03 - Three Odd Balls by Cindy Blackburn Read Free Book Online Page A

half-naked.”
    “My mother was as fully-clothed as I am,” I said indignantly, which did not exactly help the defense. “And Chris,” I swallowed a groan, “was half-naked.”
    “Half-naked,” Vega repeated and studied something on his notepad. “How long have you known the Ryes?” he asked.
    “Why?”
    “How long?”
    “I’ve known Wilson for about five months. And I met Chris for the first time yesterday at the Atlanta airport. Why?”
    “How’d you meet his father?” Vega asked, and I swallowed another groan. Why, oh why, did that particular question have to come up?
    “I’m waiting, Ms. Hewitt.”
    I took a deep breath and explained, as casually as possible, that Wilson had investigated me for murder the previous summer. “He’s a cop,” I added.
    “So I gathered.”
    What a surprise—Vega insisted on hearing the details of the Stanley Sweetzer murder investigation, and thus I summarized the whole sad story. “But it’s ancient history,” I insisted. “Wilson never did arrest me. I was innocent all along.”
    Vega stared at me for a good long time, but I refused to squirm. “How well do you know him?” he asked eventually.
    I caught Wilson’s eye from across the patio. He gave me a thumbs up, and I waved a few fingers. “We are very involved,” I said.
    “I’m not asking you about your sex life, Ms. Hewitt. I’m asking you how well you know the guy. What do you know about his character? About his past?”
    I sat up even straighter. “What are you getting at?” I asked.
    “Wilson Rye’s character,” Vega repeated.
    “Is excellent,” I said. “He’s honorable, and honest, and a damn good cop.”
    “Yeah, and I’m sure you’re an expert judge on that.” Vega looked up from his notes. “What about his past?”
    I blinked twice. “I don’t know,” I mumbled.
    “What was that?”
    “I said, I do not know about Wilson’s past.” That time I was loud and clear.
    ***
    “We did promise we’d watch the sunrise at least one day while we were here,” Wilson reminded me as we plopped ourselves down in the sand.
    The entourage of cops had finally left, and my mother had been moved to Misty Breezes bungalow, where I hoped she was sound asleep. Chris and Louise, whether asleep or not, were also back in their bungalows. All of us had been ordered not to leave the island. Conveniently, we had no plans to do so.
    “What do we do now?” I asked.
    Wilson put his arm around me and rocked me back and forth. “We enjoy the sunrise, right? And then we sleep in late, and then we go about our vacation as planned. How’s that sound?”
    It sounded good. But I wondered out loud if we could do it.
    “We have to,” Wilson said. “Vega told me point blank he doesn’t want my help.”
    “I don’t believe Captain Vega likes you very much, Captain Rye.”
    “And he doesn’t like how we—how I—handled things before he got here.”
    “What?” I protested. “We did a great job.”
    “Vega’s not happy you guys got me involved before anyone called 911.”
    “But you’re a cop!” I said. “Of course we got your help.”
    Wilson caught my eye. “Vega’s not convinced I was asleep when Chris came to get me, Jessie. He suspects I was awake and prowling around the grounds.”
    “Well then, he should have asked me. You were sound asleep when I snuck out.”
    “Vega’s not buying it. Especially since my stupid kid put those last drinks on my bar tab. I tried telling him Chris always sticks me with the bill. He’s a college kid, for God’s sake.”
    “And Vega’s arguing that point?” I asked.
    “Yep. No one can confirm it was Chris, not me, who ordered those last drinks. The entire staff had gone home by then.”
    I asked about Buster, but apparently he was already upstairs in his apartment by two a.m., and apparently that presented another problem. According to Vega, Wilson never should have gotten Buster involved.
    “He didn’t need to be guarding the parking lot so no