Devilish Details Read Online Free Page B

She breathed easier as she sat down on a stool. Propping
her elbows on the long breakfast bar, she studied her big sister.
“You didn’t happen to do a little digging. Mighty strange you were
on the phone calling to see if I was alright. How’d you know
anyway?”
    “Ahem, one of my friends is a reporter at
WKXL. She was listening to her police scanner and heard Candy Girls
mentioned.” Willa swiped the bowl dry and started washing a second
matching one.
    “So you got eyes and ears around town.
Humph, that’s damn smart.”
    Jazz had to admit she was impressed. Like
most, Jazz had been skeptical that her bourgie sister could handle
the rough and tumble of a security and protection business in the
‘hood. Willa had inherited Crown Protection when her ex-husband was
murdered. Before he died, Willa had moved into being a solidly
middle-class soccer mom, complete with pearls and twinsets.
    “Thanks, but just so you know, I’m not
keeping tabs on you,” Willa added.
    “Sure, sure. I believe you.” Jazz watched
Willa continue her routine of everything in its place and a place
for everything. Wheels turned as Jazz crossed one leg over the
other.
    Willa put away her matching serving pieces
in the cabinet with glass doors that displayed them. Then she
joined Jazz at the breakfast bar. She gazed at Jazz’s three inch
heel red leather boots. “I love those. They are gorgeous.”
    “These? Hey, you can borrow them anytime.”
Jazz stretched out one leg. The black velvet leggings were neatly
tucked into the boots. “I got another pair like this in black.
Girl, got these on one of those sites online with designer clothes
cheap. Here, try ‘em on.”
    “Okay, hold it,” Willa blurted out and waved
a hand in the air. “Now I know you’ve got something up your slick
little sleeve. C’mon, out with it.”
    Jazz stopped in the act of unzipping one
boot. “What? We wear the same shoe size I think, and I know you
don’t have nothin’ hot like this. That sexy Cedric would sit up and
beg if you stepped into the office tomorrow wearing these.”
    “Cedric and I, I mean we... How many times I
have to say he’s my employee?” Willa stammered. Then she scowled at
Jazz. “And don’t try to fake me out by changing the subject to
Cedric and me, not that there is a ‘Cedric and me’.”
    “Well there would be a ‘Cedric and
you’ if you stopped dressing like a Black Barbie Goes to the Office
doll. Those boring suits and...” Jazz broke off when Willa planted
a fist on one hip. “Just sayin’.”
    “Are you in some kind of trouble?” Willa
demanded.
    “Me? Why certainly not, dear sister. I’ve
been walking a straight line ever since Reverend Fisher set me down
the path of redemption.” Jazz stared back at Willa. “I don’t
appreciate that look of skepticism.”
    “Two words about your path, Candy Girls. You
could have opened a restaurant, a clothing boutique, or even a
manicure shop. A bar with girls dancing naked?” Willa crossed her
arms.
    “I have a restaurant,” Jazz shot back. “And
my dancers are not naked. It’s against city ordinance. Your mama
operates a bar.”
    “Mama Ruby’s place is a full service cafe.
Her bar features some of the best bands around south Louisiana, and
her waitresses are fully clothed,” Willa countered, ticking her
points off on the fingers of one hand.
    “Yeah, well she’d triple her net receipts if
she took some of those clothes off her waitresses,” Jazz quipped
and laughed at the squinty-eyed look Willa gave her.
    “Such a smart-ass,” Willa retorted and
hopped off the stool. She put two slices of red velvet cake on
dessert plates and came back to sit down.
    “Careful, Aunt Ametrine will throw some of
that anointed oil on you for cussin’ like a backslider. By the way,
Mama Ruby gave me business advice. Pretty good advice, too.”
    “Yeah, you just didn’t mention the naked
dancing girls in your business plan.” Willa stuck cake in her mouth
and