Love Can Be Murder

continue your house search without me."
    He pursed his lips and nodded. "We both have other things going on right now."
    "Right."
    "Right." He pushed his hand through his hair. "Well, I'd better be going. Thanks for the sofa."
    It was hard to smile, knowing the things that were going through his mind, but she tried. "Thanks for the cheese sandwiches."
    "You have Pam's number?"
    She nodded.
    He started to leave, then turned back. "Listen...I have a suite at the hotel. You're welcome to the extra bed."
    She had to give him credit for trying to keep his source close by, and God help her, he was difficult to refuse. "Thanks, but I'll be fine."
    He looked unconvinced. "I'll call you."
    She followed him to the door, smiling until it was closed. Jolie leaned against the door and allowed herself a few seconds of quiet heartbreak, of wishing things could have been different, before forcing her thoughts to how to most constructively spend the afternoon. What was it Leann had said about her—that she always took things in stride? This was no time to break stride. Or to break down.
    She gasped, realizing that Leann didn't even know about Gary, or that she'd almost been arrested. She called her friend's cell phone, relieved when Leann answered.
    "Hello?"
    "Hey, it's Jolie. Can you talk?"
    "Just for a little while," Leann said quietly. "My sister...lost the baby early this morning."
    "Oh no ," Jolie said, her heart squeezing. "What happened?"
    "Well, the doctors said all along that miscarriage was a possibility. I guess her body just couldn't handle the stress."
    "You sound exhausted," Jolie said.
    "I am," she said tearfully.
    "How's your sister taking it?"
    "Not well. You know at first she didn't want the baby, couldn't bear the thought of raising it by herself, then she came around, and now...well, she feels so guilty."
    The word of the day, Jolie decided. "Leann, I'm so sorry. Is there anything I can do?"
    Leann released a shaky sigh. "No, but thanks for offering. What's up with you?"
    Jolie couldn't bring herself to heap more bad news on her friend's personal tragedy. "I hate to ask, but I was wondering if you'd mind if I stayed in your apartment for a while."
    "Of course not. Mrs. Janklo making you crazy?"
    "Right," she said with a little laugh, although she suspected her friend sensed that other reasons were afoot.
    "Sure, stay as long you need to. I probably won't be back for at least another couple of weeks, maybe longer."
    "Thanks. Get some rest. Tell your sister how sorry I am. I'll call you later in the week."
    "Okay. Bye."
    Jolie hung up the phone feeling horribly self-centered. People all over the world were suffering through tragedies. She couldn't imagine the toll it would take on a person's mind to lose a baby at four months. And all this time she'd been selfishly thinking how Leann's sister's crisis had taken her friend from her, forcing her to make new friends.
    Carlotta and Hannah . A knot formed in Jolie's stomach just thinking about her two party-crashing cohorts. They were all in a heap of trouble. She wanted to call Carlotta, but Salyers' warning to steer clear of the women's company reverberated in her head.
    The phone rang again, and she picked it up with trepidation.
    "Hello?"
    "Jolie Goodman?" a woman asked.
    "Yes."
    "This is the Atlanta city morgue. A Detective Salyers gave me your name and number to contact for a next of kin for G. Hagar."
    A lump formed in her throat. "Hagan," she corrected hoarsely.
    "Hagan," the woman repeated. "The autopsy is done; the body needs to be claimed."
    Jolie bit her tongue to keep from retorting that the woman needed to get a bedside manner. "There is no next of kin that I know of. What do I do?"
    The woman sighed, mightily put out. "Somebody needs to let us know where to send the body to be embalmed. Two more days, and the state will start making decisions for you."
    "Okay. What do I do?" she repeated calmly.
    "Come down, identify the body, and fill out a form," the woman said in a bored voice.
    Jolie swallowed hard. "I'll be there within the hour." She wrote down directions and disconnected the call with a shaking hand. She didn't think she could do this alone, but who could she call? She hesitated, then found her purse and rummaged for a card. Working her mouth from side to side, she picked up the phone and dialed, nearly hanging up twice before the phone was answered with a groggy "Hell...o?"
    "Carlotta...It's me, Jolie."
    The woman moaned. " Christ , this had