Bitter End (Seychelle Sullivan #3) Read Online Free Page A

still seemed engrossed in his cell phone.
    “Detective Mabry,” I said, “do you think the killers were Russian mafia?”
    “Whoa, darlin’.” He shot a quick look at Amoretti. “Don’t know where you got that idea.” He shook his head. “Fact is, most folks are murdered by somebody close—family members, upset lovers, that kind of thing.”
    “Yeah, but you’ve got to admit, this one does look like a professional hit.”
    “Seychelle, that’s enough,” Jeannie said, sweeping into the room wearing one of her voluminous tropical print muumuus, flip-flops slapping the linoleum as she crossed the room. There were too many desks crammed into that office, and the space between them was scant. At nearly three hundred pounds, Jeannie was a substantial woman, and as she approached the chair where Amoretti slouched, he leaped to his feet and pushed the chair under the desk, clearing the way so she could pass. She produced business cards and handed them to both Mabry and Amoretti. “I’m Jeannie Black, Miss Sullivan’s attorney.”
    Detective Rich Amoretti took her card, sucked his teeth, and rolled his eyes. My immediate reaction was pity. Not for Jeannie, mind you, but for Amoretti. As a vice cop, he undoubtedly spent lots of time dealing with hookers and strippers, and considered himself an expert on tough women.
    Jeannie went easy on him and just cast him a withering look as she took my forearm. “Come on, Seychelle, we’re leaving.”
    Amoretti stepped in front of her, resting his thumbs on the fabric belt that encircled his twenty-nine-inch waist.
    “We aren’t finished questioning this witness,” he said, looking up at Jeannie.
    Her laugh filled the room. “Honey, oh, yes you are.” She pulled me to my feet and turned back to Amoretti, looking him up and down. “They must have made you a detective because they don’t make patrol uniforms in boys’ sizes.”
    For the first time, I saw the grin fade off Amoretti’s face. “Very funny,” he said.
    “Detective, have you charged my client with a crime?” Not sure I wanted to hear the answer to that one, I glanced back at Mabry. He had rocked back, balancing his chair on two legs, his fingers laced across his belly and his eyes shining as he watched the exchange between Jeannie and the vice detective.
    Amoretti started to speak. “No, but—”
    “Then there is no reason for her to stay. I understand she has already voluntarily given and signed a statement downstairs. Good day, gentlemen.”
    Detective Mabry pushed back his chair and stood up, nodding and grinning at Jeannie like a schoolboy with a crush. “Been a pleasure doing bidness with you, ladies. Hope to see you again real soon.”
    Jeannie pushed me ahead of her and we walked out into the hall, turning toward the elevator. We didn’t say a word until we were in her van and pulling out of the police department parking lot.
    “Just take me back to the River Bend Boatyard, okay? Gorda ’s there, and I’ve got a job to do,” I said.
    “I don’t think so.”
    I turned to face her, surprised by her hard tone of voice. “Why not? Are the boys home?” Jeannie was the single mom of twin ten-year-old boys.
    “No, they’d just left for the bus stop about the time you called. We’ve got to stop off and see a client of mine.”
    I slumped in my seat. “Oh, geez.” Jeannie’s clients were usually women divorcing scumbag men, and they needed to vent at length about their soon-to-be-ex’s various affairs. “Jeannie, I’ve got to catch the tide.”
    She ignored me. “I handled this client’s divorce about a year and a half ago. Her husband had cheated on her with a woman who worked for him, and he intended to marry the younger woman as soon as possible. He was a very wealthy man, and she was agreeing to take almost no money, on the condition that he have a prenuptial agreement with the new wife protecting his assets for their son.”
    I stared out the window, barely listening. I had more