ToServeAndProtect by KyAnn Waters Read Free Book Online Page A

thinking.”
    The detective raised an eyebrow and shifted on his
chair. She nearly stumbled over her rehearsed words. A sparkle lit his hazel
eyes, and his lips hinted at a smile. She couldn’t squash the flash of
awareness of his masculinity.
    “I would never patronize you, Ms. Porter.”
    No, but he could break her if he showed her
compassion. “I’d like to get this over with, so ask your questions, Detective.”
    “Where were you Sunday night?” Detective Pearce took
out a yellow legal pad and made notes as McKenna spoke.
    “Every Sunday I go to a yoga class. The class is held
in a studio above the coffee shop, Conversations. I’m a regular. They have a
sign-in sheet if you find it necessary to verify.”
    “I do,” he said while he wrote. He glanced up. “I find
it necessary to verify every detail. Nothing is insignificant, so please be
detailed in your recounting of the night’s activities.”
    “Sometimes we get coffee before class. Last Sunday I
was late so after class Dawn and I had coffee with another yoga student.”
    “Why were you late?”
    “Just late,” she said.
    “Ms. Porter, I’m looking for motive and opportunity.
You might want to consider being forthright with your responses.”
    “Traffic, daydreaming, I run late,” she said sounding
as exasperated as she felt. “You can verify that, too. I was once told I was
born two weeks late and was still trying to catch up.” She took a breath
remembering her objective today was not to establish an alibi as much as to
spike the curiosity and interest of the detective as Dawn put it.
    Dawn might not be so free with her advice if she knew
about the sputter in McKenna’s heart every time she met the detective’s stare.
Or maybe, Dawn would tell her to take it further than flirtation and innuendo
and do him. Dawn knew how to use all the weapons in her arsenal to her best
abilities. And if Dawn were attracted to the detective as McKenna was, she’d
act on it. McKenna would have enough trouble keeping her story straight.
    “After coffee, we walked down Twenty-Fifth Street. A
jazz band was playing at the amphitheater,” she continued. “Do you ever go to
the free evening concerts, Detective?”
    He paused with his pen. “I don’t like jazz.”
    Deep, steady breathing, focus, try to maintain the
outward cool confidence she didn’t feel. McKenna saw Dawn’s face in her mind
and smiled at the detective. “Miles Davis, Sidney Bechet?”
    Detective Pearce shook his head. “More like Bruce
Springsteen and Fleetwood Mac.”
    McKenna crinkled her nose. “Sorry, I never developed
an appreciation for classic rock.”
    “Just the classics?”
    “Yes.” She twisted an emerald and diamond ring that
had been her mother’s around her finger.
    “You missed out.”
    Intentionally her lashes fluttered closed, when she
looked up their eyes locked, sending an electrical volt coursing through her
body. He was attractive, although he looked tired. If he’d slept, it hadn’t lessened
the lines at the sides of his hazel eyes. “Maybe you could introduce me to some
of your favorites?”
    “I think we should stay on the subject,” Albert Wells
said, narrowing his eyes on the detective and then McKenna. “We need to
remember the point of this meeting.”
    A slow, triumphant smile crossed McKenna’s lips, but
she quickly banked the sentiment. She had successfully redirected the conversation.
    Dawn was right. She needed to forge a partnership with
Detective Pearce if she wanted to find out what happened to her father without
meeting the same fate. As long as she remembered their association served a
purpose. It had been a long time since she’d spent any real time with a man.
Detective Pearce was too attractive. She’d need Dawn to keep her focused. More
importantly, she needed to keep her story straight.
    “You’re right, Albert.” She looked across the table at
the detective. “The concert ended a little after dark.”
    “Did you go straight