3 Dime If I Know Read Online Free PDF Page A

me. He’d also fussed at me for meddling in his business a time or two.
    I opened the door and waved him in. “Detective Radcliff. What can I do for you today?”
    He edged past me. “I need your help.”
    “Come on into my office and let’s talk. You want some coffee?”
    “Sure.”
    I poured two cups and carried them to my office. He accepted the steaming beverage, but set it down on my desk, his expression grim. I said, “For goodness sake, Britt. What’s wrong?”
    “Melissa’s sister is in trouble.”
    Melissa was Britt’s wife of twenty-five years. She was also the mother of his two grown sons and his surprise of a daughter. Melissa had a heart of gold, which she needed to put up with Britt’s hardheaded nature. She’d sent over the most delicious chocolate cake I’d ever tasted after Lexy was born.
    “What can I do to help?”
    “The IRS sent Zoe a bill. Seems her no-account husband hadn’t filed taxes in years. Now the rat-bastard is dead, and she’s flat broke. Melissa wants me to take out another line of credit on our house to pay the bill, but I already took one out to set the boys up in their busted plumbing business. I don’t know what to do.”
    While I couldn’t untangle a knot of love, I knew all about knots created by the Internal Revenue Service. “I can help her with the paperwork she needs to file, and we can ask the IRS to put her on an installment payment plan until she gets caught up. She’ll need to come in here and sign a consent form so that I can find out what the IRS knows.”
    “I can have her do that, but I’ll be up front with you. She has five young’uns by that dead SOB, and if she loses her house, Melissa’s already told her she can move in with us. I need you to fix this. Do you ever do any clients pro bono?”
    Steam curled from my coffee mug. “Not as a rule, because it takes food out of my family’s mouths. My finances are pretty lean. I want to help you, but resolving her tax crisis will eat up a chunk of my time, time that could be spent on paying customers.”
    “Could you do it on the side, then? Work on it when you don’t have a paying client? Or would you cut your rate for her? I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t a dire need.”
    My business instincts screamed
no.
Billable hours were the lifeblood of small businesses. But truthfully, I had time on my hands. And Britt had kept me out of trouble many times. I owed him a favor or two.
    I nodded. “I’ll do it because you asked, but don’t let a soul know I’m helping her for nothing. I can’t afford for the word to get out that I’m a soft touch.”
    The tension eased from Britt’s face. “Thanks. I owe you.”
    “Tell her to come on by and give me the particulars. Like I said, I need her to sign that form to get the ball rolling.”
    “I will.” He edged toward the door, thought the better of it, and came back. “You still seeing that golf pro?”
    Alarm clamored through me at Britt’s narrowed gaze. His pointed tone suggested his inquiry wasn’t casual. “What? Is he hurt?”
    “No. Nothing like that. But there’s something off about his story.”
    “What story?”
    “Haven’t you heard? A woman named Starr Jeffries was murdered on the other side of town Saturday night.”
    “I saw something on page three of today’s paper about a woman being shot, but I didn’t read the story. What does that have to do with Rafe?”
    “He’s a person of interest in my investigation.”
    I couldn’t draw a breath. Dean had been right. Rafe was up to no good on the other side of town. My hand went to my quivering stomach. “You’re kidding.”
    “I don’t kid about that kind of stuff. Stay away from him until I figure this out.”
    “Wait. Don’t go yet. You can’t leave me hanging like that. How is he involved?”
    “Witnesses spotted his car at the crime scene. Not many red Jaguar convertibles park at the Catoctin View Motel.”
    Loyal to a fault, I sprang to his defense. “That’s hardly