Whiskey Rebellion (Romantic Mystery/Comedy) Book 1 (Addison Holmes Mysteries)

check on her? I bet she’s an assassin for hire or maybe even a vampire. I bet she’s the head vampire, not one of those lowly minions that have their minds warped during the transition.”
    Kate looked at me like I was an idiot and rolled her eyes. “I think your mind’s warped. Lucy is very good at her job, but I wouldn’t stand in her way if I were you. I’m lucky to have her.”
    “Well, I tell you, something’s not right about her. I saw her at the supermarket a couple of weeks ago, and it surprised the hell out of me to see milk and eggs in her grocery basket. I figured she had the blood bank make deliveries right to her door.”
    “Has anyone ever told you you’re weird?” Kate asked.
    “All the time,” I said, giving one last glance at the chocolate sauce on my shirt. “Okay, hit me with everything you’ve got. I’m ready to catch some bottom feeders.”
    “Since you weren’t listening yesterday when I was passing along my infinite wisdom, I’ll repeat everything. The most important thing you need to remember is that you’re not out to catch anyone. Your only job is to trail each subject and snap a few photos. If you run into any trouble whatsoever, I want you to drive away. Period. And we never break the law.”
    I nodded my head furiously, trying to convince her that I would never be so stupid as to get in the middle of anything dangerous or marginally illegal, but she knew me too well. Disaster was my middle name, and it showed a serious lack of judgment on her part that she’d even offer me a job like this. But for a hundred bucks a night, I could be agreeable to almost anything.
    “We also have a confidentiality clause you need to sign. Most of our clients are from out of town, but we give local residents our promise to be discreet as well. There could be times when you’ll recognize somebody.”
    “I can talk about it with you though, can’t I?”
    “Absolutely. I always enjoy hearing the juicy tidbits. But you can’t tell your mother.”
    Kate must have read the intent on my face because a guilty flush washed over my skin. I had planned to do just that. Old habits were hard to break, and gossip in a small town was the same as breathing. My mother would never forgive me if she found out I knew other people’s dirty secrets and didn’t share them with her. That was grounds for being cut out of the family will.
    “Oh, all right. I promise not to tell a soul. Except for you, of course.”
    “Here are three of our most recent cases. All of them are allegedly cheating on spouses or significant others. I would take them home tonight and read them through before you start tailing them. It’ll make your job easier in the long run to have all the information in your head.”
    I flipped through the files. There was a doctor from Savannah, a librarian from Thunderbolt and a banker from Whiskey Bayou.
    “Whoa, this is a file on John Hyatt,” I said.
    “Yeah, you remember Fanny Kimble?”
    “A couple of year older than us, head cheerleader, president of the math club, homecoming queen and valedictorian. Black hair down to her ass, big blue eyes and built like a supermodel—all leg and no breast. How could I forget Fanny Kimble?”
    “Well in a few months she’s going to be Mrs. John Hyatt. The only problem is she thinks he’s cheating on her. She suspects it’s a relationship he had before they ever met that has continued over the past couple of years. She’s found expensive lingerie a time or two and receives hang up calls when she spends the night at his house.”
    “But how could he cheat and get away with it?” I asked naïvely. “He works at the bank and lives on the busiest corner in town. You’d think someone would notice.”
    “Which is why you’ll need to talk to the neighbors when you get a chance. Besides, just because we live in a small town doesn’t mean the people there don’t have secret lives. Look at Greg, for example. He’d been sleeping with you and Veronica for two months before you were supposed to get married, and you never had a clue.”
    “Thanks for reminding me,” I said. “I think I’ll leave on that pleasant note and go earn some money.”
    Before I could gather all my things there was a terse knock and a powerful presence at the door that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and heat shoot straight to my unmentionables. I looked down to make sure my clothes were still on and hadn’t melted away at the first sign of such