Free You Belong to Me by Karen Rose

neighborhood,’ he noted. ‘Fits with the Rolex and the shoes.’
    ‘That’s a lotta mammaries,’ she said and he swallowed a snort, turning it into a cough. ‘Now, you call Hyatt and I’ll beard Gray in his den.’
    Her call to Gray’s office line was picked up by Daphne Montgomery, a woman in her early forties who hailed from tiny Riverdale, West Virginia, a fact she told everyone the first time she met them, by way of apology for the ‘dang twang’. Stevie liked her a lot but knew that the woman was driving Grayson crazy with her big hair and the homemade casseroles and cobblers she brought in every day to tempt him to eat.
    You go, girl . The man needed a keeper.
    ‘Hey, Daphne, it’s Stevie Mazzetti.’
    ‘Stevie. How’s that precious girl of yours?’
    Stevie smiled. ‘Cordelia is just fine, thanks. Is he about?’
    ‘Yes, but he’s in one terrible mood today.’
    ‘He always is. Put me through, please. Tell him I said it was important.’
    ‘It’s your funeral, baby girl.’
    A moment later Grayson’s annoyed voice came over the line. ‘God help me, Stevie, I’m going to scream.’
    ‘What is it today?’
    ‘Peach. I’m allergic to peach. Gives me hives.’
    ‘Did you tell her you were allergic the last three times she made it?’
    ‘No,’ he said, sounding like her five year old daughter. ‘I will.’
    ‘She’s a nice lady, Gray. Put it aside and I’ll take it home. Peach is Cordy’s favorite of all Daphne’s cobblers. Look, I have a situation that needs a warrant.’
    ‘You always have a situation that needs a warrant,’ he said sourly.
    ‘This one needs a special one. It’s for a doctor’s office.’
    Gray sighed. ‘And on a Monday, too. Let’s have it.’
    She gave him the details. ‘So we need a warrant either way.’
    ‘We’re nowhere close to having enough for a warrant. It’s possible that your vic ended up with somebody else’s cheeks through an honest paperwork error.’
    She’d known he’d say that. ‘Then if Bennett’s not dead, he knows who our vic is. He’ll cite doctor-patient privilege crap.’
    ‘But you think he’s dead.’
    She thought about the ring and the watch. And the Roman numeral I burned into the victim’s back. We don’t have time for this . ‘Yeah, I think the stiff is Bennett. If he’s missing, can we get a warrant for his residence?’
    ‘We should be able to. I’m due in court in fifteen minutes, so call Miss Montgomery once you find out if he’s alive and kicking or not. She can get the paperwork started.’
    She hung up at the same time JD did. He was rolling his eyes.
    ‘Hyatt has already decided Lucy Trask is involved,’ he said.
    ‘And you’ve decided that she’s not,’ Stevie said mildly.
    JD flashed her an irritable look. ‘So did you.’
    ‘I don’t think she killed him, for God’s sake. But she is involved, JD, on some level. She was set up to find that man’s body, whoever the hell he is. The sooner we find out how she knows him, the better. I hope to hell she’s got an alibi.’
    ‘That would be ideal,’ he said dryly, slowing to turn onto Bennett’s street. ‘We’re almost there. Did we get a warrant for Bennett’s place?’
    ‘Nah. Grayson wants to know if Bennett’s dead first.’
    ‘That would be ideal,’ he repeated. ‘Maybe this guy can tell us.’ JD pointed to a uniformed doorman standing in front of Bennett’s condo building.
    ‘Sorry,’ the doorman called when JD parked on the curb. ‘You can’t park there.’
    Stevie showed him her badge and the doorman frowned. ‘I’m Detective Mazzetti and this is Detective Fitzpatrick. We’re looking for a Dr Russell Bennett.’
    The doorman’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. ‘He’s not here.’
    ‘Not here, as in he doesn’t live here or he isn’t here at the moment?’ JD asked with an easy smile. Stevie liked that about him. He could be good or bad cop with ease, and that Irish smile of his had disarmed many an unwilling witness in