d follow her pretty ass right to the man.
Then he’d have them both right where he wanted them.
C HAPTER S IX
Marci’s emotions pingponged like a yoyo. Fear mingled with the sickening feeling of being violated.
“Who did this?” Kim whispered.
“The cops probably searched the place,” Austin said.
The cops?
Detective Muller’s handsome, dark-stubbled face flashed in her mind. Sexy or not, having a badge didn’t give him the right to paw through her house and tear it up like an animal.
She saw a red negligee hanging over the side of her chest of drawers and grimaced. He certainly had no right to look through her underwear.
Furious, she glanced around for her purse and cell phone. “Did you get my things from the country club, Kim?”
Kim averted her eyes. “I’m afraid the police took them, sis.”
“They took my purse?” Granted it was a knockoff Luis Viton but she’d paid fifty dollars for it!
“Yes,” Kim said. “When I went back to the bridal room, they were searching
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