Lowcountry Bombshell (A Liz Talbot Mystery) Read Online Free Page B

functioned as our chief information officer. My brother, Blake, was the chief of police.
    Colleen stared at the ceiling. “Shouldn’t you be guarding her if you’re going to keep her alive?”
    “You heard her—she doesn’t think anyone will try to harm her until August fourth. I have until then to figure out who has motive.”
    “And you’re willing to bet her life on that?”
    “I just got this case. I’m going to do some investigating before I decide if she needs protection twenty-four-seven. Tonight I’ll find out what Michael knows about her,” I said. “It’s odd. I know he met with her while he was building the house. But he never mentioned she was a dead ringer for a dead movie star.”
    “Looks like that would have come up,” Colleen said. “About Michael, how’s Nate?”
    I didn’t look up from my notes.  Michael and I had known each other all our lives. He was my brother, Blake’s, best friend. I’d tagged after them since I was five. Michael and I had dated in college, and would no doubt have married years ago, except for the intervention of my scheming cousin, Marci. She’d lied and seduced her way into a marriage with Michael that had recently ended.  As Mamma would have put it, Marci had been called elsewhere.
    “Nate’s fine.” Nate Andrews was my partner and my best living friend. We’d started our practice, Talbot and Andrews, in Greenville, in the South Carolina Upstate. He suffered the great misfortune of having my ex-husband, Scott the Scoundrel, for a brother.
    “He still in Greenville?”
    “Why do you ask me questions when you know full well the answers?”
    “Okay, why did you let him go back to Greenville in April?”
    “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe because he said, ‘Liz, I’m going back to Greenville,’ and kidnapping is against the law?” When all hell broke loose on the island and I’d moved home, Nate came charging down to watch my back. Around that same time, I’d noticed how big the hole in my life was when he was in Greenville and I was in Stella Maris.
    “I’m sure there are things you could have said that would have incented him to stay.”
    “You think I should have thrown myself at him?” Plenty of women threw themselves at Nate. He’s handsome enough to have been carved by Michelangelo, with all the trimmings statues lack—blond hair, blue eyes, tanned.
    Being separated made me more aware of his many fine qualities. It felt mutual. Okay, it was definitely mutual. There were enough sparks flying around to ignite the whole town. Had one of us taken a single step in the other’s direction, we might have crossed into new territory in our relationship. This all happened at the same time Michael waltzed back into my life. The water was too murky to dive straight in, is what I’m saying.
    Colleen rolled her eyes elaborately. “If throwing yourself at him was what it took, yeah. But trust me, you’re the only person in the great state of South Carolina who missed that Nate is crazy about you. Life’s short. You shouldn’t waste time chasing the wrong man.”
    “I’m not chasing Michael. I’m not even dating Michael.”
    “Didn’t you say you were seeing him tonight?”
    “It’s not a date. We’re two old friends getting reacquainted. Lookit, this is what Nate wanted.”
    “Nate wants you to date Michael?”
    “It’s not a date. Nate wants me to be sure I’ve resolved all my Michael issues.”
    Nate was painfully aware of the torch I’d carried for Michael Devlin for ten years. Michael had stormed back into my life with marriage and babies on his mind. I learned too late that pining for Michael was just a habit—one I easily kicked. But Nate was unconvinced of my certitude in the matter. He went back to Greenville. And now, Nate occupied my mind a great deal.
    “Are you having dinner alone with Michael? Because if you are, it’s a date.”
    “I don’t have time for this conversation.” I pulled a new file out of the drawer and made