Free Dying to Get Published by Judy Fitzwater

not more than a few inches from her own and thought for a moment. If she and Sam were ever going to find out what happened to Kyle Browning, this would be the easiest way. And surely a day or two at Moore's office couldn't be that bad.
    "Oh, all right, but I have to have Wednesday off. I have an obligation that day."
    "Fine, whatever you say."
    Sam suddenly cocked his head, caught the back of her head in his hands and drew her mouth to his, kissing her gently. She felt an unfamiliar rush tingle through her body. It'd been a long time since anyone kissed her like that.
    Sam straightened, and retreated beyond arm's reach.
    She stared at him open-mouthed.
    He shrugged. "If I'm going to play your boyfriend, I need to get into the part."
    But did she need to get into the part? Somewhere deep down inside her she heard an annoying little voice calling to her, the voice of an unborn child who was getting impatient for a father.
    A couple had come up to the bar and were motioning to Sam with their empty glasses. Sam turned to help them.
    She should have slapped him, but he was counting on her not wanting to make a scene. Well, she didn't have any intentions of making a scene, and if he was interested in her, that was just fine. But Jaimie had better get Sam's role straight right away, and it had nothing to do with fatherhood.
     
     
     
    Chapter 14
     
    Penney Richmond's disembodied face loomed in front of Jennifer in the dark—all too human, all too real . Except for that teal eye shadow—that was pretty fake. And so was that platinum hair. Not to mention those eyelashes.
    Jennifer sat up in bed and threw back her hair. Sweat had made her clammy. What kind of murder had she thought she'd been planning? Had she really believed she could kill someone without ever coming into contact with the victim? Penney Richmond was no fictional character to be deleted wit h a key stroke.
    She turned to her night stand and found her alarm clock. It read two o'clock.
    Muffy, dozing on the floor, gave out a gentle woof and scratched at the carpeting before settling down again. Who knows what prey she was chasing in her dreams.
    Jennifer's prey was chasing her. She hadn't been able to sleep since coming home from the party. How could she? Writing about murder was one thing. Actually depriving another person of her life was quite another, even if that person was a despicable, no-good, lowlife meanie who had no time or compassion for dedicated, talented writers whose only dream was to see their stories in print.
    There was no way Jennifer could kill this woman for murdering her dreams or for fame or fortune or anything. She couldn't kill spiders, as much as she hated them (most likely a throw-back to that Buddhist phase she went through in college). She couldn't even eat meat, for heaven's sake.
    She didn't even want to kill her. After all these nightmarish images, she wanted Penney to l ive forever.
    What had she been thinking? Had she lost her mind?
    Apparently.
    Jennifer slumped back down on the bed, tears gathering in her eyes. Her hand found the flat of her stomach. "Oh, Jaimie," she whispered. "What kind of mother would I be to you if… I would never, never hurt anyone, really I wouldn't, no matter how much they deserved it."
    Thank goodness Jaimie didn't have ears yet—two sets of chromosomes were needed for that. She/He didn't know, would never know what horrible thoughts her/his mother was capable of. Jennifer would do better. She promised.
    She was all done with murder, except the fictional kind, of course. After all, that's what she wrote about. Puzzles. Mind games. Who did what to whom and why. Nothing gritty, nothing gory. She didn't even describe the crime scenes. Too much blood.
    Jennifer sat straight up. Of course! That's why her books hadn't sold. That's what Penney Richmond had been trying to tell her in that awful phone call. She had to get down to the nitty-gritty. How could she expect to write effective murder mysteries when she