Some Like It Lethal by Nancy Martin Read Free Book Online Page B

from the Tri-County Horse Club. Although Emma didn't have the kind of money it took to belong to the club, she was often an invited guest because of her horsemanship. She frequently coached people who wanted to improve their riding, especially new people just getting started riding to hounds. New people like Rush, perhaps.
    I said, "I don't know if they knew each other at all."
    "I hear Emma has relationships with a lot of guys."
    "She likes the company of men," I said carefully. "Emma is young and single. She's allowed to have a social life."
    "Does she tangle with married men a lot?"
    "As far as I know, never."
    Bloom gave me an assessing look. "You're not as informative as you've been in the past."
    "Can you blame me?"
    "It's okay," he said smoothly. "I don't think we're going to need you on this one, anyway."
    I felt a zing of anger. "Because you think you've already got the killer? Look, if you think I'm going to stand around waiting for you to convict my sister when I know she certainly didn't kill anyone—"
    "How do you know?"
    "She just wouldn't, that's all."
    "Even under the influence of alcohol?"
    I took a deep breath.
    "She's got a problem with booze," Bloom said.
    "She's been drinking more than usual these last couple of months, yes, but she's still getting over the death of her husband."
    "She was married to that football star, Jake Kendall, I hear. That must have been quite an experience. How long has it been since he died?"
    "Two years," I said shortly. "Emma was in the car, too, and suffered severe injuries."
    Combined with a recent broken arm just a few months earlier, Emma still hadn't worked her way back to riding at the top-notch level required of a Grand Prix competitor. The emotional and physical toll of the last two years had been very hard. In fact, I couldn't remember the last time I'd seen Emma entirely sober. The realization unnerved me.
    "Emma's had a lot of problems," I admitted finally. "She's doing her best to get her life back on track."
    "Jake was a pretty famous guy. I still see reruns of some of his great plays. Too bad he never made the Super Bowl. He had a lot of potential, even with all the drinking he did." Bloom continued to observe me. "Does your sister still go to football games, or has she just tried to forget?"
    "You're trying to trick me into confiding more, Detective, and there's nothing to confide. Emma might be an emotional mess, but she's not a killer."
    Bloom closed his notebook without writing down a single word. Softly, he said, "I hope you're right. But forgive me if I don't have much faith in your judgement."
    I felt a lecture coming.
    He said, "You have a history of trusting the wrong kind of people, Miss Blackbird."
    "We're not talking about Emma now, are we?"
    "I hear Abruzzo took a powder."
    I should have guessed Bloom had more than just an open-and-shut murder investigation on his mind. He had obviously decided this case was going to be easy, and he was looking around for something more promising to work on. He had a lot of ambition, and dabbling in organized crime cases might attract the attention of his superiors.
    More calmly than I felt, I said, "Michael is on a vacation."
    "You're sure it's a vacation?"
    "He hasn't run away from anything, if that's what you mean."
    "When's he coming back?"
    "I don't know."
    Bloom and Michael shared a past that started in juvenile court and concluded with some jailhouse justice that left Michael serving a longer sentence and Bloom finally making his way into the police academy. Neither man had spoken of the details to me, and I had not asked to hear the story. I only knew there was no love lost between them.
    Bloom said, "When he gets back, there'll be a lot of questions for him to answer. I hear there's some new evidence in a money-laundering scheme."
    "I don't know anything about that."
    Bloom shrugged. "Well, sounds like Emma isn't the only one who's in hot water right now."
    Chapter 4
    After Bloom left, Reed came over to the