Two Guys Detective Agency Read Online Free PDF Page A

thousand?”
    “More?”
    “I was thinking less…if you want her to actually take it.”
    “Hm, maybe you’re right. I can always give her more later, send her cash for the kids’ birthdays, that
    kind of thing.”
    Richard loosened his tie, then leaned forward to turn up the air conditioner. “I was thinking we’d head
    back this afternoon after the funeral.”
    “No! I told you, I booked a room at the Marmot for the weekend. We’re having massages tomorrow.”
    He pulled his hand down his face. “I really need to get back to the office, Octavia.”
    She leaned over and squeezed his shoulder. “Please? We’re both so stressed out, it’ll be good for us to
    get away for a couple of days. We can shop for a new watch for me.” She glared, pressing down on her
    brow wrinkle. “I know Carla stole my watch.”
    “You made her take a polygraph, and she passed.”
    “You always take up for her.” Octavia slid a suspicious look in his direction. Powerful men seemed to
    find that whole boss-servant thing pathetically irresistible.
    “Carla is the most trustworthy person I know.”
    Hm. “How else could my watch have disappeared from my jewelry box?”
    “You probably misplaced it, left it at the gym or something.”
    “I didn’t, but regardless, I need a new watch and I don’t want to wait for the insurance claim.”
    He sighed. “You can shop for a watch when you get back home.”
    Except she’d already talked to a jeweler on Nicholasville Road in Lexington who had the model of
    diamond Rolex she wanted — the only one of its kind in the state. “But I really should stick around
    Lexington for a couple of days to check on poor Linda.”
    He was quiet, but gave a curt nod.
    She cooed and patted him on the thigh — a sign that if he got into a better humor over the weekend, he
    might get lucky…or a blow job, depending on how the syringe sites in her face felt tomorrow.
    She wrote the check to her sister and tucked it back into her purse. “I just hope Linda takes this money
    in the spirit it’s given.”
    Richard’s phone rang. He cursed, then glanced at the screen and his mouth tightened.
    “Ignore it,” she said.
    “I can’t,” he said in a weary voice. He put the phone to his ear. “This is Habersham…I can’t really talk
    right now.” He shifted in his seat. “That’s not a good idea…no — ” He looked at the phone.
    “What happened? Who was that?”
    “A client,” he muttered. “The call dropped.”
    “You shouldn’t be talking while you’re driving anyway — what could be so important?”
    “Will you be quiet!”
    Octavia flinched — Richard had been in a snit for days, but he rarely raised his voice. “Excuse me?”
    He sighed, then cracked his neck. “Sorry.”
    She angled her head. “You look a little gray — are you feeling okay?”
    “I’m fine ,” he said with a chopping motion. “I just didn’t get much sleep last night.”
    Actually, she’d noticed he’d left their bed in the wee hours to work in his office every night this week.
    “All the more reason to stay in Lexington this weekend,” she sang. “We’ll sleep in and have room service,
    those enormous strawberries — ”
    “I’m allergic to strawberries.”
    “ — and maybe I’ll splurge and have cream and real sugar in my coffee.” She patted her flat stomach.
    “Javier has been putting me through extra cardio this month, so I can afford it.”
    “Speaking of, how much is the hotel room going to set us back?”
    “Oh, we’ll use points,” she said with a wave. “We have a kajillion after we bought the Picasso on the
    credit card.”
    “Is this the exit?” he asked, pointing.
    She looked up. “Yes.”
    When he slowed the car to pull onto the ramp leading into Lexington, it seemed to her as if everything
    else braked as well — life moved at a more leisurely pace in Lexington than in its more cosmopolitan sister,
    Louisville.
    Octavia wrinkled her nose. She hated coming home.
    Not