Into The Heat (Sandy Reid Mystery Series Book 6) Read Online Free Page B

up. And in turn, he might offer a little direction when she stumbled, or look the other way when she pushed the edge of legality. So many favors had flown between them they had long ago stopped keeping track. Off the job, they wished each other well, but had no further interest. Personally, a smile was all happily-married Eddy had ever wanted from her. He gave her the gift of a beautiful orchid plant once, but that was because he raised it, was proud of it and simply had to show it off to his friend. With no hidden agenda between them, the trust was unshakeable.
    After they exchanged banter about their mutual well-being, she said, “I just noticed Lester Bardner’s name at the top of a police report as Suspect and your name at the bottom as Assigned Detective .”
    “Mine all mine. You on the other side?” the detective asked.
    “This’ll be the first time I’ve talked to him since the arrest, but it looks like I’ll be squaring off against you once again.”
    “Too bad, little buddy. Hey, I’m working on an updated police report. I’ll see that you get it. We’ve got a little more info on the victim.” He flipped open his pocket notebook. “Benjamin Coleman, Miami Beach. We’re checking for priors and any local connections. We know he was staying at the local Holiday Inn.”
    “Anything else you can tell me on the victim will be appreciated.” Eddy was too much cop to reveal any critical information to her, but he enjoyed being the first to tell her facts she’d learn eventually. She’d find a way to repay him. “How did you guys zero in on Lester Bardner so fast? The shooting was downtown in front of Mahoney’s restaurant, and Bardner lives across the bridge on the barrier island? You have a witness?”
    “Better than a witness.” The detective frowned and shook his head, meaning he couldn’t say more, obviously bad news for her. “You want to see Bardner in the visiting room or his cell?”
    “You don’t need to move him. He’s not dangerous. I’ll see him in his cell.” She thanked the detective and went on down to the detention area in the lower level of the police station, where the officer on jail duty recognized her, she was no stranger to the place, and led her down the hall to the row of six cells. She remembered the smell and feel of confinement. Unforgettable. That day Lester had the confines to himself; on a busy weekend there would have been others.
    The officer unlocked the cell door, and she looked in on a quite different Lester Bardner than came into her office the day before, when his biggest problem seemed to be how to keep his wife’s money flowing while enjoying remarkable sex. He sat hunkered back in the far corner of his bunk, his arms holding his raised knees up against his chest, his face written with anxiety.
    “Geez, Lester, you look strung out.” She hadn’t expected him to look any better after his first night in jail.
    “Didn’t sleep. This place really stinks.”
    “What’d you have to eat today? Any breakfast?”
    “I wasn’t hungry. If you saw that tray, you’d know why. Will you get me out of all this? And I’m living in these clothes I threw on at the house when they arrested me. I need a lot of personal items, how do they handle that?”
    “Do you take any meds in the morning?”
    “Julia brought them.”
    She motioned to the officer who was standing in the hall. “If he refuses the next meal, I want him seen by the doctor on duty. You want me to handle that?”
    “No, I’ll tell the sergeant, Miss Reid.”
    “I know there’s a so-called coffee machine in the hall. Any actual food in that other machine?”
    “Bags of junk, candy bars, the usual.”
    Lester heard him and muttered, “Shit.”
    “The Welcome Wagon will be along any time now,” the officer said it with a straight face.
    She asked, “You want any junk, Lester?”
    “There are rats in here.”
    She doubted he’d seen any. “Lester, you’re in a terrible situation. Right