Killer Physique (A Savannah Reid Mystery) by G. A. McKevett Read Free Book Online Page A

that Tammy was exploring.
    Waycross’s cheeks were flushed, nearly the same ginger color as his thick, curly hair. “Hey there, Sis! Brother Dirk!” he said, far too cheerful y.
    They both jumped up from the sofa in unison, like a pair of synchronized jack-in-the-boxes.
    “Wow, you two were out and about early!” Tammy exclaimed. “I couldn’t believe you guys were already up and gone when I got here.” Tammy scurried to the rol top desk in the corner of the room and flipped on the computer. “I paid some bil s,” she said, “and answered a few of your e-mails for you.”
    “Thank you, darlin’,” Savannah replied, grinning.
    “That’s the least you could do,” Dirk added, “considering the big bucks she pays you.” Tammy looked surprised. “She pays me big bucks?”
    “I pay her bucks?” Savannah raised one eyebrow. “And here I thought she did it al for the betterment of mankind.”
    “I do it,” Tammy said, as she sat at the desk and began to play with the computer, “because I’m a natural-born sleuth. I can’t help myself.
    Detecting is in my blood.”
    “In other words, she read too many Nancy Drew books when she was a kid,” Savannah said, as she sank into her comfy rose-chintz chair, propped her feet on the ottoman, and cuddled the cats who immediately jumped onto her lap.
    “How was that movie thing y’al went to last night?” Waycross asked, discreetly rebuttoning his shirt.
    Savannah glanced over at Dirk and saw her own sad, dark emotions registered on his face.
    “The premiere was great,” she said. “Unfortunately, the night went downhil after that. Way, way downhil .”
    “Oh! Oh, no way!” Tammy was staring, wide-eyed, at the computer screen. “Oh, this is awful! You’re not going to believe this but—”
    “Jason Tyrone is dead,” Dirk said, as he walked past the desk and toward the kitchen. “Yeah, we know.” Tammy spun around in her chair to face Savannah. “Is that where you guys were?” Savannah sighed and nodded, stroking Cleopatra’s silky head. The cat’s affectionate nuzzling of her hand somehow touched an aching spot in Savannah’s heart and brought tears to her eyes.
    “Yes,” she said softly, “that’s where we were. Ryan and John found him dead in his suite at the Island View Hotel.”
    “Mercy! That’s plum terrible!” Waycross said. “Ryan and John must’ve been mighty upset.”
    “To say the least,” Savannah replied.
    Dirk paused at the kitchen door and looked back at Savannah. “I’m gonna make us some more coffee,” he said. “Patty’s throw-outs weren’t enough. You want decaf or regular?”
    “Regular’s fine. Thanks, darlin’.”
    He turned to leave, then hesitated. “I thought we were gonna hit the sheets and try to get a little sleep. You sure regular won’t keep you awake?” Savannah closed her eyes for a moment, feeling the sting of fatigue in her eyelids. “Right now, sugar, I could take me a ten-hour nap in the middle of a runway at LAX. And as soon as I drink that coffee and fil these nosy bodies in on al the gory details, that’s exactly what I aim to do.”
    “Me too,” Dirk replied. “Except for the LAX runway business. We’ve got an un-slept-in bed upstairs that’d be a hel uva lot more comfortable.”
    “I can’t sleep.”
    “I told you we should have decaf.”
    “It ain’t the coffee.”
    “I know.”
    Savannah rol ed onto her side to face Dirk, who lay next to her on his back, staring up at the ceiling.
    Cleopatra was sprawled across his bare chest, snoring. Diamante slept between them, one paw curled over her face.
    At least the felines of the household are getting some sleep, Savannah thought. But then, they hadn’t seen a handsome young actor sprawled lifeless on the floor—a friend of two of their dearest friends. Disturbing, to say the least, and not the least bit conducive to rest and relaxation.
    “I have a bad feeling about this whole thing,” she said.
    “You sense skul duggery