Tina Whittle_Tai Randall Mystery 01 Read Online Free PDF Page B

reminded me of my high school guidance counselor, and I shuddered a bit. Same pink complexion, broad face, let’s-get-down-to-business air.
    I dumped coffee into the filter basket. “Okay, let’s start with what you people are doing in my house.”
    “This is your brother’s house.”
    “Same difference.”
    “Actually, no.” He kept his eyes on the keypad, his fingers moving efficiently. “It’s his house, so what we’re doing here is his business, not yours.”
    “You got a piece of paper to prove you belong here?”
    “Of course.” He paused. “You’re going to make me go get it, aren’t you?”
    I waved the pot at him. “Damn straight.”
    “I figured as much.” He put the cell phone in his pocket. “Look, can’t this wait until morning, after everybody’s calmed down a bit?”
    “Right. And the minute I leave the house, you people are all over it again.”
    “Well, that
is
our job.”
    I turned on the coffee maker and leaned against the counter. “All the same, I think I’ll wait for Detective Garrity.”
    As if on cue, the doorbell ding-donged, followed a split-second later by a half-dozen assertive poundings.
    Landon chuckled. He had a nice laugh, rich and deep. It caught me off guard. “Better let him in before he starts threatening to kick things down. In the meantime, I’ll call my partner, see if there’s anything we can do to salvage this situation.”
    “What about Trey?”
    The banging at the door grew louder, more insistent. Landon gestured toward the porch with his chin.
    “Why don’t you let the nice policeman in first? Then we’ll all have a long talk.”
    I did as he suggested. The guy on the front stoop was all cop, right down to the sturdy khakis and navy jacket, rumpled from a day’s wear. He looked about five-ten, slim and wiry, with thick auburn hair cut short and a face like a fox—deep-set brown eyes, a neat sharp nose, and a mouth with crinkles at the corners, a mouth made for smiling.
    It wasn’t.
    “A sword?” he said.
    “Hey, there, Detective.” I held up my hands. “No more armed and dangerous, see?”
    “Garrity, please.” He took the steps, pausing warily at the entrance, a cop stance.
    “I’m Tai, Eric’s sister. Hi.”
    “Hi, yourself. And it’s nice to finally meet you, Tai, but good Lord.” He shook his head, raked his hand through his hair. “This is a mess, you know that?”
    “Sorry. It’s not like I planned it, you know?”
    “Yeah, yeah.” Then he smiled, just a little. “So how are things?”
    “Fine. Well, they were until I found a corpse at the end of the driveway, but I suppose you heard about that.”
    “Yeah, I just didn’t know Eric was involved. Or you. Or Phoenix.”
    I stepped back. “You wanna come in? Apparently I’m making coffee for everyone.”
    He raised his eyebrows. “Coffee? Oh sure, I got nothing better to do at three in the morning.”
    ***
    The three of us sat in the ladder-back chairs circling Eric’s kitchen table, artisan-crafted mugs in hand. Garrity didn’t bother hiding his annoyance at Landon. “Look, this is Eric’s sister. Can’t you just tell her what’s going on?”
    “C’mon, Garrity, you’re a cop. You have rules just like we do, so you know the minute you start breaking them, it’s—wait a sec, that’s me.” Landon checked his phone and stood up abruptly, scraping the chair back. “I’ve got to take this.”
    He took his coffee with him. Garrity waited until he was gone, then cut me a look. “Where’s the sword?”
    “It’s not like it was real or anything.”
    “Where is it?”
    “In the umbrella stand.”
    “And where’s Trey?”
    “Hightailing it back to the van, last I heard.” I took a slug of coffee and burned my mouth. “He’s lucky I didn’t stick that thing right through his—”
    “Drop that thought, my friend.” Garrity put his mug down hard. “Trey used to be my partner, and I’m telling you, he’s not somebody you mess with.”
    “Trey was on