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

the scenarios I’d made up in my mind.
    An officer I’d never seen before got into the back of the car with me and took out a tiny notebook. “Ms. Holmes?” the officer said. “I’m Officer Ruiz. I need to ask you a few questions.”
    I turned to Officer Ruiz and nodded my head. My movements felt sluggish and I wasn’t sure I was capable of speaking at all.
    “Do you recognize the victim?” Ruiz asked.
    “Y-- es,” I stammered. “His name is Greg Nelson. He lives here in Whiskey Bayou.”
    “I see,” Ruiz said. “Tell me what happened from the moment you saw him.”
    “I was just driving.” I looked past Ruiz’s face and out the window so I didn’t have to face his scrutiny. “I thought it was a dog running down the sidewalk, and I wondered why it would be out in this weather and not looking for some place dry to take shelter. Then all of a sudden it ran right out in front of me. I slammed on the brakes, but it was too late. And it wasn’t a dog after all,” I sobbed.
    “Take your time Ms. Holmes,” Ruiz said, handing me a small packet of tissues. “You said you thought the victim was an animal. Can you think of something specific that made you think that?”
    I thought for a minute and tried to replay the scene in my mind. “I guess it was the way he was hunched over toward the ground. And he wasn’t exactly running. It was more of a fast shuffle. I remember thinking the animal was hurt because of the way it was moving.”
    “Did you see which direction he was running from?”
    “I could barely see anything at all. I was almost right on him by the time he was visible. It looked like he was heading into town, same as I was, but then he just turned and ran right out in front of me.”
    “Did he look confused or disoriented?”
    “I can’t say. I never saw his face. I’d still thought he was a dog even after I hit him. I didn’t realize who he was until after I got out.”
    “Did you have a personal relationship with the victim?” Ruiz asked.
    The question and tone of voice caught my attention and I looked Ruiz in the eyes. The calculating look was there and I could practically see the wheels turning in his brain. “Yes,” I answered. “He was my fiancé up until just a few months ago.”
    Ruiz grunted, closed his notepad and left me in the back of the squad car alone.

    Nick stayed out of the questioning officer’s way because he had a conflict of interest, meaning he didn’t think it was right for him to question a woman in an official capacity when he was trying to get her into bed. After Ruiz asked his questions, Nick bundled me into his truck and drove back to my apartment.
    I knew he had work to do, but I needed the human contact, and I was terrified the moment I got alone I would lose something of myself that only Nick was able to fulfill. There had been too much death. A person could only take so much before breaking, and Nick was my anchor.
    I’d hardly said a word since Greg’s body had been zipped in one of those black bags and carted away to the medical examiner’s office. What sent me into shocked silence was the tow truck that had pulled up and taken my Z away. They told me my car was an item of suspicion in the investigation and they would have to impound it for the time being.
    Nick had been staring at me like he was afraid I was going to shave my head and take up Russian roulette. It was creeping me out. I took a sip of the hot toddy he’d forced on me, and it calmed me down immensely. “Why would Greg do that?” I asked. “Just run out in front of a car that way?”
    “ I don’t know, but Greg’s involvement in this mess has been suspicious from the beginning. Maybe he decided it was easiest to end it all.”
    “ Maybe, but it’s just hard to believe. Something wasn’t right about the whole scene. I can’t believe he’d deliberately do something like that.”
    “People do things they normally wouldn’t when faced with prison terms.”
    “So you think it was Greg who killed Mr. Butler?”
    “No, I know Greg didn’t kill Mr. Butler. But he wasn’t completely innocent either.”
    “If you know Greg didn’t kill Mr. Butler, then that means you must know who did,” I said surprised. “Why didn’t you tell me? Why aren’t you arresting them? Get off your ass and get to it. I don’t need a babysitter if that’s what’s holding you back.”
    “I’m waiting for is the proof be fore I can make an arrest. The bad guys always make a mistake,