Read Tacked to Death for Free Online Page A

fine."
    Camden reached across a table for a
large tequila bottle. She handed it to the girl. "Take a swig of
this and get your ass out there. You'll do great."
    Juliet shook her head. "No thanks. I'm
good."
    "Great. Never figured that one for
nerves. I mean, hell, she comes from what, one of the wealthiest
families around. She must have done this kind of stuff before. And
I thought for sure that she and Sterling were doing a little…you
know…in the back room, because I couldn't find her for a few
minutes either. I've noticed those two flirting quite a
bit."
    Michaela listened to this as if she
were outside of her body, as if time had stood still, and she
wondered if this was what being in shock felt like. Then suddenly,
as if someone slapped her, she blurted, "Sterling is
dead!"
    Camden shook her head. "What? What did
you just say?"
    She took a deep breath and felt emotion
rise in her throat. Sure, she hadn't cared for Sterling Taber, but
he'd been brutally murdered and no one, not even a jerk-hole
deserved that. "Listen to me." She strained to get the words out.
"The police are on the way. Sterling was murdered in our office. I
found him."
    Camden's face drained of color. She
shook her head. "No. Oh no. No, no, no. That can't be. What? What
the hell?" She nearly knocked Michaela down as she raced toward the
tack store and into the back office. Michaela tried to catch up to
her when she realized where Camden was headed and the horror she
was about to see.
    Mario, walking down the hallway, tried
to block her, but as big as he was, Camden dodged past him.
"Camden, please stop. It's awful! Don't go in there!" he
yelled.
    Camden was at the door, opening it,
when Michaela grabbed her arm. Too late. The door had swung open.
Camden's scream echoed throughout the tack store. She ran to where
Sterling lay, kneeling down by him. Her eyes brimming with tears,
she stroked Sterling's hair. "Oh, no, no, baby, I am so
sorry."
    Baby? Michaela placed a hand on her
friend's shoulder. "I'm sorry. I know that you were friends. I wish
you hadn't come in here."
    Camden looked up at her, tears
streaming down her face. "I've known him for years and we…we've
been more than friends."
    Six
    Before a stunned Michaela had the
chance to further question her distraught friend, the police
arrived and asked them to wait outside the office. By this time
word had gotten around, and Dwayne was now at Camden's side. Mario
also lingered. He'd called the police from his cell phone just
before Michaela did. His appearance, so soon after finding
Sterling, bothered her.
    Camden rested her head against Dwayne's
chest. Michaela's stomach churned with confusion, shock, and
horror, not only from finding Sterling's body, but from Camden's
comment about her and Sterling being more than friends.
    The police separated everyone, and no
one was allowed off the grounds until each person had been
questioned and their contact information recorded. The process
lasted well into the evening, with many people becoming agitated
over being detained for so long.
    A forensics team was brought in, and
Michaela was questioned a number of times in a grueling manner by a
detective who was nothing short of a hard-ass. She recognized him
from dropping off lunch to Jude at the station one day. The
detective, Mike Peters, acted as if he'd never seen Michaela
before, until he'd finally closed his notepad and looked at her
with his dark brown eyes. The look in them was not friendly, and
Michaela felt uneasy. He ran a hand through his thinning silver
head of hair. Cracking a grim smile, he shook his head. "Your boy
won't be too happy about this, Ms. Bancroft."
    "Excuse me? What? My boy?"
    "Yeah. Davis. He isn't going to be too
happy that you found yourself a dead man. Your reputation precedes
you."
    "If you're finished with me, I'd like
to lock up when the forensics team is done. From the looks of it,
your crew has pretty much allowed everyone else to go
home."
    "I'm done with you for now." He