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

Damn those laugh crinkles in the corners of his eyes. I’d just had more of a sexual rush in the last ten minutes than in the whole two years I’d spent with Greg. My sympathies went out to Veronica. She could have Greg with my blessing.
    Kate looked at me in exasperation. “I told you not to delay giving your statement, Addison. Why don’t you follow Nick back to the station and get that taken care of? There’s no point delaying the inevitable. Don’t argue,” she said, as I was about to do just that.
    She turned her attention to Nick. “Addison and I have been best friends since the first grade. She’s going to work for me for a little while as a personal favor. You two will probably run i nto one another on occasion, so my only request is that you don’t shed blood in my building. It’s damn hard to keep a good business reputation nowadays, and blood is hell to get out of industrial grade carpet.”
    I nodded stiffly in the jerk’s direction and gathered up as much dignity as I could find. I was running a little low today, considering everything I’d been through up to that point, but I was a southern woman and I could be dignified in my sleep. For the most part. Despite my mother’s best efforts, sometimes I fell off the wagon a little.
    “I’m not the one you have to worry about. I can get along with anyone. It’s obviously Detective Sugar here that needs a lesson in manners.”
    I thought that was a great exit line, but I didn’t get out the door fast enough to miss his parting words.
    “Is that chocolate on your shirt?” he asked with a leer.
    I very maturely shot him the finger and decided it probably wouldn’t hurt to grab another chocolate fudge sundae before giving Nick my statement. It was bound to cool off my overheated body.

CHAPTER FIVE

    Tuesday

    The last week of school was always a drag, and with Mr. Butler’s death things were in even more of an upheaval than usual.
    The funeral was scheduled for the following day at eleven o’clock, and I knew nothing short of my own death would excuse me from missing the event. The school would be closed for the day in honor of his memory.
    In all honesty, I was still waiting for the truth to come out about my involvement in finding his body, but so far luck was on my side. Detective Dempsey had kept his word, much to my surprise. I wasn’t used to dealing with men that had integrity. Of course, things were still early yet.
    Whoever left the message on my machine hadn’t called back, so I’d decided to pretend it was a prank and not take the matter too seriously. It definitely wasn’t something to get Kate or Detective Dempsey in an uproar over, so I didn’t bother mentioning it to either of them. They both had a tendency to overreact about things like that. Not to mention I’d probably have to sit through another afternoon of questioning like I had the day before when I’d been pressured into giving my statement. Detective Dempsey most certainly liked to dot all his I’s and cross all his T’s. An annoying habit in my opinion.
    When the school bell rang at three-thirty on Tuesday, I grabbed my bags and ran to the teacher’s parking lot, ready to earn some real money. I was forced to stop as I saw someone leaning against the side of my car with her arms crossed over her ample bosom. I growled low in my throat and narrowed my eyes.
    “I’m in a hurry, Veronica. I don’t have time to listen to your sexcapades today.”
    “What a shame,” she said. “I’ll have to send you the video.”
    “Slut.”
    “Bitch.”
    Her smile was devious and I knew she was waiting for the right time to spring something unexpected on me. I unlocked my car with the remote, and when she still didn’t budge I wondered if I was going to have to physically remove her. Not that I was totally adverse to popping her one in the jaw, but probably the teacher’s parking lot wasn’t the best place to do so.
    “You won’t be so cocky once you’re out on the street and your apartment is torn down.”
    “Give me a break,” I said. “Do you honestly think I haven’t found a place to live yet?” I looked her in the eye and dared her to dispute my claim. I halfway had a place to live, which by my way of think was better than nothing.
    “Oh, do you mean that cute little house on Hutton Street?” Veronica asked coyly. “I was just talking to John Hyatt about that house the other day. I was thinking it would be the perfect place for Greg and me to live