Crash and Burn by Allison Brennan, Laura Griffin Read Free Book Online

six-figure job with benefits. She expected that when Mac graduated he, too, would leave them and they’d have to train yet another college student. Because they certainly couldn’t pay enough to keep someone on staff full-time.
    “Yep,” he answered.
    “I need some background checks. Can you do it? Today?”
    “It’s Saturday. I might not be able to do a full file until Monday.”
    “Just whatever you can.”
    “Who?”
    She gave him Jim Douglas’s name and contact information, and Wendy Anderson. She only had her license plate number and age, but that should be enough to get Mac started.
    “That it?”
    “One more—there’s a new detective here in Newport. Alex Bishop. Started four months ago. Just whatever you can find on him without raising any flags.”
    “You want me to investigate a cop?”
    “I said no flags.” What was with people lately? Wasn’t she clear? “We had a murder on the beach last night, and Bishop is the lead investigator. I want to know what to expect from him.”
    “Okay. I’ll call you later.” He hung up.
    Scarlet leaned back in the chair and counted while watching the surf. She’d reached thirty-seven when her cell phone rang.
    “Hello, Krista,” she said without looking at caller ID.
    “Someone was murdered on the beach?” Krista said immediately.
    Scarlet loved when she was right. Mac lived in the apartment over Krista’s garage and told her everything.
    She filled her in on the details—as much as she knew, anyway. The phone line was so quiet, Scarlet thought she’d lost the call.
    “Krista?”
    “I’m here.”
    Again, silence.
    “Tell me what you’re thinking.”
    “I know you, Scarlet. You won’t be able to help yourself. Just play nice with the new detective, okay?”
    “Always.”
    Krista laughed heartily. “I have to go meet Diane Stark, then I have my self-defense class.” Once a month, Krista taught women self-defense at the local recreation center. Scarlet admired Krista’s drive to give back to her community, and a free self-defense class taught by a black belt in Tae Kwon Do was something everyone should take advantage of. “If you need help, holler. I have no other plans this weekend.”
    “Weren’t you going to finish retiling your bathroom?”
    “You’re just being cruel. Later.”
    Scarlet grinned as she hung up. She loved teasing Krista.
    She poured herself a second cup of coffee and considered that maybe she hadn’t been pulling her weight at the firm. She’d promised Krista after she quit the force that she was one hundred percent committed to making Moreno & Hart a success. But if she were honest with herself, her heart was still blue and she yearned to have a badge. That was clear last night when she itched to take over Bishop’s investigation when she had no authority to do so. Krista was the one who pushed the defense lawyers to hire them. They hadn’t gotten a lot from her effort, a few bones here and there, but it was still mostly Krista pounding the pavement.
    She frowned. Krista also handled all the accounting, went into the office every day, and paid their bills. Scarlet didn’t even know how much business she brought in versus Krista, but she suspected that she was on the very short side.
    She was going to have to remedy that. Maybe, in hindsight, she should’ve let Jim Douglas hire her. Instead, she’d pushed him away—practically ran him off. She’d even paid for the beer he drank.
    “You’re an idiot,” she muttered out loud.
    Scarlet stood on her deck and watched the ocean as she finished her coffee. She considered last night, and what she should have done—and shouldn’t have done. Maybe she shouldn’t have antagonized Detective Bishop. But then he’d gone and brought up her past, and she couldn’t just take it.
    “Arrogant jerk,” she muttered under her breath.
    She considered going for a morning run, which always put her in a good mood, but when her cell phone rang with an unfamiliar number, she