Framed in Cherry Hills (Cozy Cat Caper Mystery Book 2) Read Online Free

pegged him as having a Boston accent.
    Dan sagged against the couch. “She told me to find her a lawyer, but I don’t know the first thing about that. I’ve never needed one before.” He twisted toward Imogene, his face bleak. “What am I supposed to do, trust her fate to somebody I’ve plucked outta the Yellow Pages?”
    Imogene tsked and patted his shoulder. “You ought to fill Kat in on what Willow told you. She could have some ideas on how to get her out of jail.”
    “Oh.” Kat stiffened when she spied the hopeful look that Imogene aimed in her direction. She had no idea what she was expected to do. Dig up the jailhouse blueprints and draft a plan to bust Willow out of the building when nobody was looking?
    But Dan didn’t seem to realize how ill-equipped Kat was to aid in the defense of a woman in jail. His face rotated in her direction like a flower seeking sunlight. “What has Imogene told you so far?”
    Kat spread her hands. “Nothing.”
    “Except for the part about the drug charges,” Imogene amended, apparently not wanting to be pegged as completely negligent.
    “Right.”
    Dan ran his fingers through his black hair. “I guess it all started when Willow left this morning for Easton’s Eats.”
    “Easton’s Eats?” Kat repeated.
    “Sam Easton’s catering business.”
    “For the 4F benefit dinner,” Imogene piped up. Although she had instructed Dan to relay the story, she was clearly too agitated to remain silent. “Sam was going to cater our benefit dinner next month.”
    Dan bobbed his head. “But I gather Willow opted not to go with him after all.”
    “Which was news to me,” Imogene said. “I thought all that was settled already.”
    “When she called from jail, I learned she had been on her way to Wenatchee, to interview some other caterers there.” Dan’s shoulders slumped. “That was when she was pulled over for not having any taillights.”
    “You mean she didn’t turn them on?” Kat asked.
    “No, she definitely turned them on,” Dan said. “Willow always turned her lights on, even in the middle of a sunny afternoon. The bulbs must have burnt out.”
    Kat nodded. Although Willow would have been pulled over during daylight hours, with this morning’s rain and dark clouds obscuring most of the sun’s rays, car lights would be mandatory.
    Imogene screwed up her face. “What was the name of the guy who stopped her?”
    “Leon,” Dan said. “I don’t know his last name.”
    Imogene tapped her chin with one finger. “I have half a mind to go down to the station and talk to this Leon myself.”
    “Um, let me hear the rest of the story first,” Kat interjected. Given Imogene’s escalating fury, she wasn’t in any frame of mind to be confronting police officers.
    Imogene’s mouth compressed into a thin line. She didn’t look happy about the delay in taking action, but she didn’t appear to be at risk of running off to police headquarters either.
    Kat shifted her attention back to Dan. “What else did Willow tell you?”
    “She said she waited for this Leon guy to come around and ask for her license and whatnot before she took them out.” Dan looked at her. “She’d read somewhere once that you were supposed to keep your hands on the steering wheel when you were pulled over, so the police wouldn’t think you were reaching for a weapon.”
    “Makes sense.”
    Dan took a deep, shuddering breath. “When she went to open the glove box for her registration, the bag fell out.”
    “Bag?” Kat inquired.
    “The bag of cocaine,” Dan clarified, dropping his face into his hands again.
    Kat’s mind churned. Although she didn’t know Willow and was undoubtedly more inclined to believe in her guilt than either Dan or Imogene, it struck her as odd that anyone would keep a bag of cocaine in the front of her glove compartment where someone else could easily find it. Wouldn’t most people store something like that in a less conspicuous spot?
    “Cocaine, can you