Twisted: A Tracy Turner Murder Mystery Novel (The Tracy Turner Mystery Series Book 1) by Keyla Hunter Read Free Book Online

could work. I mean, it would just be so that we can suss them out.”
    “Yes, that’s exactly it.” My voice rose.
    Her eyes lit up and she leaned toward me. “That’s a great idea, but it’s not a date.” Her eyes narrowed, but the tiny upward movement of her lips betrayed her.
    “Of course. Let’s call it a… meeting.”
    “A meeting.” She smiled.
    “A meeting of colleagues.”
    She looked at me and tilted her head to one side. “You’re on.” She giggled and her ponytail bobbed up and down as she nodded.
    “See you then.” I felt the excitement rising inside, but I kept calm.
    “Uh-huh… and I’ll take these.” She whisked the envelope off the table.
    “Go ahead, I've got a spare set.” It wasn't a lie. I could always get copies.
    She beamed and was off.
     

     
    I couldn't believe what had happened. I had vowed not to have anything to do with that man, and here I’m on a date with him! Well, it’s not like a real date, it’s a pretend one, but boy does that guy know how to push my buttons. I couldn't imagine spending an entire evening with him.
    I wondered where Millie was. She conveniently left us without a word. Perhaps I was right after all. Maybe this was her way of getting us together. I pushed the thought aside; she may be innocent and Brett was just doing his job. I was reading way too much into this, but I did catch him looking at me in a funny way. I must admit I kind of liked it. It has been an awfully long time since a guy had looked at me like that.
    Amon Drake was my ex-boyfriend back in England. He was a café assistant by day and by night he was the lead drummer for Mental Metal Buddies , a two-bit band with big dreams. His sister Andrea was my roommate in College, and we hooked up after she introduced us at her eighteenth birthday celebration.
    We did have some good times in the on-again off-again relationship, but it was such an energy suck. He was a confirmed skirt chaser, always had been, except I didn't know about it. Girls both on and off campus were fair game. I was devastated when I found out. What was worse was, as usual in the case of cheating partners, everyone knew but me.
    With a Psychology minor you would have thought that I should have been able to tell what he had been up to behind my back for three years, but he was my first love and I guess I just told myself that he was in love with me as much as I was. What was more embarrassing was that it had been happening from the very beginning.
    The man was under the hallucination that his infidelities were his birth right, and that women were God’s gifts to him. He was one of those men who should have been born as an Arabian sheik with a harem of consenting women.
    Brett is not Amon, and perhaps I should be open to getting to know him better. No, I must stay focused. I needed to get Ryan out of this fix. I was just getting my life back together and getting into another relationship was the last thing on my mind. The man is also so much older than me, I thought, as I recalled the grays peeking through around his temples.
    I was glad that Millie arranged the meeting. He did have some information to share. Although, I did get the distinct feeling that he was holding something back. Maybe I could talk to him more about it this evening. I felt more hopeful now. Perhaps he would be my ticket to getting Ryan out of his predicament.
    I flicked through the thick bundle of photographs that Brett had given me. I tucked them back into the laptop cover. I needed to go to a place where I wouldn’t be interrupted so I could study them in peace.
    It was decent of Brett to get an extra set of photos for me. Maybe he was considerate, unlike Amon. At least he seemed more mature. I shuddered thinking back to the bachelor party and that clip of Amon. It replayed in slow motion. Piece by piece, he removed his clothing as he gyrated to the beat of a seedy eighties’ hit in a close dance with a buxom platinum blonde in a black mesh crop