Red Roses in Las Vegas Read Online Free PDF Page B

knows the right people for that job, and he looks like one, too. Not that I’ve met a government-contracted hitman before, it’s just that I assume they’d be like Stone – strong, silent and potentially deadly.
    Nanna was rifling through my fridge. “This is terrible. There’s nothing in here, how can you live like this?”
    I shrugged. Takeout, McDonalds, and casino food, mainly. Supplemented by my friend Glenn’s cupcakes.
    “I’m going to go shopping,” Nanna declared. “You need some decent food. You can’t just survive on peanut butter and pickles.”
    “Sure I can. You mean you can’t.”
    Nanna frowned at me and was about to say something, when I interrupted. “What’re you doing going through my fridge, anyway? Don’t you have better things to worry about?” She gave me a blank look, and I spoke slowly. “Like being accused of murder?”
    Nanna laughed. “Of course not. I’m not worried about that. Now that I know you’re on the case, I can sleep easy. You’ll find out who did it, lickety-spit, and then I can go back to my poker playing.”
    I sat down on the chair opposite my sofa and put my head in my heads. “I can’t believe this. Do you not understand how serious this is?”
    “Pshaw,” said Nanna. “I didn’t do it, so why should I worry? I know you’re a really good PI and you’ll find the real murderer in no time.”
    I looked up at her in despair. Nanna stared back at me sweetly, her good-natured face full of hope and faith. It worried me just how much she believed in me, so I looked at Stone instead. He was looking at me seriously now, and he seemed to understand how I felt.
    “I’m not that good,” I said to Nanna. “What if I fail?”
    “You won’t fail,” she said. “And besides, even if you do, I’ll go on trial, and then the jury’ll see what a sweet little old lady I am, and they’ll let me off.”
    “The cops didn’t think you were a sweet little old lady.”
    Nanna made a derisive noise. “Cops. What do they know? Not much, let me tell you. Besides, you won’t fail. You’ll find the real murderer, like you’ve always done.”
    “Right. Like in the two whole cases I’ve solved before.” Nanna started to look a little worried, and I sighed. I didn’t like it when she was complacent and rummaging through my food, but I hated it when she was worried. So I said, “Never mind. I’ll find out who did it. You can relax. You won’t go on trial because someone else will.”
    “That’s my girl!” said Nanna. “I knew I could count on you.”
    I looked at Stone and thought I caught a glimmer of sympathy in his dark, piercing eyes.
    “What’re your plans for right now?” he said.
    I was about to answer him when my phone rang. 

Chapter Eight
     
    “Emily,” I said, answering the phone in a rush of relief. “I was just going to call you.”
    “I thought so,” she said. “I heard about your nanna.”
    “Are you at work?”
    “Nope, I have today off.”
    Emily Sinclair is one of my closest friends in Vegas. We’ve known each other since before I started training to be a PI, and now that I am a PI, she’s supportive of my career, despite the fact that she’s an LVMPD detective.
    “Oh, good.” I paused. “How’ve you been?”
    “The usual. Busy.”
    “Are you seeing anyone?” I asked.
    “Nope, but I heard you went out with Jack.”
    “Who told you?”
    “Elwood.”
    “Right.”
    “Heard it didn’t go so well,” she said.
    “Yeah. I guess you could say that.”
    There was an awkward pause, as I tried to figure out how to ask Emily about the investigation, but she was the one to plunge in first.
    “I heard about your nanna being arrested,” she said, “But you know I can’t talk about an open case. It’s not my case, anyway.”
    “I know,” I said. “I understand. But is there anything at all that you can tell me?”
    There was a pause and then Emily said, “It doesn’t look good. She’s got motive, means and