Deborah Brown - Madison Westin 06 - Revenge in Paradise by Deborah Brown Read Free Book Online

interfering with an arrest. Everyone, hands up. Richards, step forward, lay face down on the ground.”
    I winced watching her lay her bruised face on the gravel driveway. She stumbled getting to the ground. The fun, laughing, always-smiling party girl had been replaced by a frightened shell of herself.
    “Hang in there, Jami. You’ll be out soon,” I tried to reassure her.
    “I told you once,” the cop yelled, “say one more word and you’re under arrest.”
    Jami cried out as one of the officers cuffed her and yanked her off the ground, leading her to his patrol car. I heard him read her rights as they walked away.
    “The rest of you sit back down and no talking. You, with the red hair, get over here.” He pointed to me. “Your name,” he said as he took out his notebook.
    I was an expert at this game, having been questioned more times than I could count, having mostly to do with other people’s problems. My lawyer drilled it into me that yes or no answers were sufficient, only after contacting him. When that wasn’t an option, I gave the shortest answer possible. I wondered how many questions it would take before I insisted on my right to counsel.
    It surprised me when he only asked for our names and contact information, then the cops jumped into their respective cars and left. I didn’t have a good feeling about this. With a rap sheet as long as Edsel’s, any number of people could want him dead.
    “Next time you’re off to help a friend or stranger, I’m staying home,” Fab snarked.
    “I’ll tell Didier,” I sniffed, sticking my lip out in a pout.
    I ignored her glare and took my phone out of my pocket and texted: If you don’t show up tonight, I’m replacing you .
    I turned to Fab. “I’m staying. I’ll walk to Jake’s and get a ride.”
    “To do what?” she said evenly.
    “The professor said he needed to speak with me. I couldn’t possibly inconvenience you a second time today.” Fab hated not knowing something, so I knew there’d be no way she’d leave.
    “I’m staying. You might need backup.”
    “You okay?” I sat down next to Crum. I almost patted him on the shoulder but snatched my hand back, reminding myself that it’s the thought that counts.
    Fab eyed her rickety chair with suspicion, decided on a change, and hopped up onto an old redwood picnic table that termites lived in. Judging by the piles of dust, a rather large family.
    Face in his hands, Crum slumped down in his chair. “Too much bullshit for this day.” He blew out a long breath.
    “What’s going on?” I asked.
    He looked between me and Fab. “I’ve heard that you two snoop around in other people’s business. I need to know if I get some kind of confidentiality agreement. And an assurance you won’t call the sheriff.”
    I held up my hand. “If you’ve done something illegal, I don’t want to hear about it. Call a lawyer. He won’t want to hear a confession either, but he’ll defend you. And another thing, we don’t blab all over town about anything.”
    “I’ve never in my life run afoul of the law,” he said in disgust. “Follow me.” He crooked his finger. “I don’t know what to do about this. I figured you two would know.”
    We followed him into the parking lot to a dull red ’60s Chevy pickup, parked next to his trailer.
    “When did you get this?” I asked.
    “A man owed me money and I took this in exchange. When I got home last night and unloaded groceries, I found this in the back.” He pulled down the tailgate and lifted up a cardboard box. Inside sat a foot, from the part just above the anklebone and down.
    I jumped back and focused on not being sick, taking short little breaths.
    Fab reached out—
    “Don’t touch that!” I yelled.
    “Look at that, someone’s missing their foot,” Fab said as she bent over and stared at it in detail.
    “How does a foot…I mean who…wouldn’t someone notice that their foot is missing and report it?” I stammered.
    “I’d tell you