Getting Rid of Bradley by Jennifer Crusie Read Free Book Online Page A

“I married Bradley Porter. I don’t believe this.
    You’ve been asking me questions about the wrong Bradley. What’s going on?”

Chapter Three
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    “This is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard,” Lucy said. “I mean, first you grab me in an alley—”
    “Listen.” Zack fixed his eyes her. “John Talbot Bradley is six-five and weighs about two hundred
    pounds. He has brown hair and brown eyes, and he’s in very good physical condition. He used to be a
    high-school phys-ed teacher. Does he sound like your ex-husband?”
    Lucy opened her mouth and Zack held up his hand. “Think about it before you answer. I know it sounds
    dumb, but think about it.”
    Lucy shook her head. “No. Bradley’s blond and good-looking and a little out of shape. I bought him
    sweats once so he could run with me, and he told me that physical exertion was for people who didn’t
    use their minds. The height is close. But his eyes are gray.”
    Zack began to slap his notebook with his pencil. “He still might be able to pull it off. You met him in
    March and that’s when John Bradley went missing in California.”
    Lucy shook her head again. “Then definitely not I met him in March, but he’d already been branch
    manager of his bank for a year.”
    “Branch manager of a bank?” Zack stopped frowning. “Two Bradleys, two banks. And then the phone
    tip and the diner. There’s got to be a connection here. All my instincts tell me there’s a connection.”
    “All my logic tells me there isn’t,” Lucy said. “Your logic is wrong,” Zack said absently. “I beg your
    pardon?”
    “Why were you in that diner today?”
    “I told you, I was at the courthouse....”
    “Were you supposed to meet Bradley at the diner?”
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    “Not exactly. I was supposed to meet Bradley at the courthouse. But he’d sent me a note, asking me to
    have lunch with him at the diner after the hearing, and then when he didn’t show up at the courthouse and
    my sister Tina wanted to talk, I suggested the diner, just in case he’d be there.”
    “So you went to the diner to meet Bradley.”
    “No,” Lucy said patiently. “I wasn’t even sure he’d be there. But Tina insisted on lunch so she could
    convince me to become spontaneous and irresponsible, and I picked the diner just in case he might be
    there. And then thanks to her, I beat up a cop.”
    “You did not beat up a cop. I told you, I wasn’t fighting back.” Zack leaned forward until he was almost
    touching her, his blue eyes blazing into hers. “Now, listen.Concentrate.”
    Lucy blinked at the heat in his gaze. “Okay,” she said, trying to remember what they’d been talking
    about. He was doing something to her brain, scrambling her thoughts.I bet he’s murder on cell phones,
    she thought, and then dragged her attention back to what he was saying.
    “My partner and I were there because a woman called and told us that Bradley was going to be there,”
    Zack said, speaking very clearly as if he thought she was slightly backward. “That is all she said.
    ‘Bradley’s going to be at Harvey’s Diner on Second at one.’ Now, could that have been your sister?”
    Lucy pulled back a little so she could think. “My sister would love to see Bradley arrested and shot, but
    even she wouldn’t call and tell you he was going to be there if there wasn’t any reason for you to arrest
    him. Trust me, Tina does not think that Bradley is involved in a crime. And neither do I. And neither do
    you. You’re just annoyed because your instincts failed you.”
    “No,” Zack said. “Somebody shot at you this afternoon. Remember when I grabbed you by the alley?”
    “Vividly.”
    He leaned forward suddenly and touched the cut on her cheek, and she jerked back. “How did you get
    that?”
    “A car hit a stone....”
    Zack shook his head. “Somebody shot at you and missed and the bullet kicked