Read 01 - Playing with Poison for Free Online Page B

our own places.
    “Candy,” I spoke sternly, “I do not care about that stupid cop’s marital status.” We reached her door. “Okay, so how do you know this?”
    “Like, duh!” She tapped her ring finger. “There’s no ring, okay? And I asked Lieutenant Densmore just to make extra-double sure.” She was quite proud of herself. “Captain Rye is single. And perfect for you.” She poked my shoulder with a hot pink fingernail.
    I folded my arms and glared. “You seem to forget the guy thinks I killed Stanley.”
    Mention of Stanley distracted Candy for a bit, and I was sorry I had spoken so gruffly.
    I patted her hand. “Okay, Sweetie. Tell me why Captain Rye and I are so darn perfect for each other.”
    She found a tissue in the tiny sequined purse she was carrying, blew her nose, and enlightened me. “Well, you’re both single,” she said, and I nodded. “And you have the same haircut.”
    I thought about that. Rye’s was dark with some graying at the temples, and mine was blond, with some help from my hairdresser. But I couldn’t argue there either.
    Encouraged, Candy continued, “And you’re both tall, and you both play pool, and you’re both old—” She caught herself. “Older, I mean. Captain Rye’s forty-seven.”
    “And how exactly do you know this?”
    “I asked him!”
    I did the math. “That would put me in cougar territory.”
    “So?”
    I closed my eyes and prayed for strength.
    When I opened them again, Candy was smiling broadly. She turned around to unlock her door. “Gosh he’s a hunk, even if he is old. I mean, how could you not notice those eyes, Jessie?”
    I admitted that I had noticed the Captain’s lovely blue eyes. Lord knows I had glared into them often enough.
    Candy stepped inside her apartment. “And don’t you think the graying at his temples is to die for?”
    I told her she was giving me a headache and walked upstairs.

Chapter 5
    The following morning Rolfe Vanderhorn got busy being heroic. He forded Lord Snipe’s moat and fought his way into the castle, fending off several guards and Maynard Snipe himself along the way. Alexis couldn’t see the struggle from behind the heavy door of her turret, but she heard the commotion in the winding stone stairwell, and prepared herself for the impending moment, when Rolfe would barge through the door, sweep her off her feet, and carry her to freedom, at last. To say the woman’s bosom trembled in anticipation would be an understatement.
    Rolfe did not disappoint. Indeed, he swash buckled his way into the turret, rescued a most grateful Alexis Wynsome, and delivered her forthwith to his charming cottage on the outskirts of the village.
    And now our hero was in the process of unbuckling a few things when a commotion arose outside my own door.
    “Go away,” I heard Captain Rye tell Jimmy Beak.
    “Grand Central Station,” I mumbled to Snowflake. I closed my computer and the two of us walked over to hear more.
    Rye’s arrival was adding a new mix to the mayhem, but Channel 15's finest had been camped out in the hall all morning. Apparently Jimmy Beak was under the impression that if he waited long enough, I would break down, open my door, and confess all, preferably while the camera was rolling.
    “Get lost, Beak,” Rye demanded. Jimmy offered some lame argument, but the captain was unfazed. “You can leave, or you can get yourself arrested for trespassing. Take your pick.”
    I heard retreating footsteps, but Rye had to assure me Jimmy and his cameraman had left the building before I opened the door.
    “We’ve got a problem,” he said when I peeked out.
    “Why am I not surprised?” I crossed my arms and blocked his entry.
    “May I come in?”
    “Could you really have arrested Jimmy?”
    “As long as this hallway is private property, he has no right to be here. Not without your permission.”
    “Thank you,” I said sincerely. “I’ll remember that.”
    “Like when you remember to put a lock on that door