Free A Kiss Gone Bad by Jeff Abbott

rain splatter against the windshield. ‘Whit defended you to me, said you were a good investigator. I just hope he’s right. I’m sure in a little town sucking up to the right people makes all the difference in promotions.’
    ‘You’ve suffered a really nasty shock tonight, and I’m real sorry about your friend. So I’m just going to ignore what you just said, because you don’t know jackshit about me.’
    ‘You’re the one who got out the label maker, sweetie.’ Velvet opened the car door and ran through the rain. Claudia, peeved, followed her.
    They went inside the motel lobby and got Velvet checked in. Claudia asked, ‘You’re gonna be okay here alone?’
    ‘I’d be better if there was a wet bar. I’ll settle for a shower and a bed. Thanks for the ride.’
    ‘We’ll talk tomorrow,’ Claudia said. ‘I’ll have a patrol officer bring you by some clothes and toiletries.’ Let her see actual, respectable small-town nice. Maybe she would unleash a squad of church ladies on Velvet. No one could be nicer than church ladies on a mission.
    ‘Thank you. Now go work hard and get the fucker who did this,’ Velvet said. She turned off and went down the hall toward her
room.
    Claudia drove back to Golden Gulf Marina. The crowd had returned to their boats, although several craft showed lamps’ glimmers
from behind the curtains. People still awake, shocked at death’s close amble, watching television or drinking decaf to lull
themselves to sleep. In the gentle downpour she walked to
Real Shame,
watching the yellow crime scene ribbons flap in the breeze. She boarded and heard a low voice talking inside the cabin.
    ‘Yeah, it’s all taken care of. Not a problem.’
    She opened the door and Eddie Gardner smiled, clicking off his cell phone.
    ‘What’s going on?’ she asked.
    ‘Not much, just finishing up.’ He gestured to a stack of bagged items and rolls of film, neatly tagged. ‘How did the statements
go? You squeeze a confession?’
    ‘Hardly. The girlfriend is sure he didn’t off himself, and the young woman who found the body is sure he did. I’d like to
send both to Credible Witness School.’ Claudia thumbed through the stack of bagged items: bedding, individual items of clothing,
including the pair of women’s panties (Velvet had said forcefully that she owned no pair with violets on them), wineglass,
wine bottles, the videotape that Whit had found.
    ‘Find anything interesting?’ she asked.
    ‘Not counting the dirty movies, no. No contraband.’
    She smiled. Gardner could be a toad but he wasn’t a bad guy, just overimpressed with himself. Both the other single women
at the police station pined to date him, although the attraction eluded Claudia. She ought to shove Velvet toward Gardner
and away from a decent guy like Whit. She’d make Gardner’s day.
    ‘Delford – with all the tact of a fart in church – told me to treat this like a suicide.’
    Gardner stopped piling the evidence into a case. ‘It looks like one.’
    ‘I know. But considering who this guy is, to automatically assume …’
    ‘Well, Delford’s a man of strong opinions, but he’s solved practically every major case he’s ever had. He knows police work.’
    ‘He’s old friends with Lucinda Hubble. She won’t want her son’s movie career brought to light, and I frankly don’t blame her.’
    Gardner shrugged again. ‘Look, Claudia. Delford clearly has confidence in you. If he didn’t trust you, you wouldn’t be here.’
    A sudden pang of embarrassment at having shown her doubt hit her. Gardner bent back to his work, not looking at her.
    ‘I know. Thanks. Can I give you a hand with the evidence case?’
    ‘Naw, I got it.’ He hoisted a box to his shoulder. ‘You coming?’
    ‘In a minute. I want another look around.’
    Gardner headed out the door, grunting as he carried the box. ‘They’ve got Fox sitting out on the dock all night to watch the
boat, make sure no one comes aboard.’
    ‘Great. Thanks,