Free First to Die by Kate Slayer Page A

He grinned at me.
    "It's way too early for that."
    A little blue car pulled up across the street, and an attractive little blond lady stepped out and walked over to my car. She looked to be in her mid-seventies, dressed in designer clothes and smiling from ear to ear. I immediately noticed the red on the bottom of her shoes. Christian Louboutins with a bag to match. Damn, she looked good. I definitely was in the wrong line of work. Jason and I both jumped out of the car at the same time. Max wiggled out and sat in between us.
    "Good dog." I patted her on the head, giggled at Jason and put out my hand. "Ms. Sidwell." She returned the gesture. "I'm Detective Samantha Kelly and you've already met Detective Bradford."
    "Kelly, as in Ann and James Kelly?"
    "Yes, my parents."
    "Call me Dori." She looked at me with her soft, blue eyes. "Terrible loss for the community. Your mom and dad were such a wonderful couple."
    "I prefer Sam." She turned around to look at me from head to toe. "Were you friends with them?" I asked.
    "I did quite a few charity functions with your mom. In fact, I was a little startled when I first saw you. You look like her. Simply remarkable." We followed her up the walk to the front door. "I sold this house to Louise. I couldn't believe it when it happened," she said as she entered a secret code in her smart phone and aimed it at the electronic box hanging on the door knob. "I hate these new-fangled electronic things. I wish they'd just give use the old boxes back. It was so much easier." After a second try and a few seconds later, it beeped. She popped the lid on the box and pulled out a set of keys. "Voila," she laughed. She jingled them in front of us and then unlocked the door. "Your mom helped her pick out the house. From what I remember, they were best friends."
    I stood there, dumbfounded, shaking my head. "I didn't know that. Are you sure?"
    "Absolutely. They were inseparable."
    I thought of my mom as we entered and stood in the foyer of the cozy little house. I wondered how many times she’d stood in the same place as I was now. I looked at Jason, who was quieter than normal. The blotchy, white patches forming on his face told me that he was as shocked as I was. I had a strange feeling in my gut. I didn't feel good. Jason grabbed my arm for support. I was spinning so many questions around in my head. I didn't know that my mom had had a friend named Louise. I didn't know that her friend was murdered. There were lots of her friends that came to the house—she had to of been one of them. I would never have recognized her from the awful pictures in her file.
    "Do you want to leave?" Jason leaned over and whispered.
    "No, I'm fine,” I said. “I just need to catch my breath."
    "Say the word and we're out of here."
    "Is there anything you remember about Louise?" I asked.
    "Everyone adored her. Always kind and loving and no shortage of friends," she said. "She was dating—oh, what's his name?" She rubbed the top of her forehead. "Raymond, Reynolds, Rudy...?”
    "Randall." Jason and I both blurted it out at the same time and followed her into the kitchen.
    "Yes, that's it, William Randall." She clapped her hands together. “She also had a secret admirer that sent her cute little poems.” She walked over and looked out the window. “Louise and your mom got a big kick out of it, used to laugh about it all the time.” Her heels clicked as she headed toward another room.
    “Secret admirer, did they ever find out who it was?” I asked as Jason and I trailed behind her.
    “They tried, that’s for sure,” she said shaking her head. “Unfortunately, no, but everybody thought it was Randall. He was an odd fella.”
    “Did they ever show you the notes or talk about them?” My voice echoed through the empty house.
    “No, I wish they had.” She veered off to the left.
    "Unbelievable." I stood there with my hands on my hips, looking at Jason. "Why don't I know any of this?" I closed my eyes, hoping to