Love Can Be Murder

rolling on the floor), and finally, Little Miss Little Rock Fall Festival. When the crowd began to break up, Roxann walked to the bottom of the stairs that Angora was descending.
    "Wasn't that fun?" she squealed, touching her crown.
    "Uh, yeah. Listen, something's come up—we need to get going."
    Angora 's gaze landed somewhere behind Roxann's shoulder and her face went absolutely feline. "H el -lo."
    "Hello," Capistrano said, then elbowed Roxann none too discreetly.
    She frowned. "Angora meet, um, Mr. Capistrano. And this is my cousin, Angora Ryder."
    Angora purred. "Do you have a first name, Mr. Capistrano?"
    He extended his hand, along with a dopey smile. "Joe."
    Joe. Roxann pursed her mouth. A nice enough name.
    "And it's Detective Capistrano."
    "Oooh, detective." Then Angora stopped. "Detective? Are we in trouble?"
    Roxann just hated to burst the bubble. "Detective Joe says you're using a stolen credit card."
    Angora jerked her hand back. "Trenton gave me that credit card."
    "Yeah, I know," he said sympathetically. "It's just sour grapes on his part. If you give me the card, I'll try to have this misunderstanding cleared up. Where are you headed?"
    "Sou—"
    "Angora," she cut in with a warning glare. "Give the detective the card."
    Angora found the card and handed it over with a long face. "Your name sounds familiar."
    He looked amused. "Your cousin must have been talking about me. We're working on a case together."
    Roxann rolled her eyes. "Let's go, Angora."
    "What happened? Why are you in such a hurry?"
    "A dangerous man is following the two of you," Capistrano said, "because your cousin won't cooperate with the police."
    Angora's eyes went round. "Is that true, Roxann?"
    She narrowed her eyes at Capistrano. "One person's cooperation is another person's sell-out."
    He scowled. "Look, I have to go back to Biloxi tonight. I can't protect you if Cape decides to follow you again. Go back with me and we'll talk about Melissa. I'll let you be involved in contacting her if it makes you feel better."
    Roxann hesitated.
    "My partner has a wife and two little girls," he added. "Cape deserves to pay for what he did to that family, and for what he did to his own family."
    She sighed and nodded slowly. "Okay...you've convinced me."
    He straightened. "Well. I'm glad to hear you've come to your senses."
    Gesturing for Angora to follow her, she turned in the direction of the exit and began weaving through the crowd.
    Angora leaned in close. "So we're not going to Sou—"
    "No," Roxann said with a jerk on her arm. "I'm sorry, but we'll have to finish our vacation some other time."
    "But what about Dr. Carl?"
    "Later, Angora."
    Capistrano stayed close at their heels as they tramped through the flattened grass. Fireworks started going off overhead, blue and purple and gold. Another time, she would have slowed to enjoy them. Instead, she just wanted to get on the road as soon as possible. But as they approached the concrete-block building that housed the restrooms, she turned to Capistrano. "Do you mind if we stop here before we hit the road?"
    He suddenly looked weary. "Fine. I'll wait here." He turned his back and leaned against a gate, reaching into his shirt to withdraw a crushed pack of cigarettes.
    Roxann grabbed Angora's elbow, waited to make sure he was occupied, then steered her around the side of the building and across the back through wet weeds.
    "What are you doing?" Angora whispered.
    "Be quiet and walk fast. No way I'm going back to Biloxi with that man."
    Angora squealed. "Oh, this is so exciting!"
    Roxann jogged all the way to the van, then vaulted into the driver's seat and slammed the door. Angora was a few seconds behind her, huffing and puffing.
    "It'll take him at least another five minutes to figure out that we're gone," Roxann said, then flipped on the lights and cranked the engine. Like a faithful servant, Goldie turned over.
    "Will he come after us?"
    "Maybe, maybe not," she said, finding a gear and sending the van lurching forward. "If he has to be in Biloxi tomorrow, he can't spend much time chasing us." She pulled out onto the paved road and nudged the speedometer needle up to the limit. "Angora, I think I should take you back to Baton Rouge."
    "No way, this is just starting to get good." She leaned closer. "Who's Frank Cape? And Melissa?"
    Roxann hesitated. "I don't want to involve you."
    Angora's bottom lip came out. "You don't think I can handle it."
    "I don't want to put you in danger."
    "You