Free Copy Cap Murder by Jenn McKinlay Page A

know I left you for a few minutes after the fight.”
    â€œSeconds,” I said. “At most, it was seconds.”
    He chuckled and then he sighed.
    â€œI appreciate the support,” he began but I interrupted.
    â€œIt’s not support, you’re innocent,” I said. “And I’m not going to let a bunch of drunken toffs railroad you for something you could never do.”
    â€œDid you just say ‘toffs’?” he asked.
    â€œYes,” I said. “How did it sound?”
    â€œAwkward,” he said. “Like me saying ‘dude.’”
    I laughed and when he spoke again his voice was warm and teasing. “You like me.”
    â€œThat’s beside the point,” I mumbled. I could feel myface heating up. I wasn’t sure I was ready to have this conversation, especially since he had no idea that I had been watching him pretty much the entire time he had gone to retrieve the wine at the party after the kerfuffle with Win. When I said he hadn’t been out of my sight, I wasn’t kidding but I wasn’t sure I was ready for him to know that.
    â€œI would do the same for anyone I knew to be innocent,” I said. I tried to make my voice sound matter of fact.
    â€œNo, you really like me,” he teased. “You more than like me.”
    â€œAre you being difficult on purpose?” I asked. I was beginning to get flustered. “Because it’s not attractive.”
    â€œOh, so you think I’m att—” he began but I interrupted.
    â€œDo not read into that,” I said. “Seriously, Harry, this situation is bad, very bad.”
    He sighed. I felt like a bit of a buzz kill but I was relieved to steer the conversation back to a safer port. Whatever feelings were happening between me and Harry, I was not yet ready to discuss them.
    â€œAlistair assures me that it will be all right,” he said. “And I trust him.”
    â€œI’m still going to tell Simms that you were only gone from my side for a few moments at most,” I said. “And that’s only if he asks me. I am volunteering nothing.”
    â€œYou’re something, Scarlett Parker, you know that?” he asked.
    The affection in his voice gave me the warm fuzzies, which I promptly tamped down with serious talk.
    â€œWho do you think did it?” I asked.
    â€œNo idea,” he said. “Win was difficult. He didn’t havemany friends and the ones he did have were more like hostages, beholden to him for a debt or a favor.”
    â€œSo there are a lot of people who aren’t grief struck to see him gone,” I said.
    â€œYes,” he agreed. “Sad, isn’t it?”
    â€œTerribly,” I said.
    â€œListen, Alistair is signaling me that he requires my attention,” Harrison said. “Thanks for checking on me. That means quite a lot.”
    â€œNo problem,” I said. “We’ll talk tomorrow.”
    â€œDefinitely,” he agreed. “Night, Ginger.”
    â€œNight, Harry.”
    I ended the call and fell back on my bed. I felt better knowing that he was safe at home, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that his time in the hot seat was far from over.
    *   *   *
    â€œEnid Griswold is the most demanding woman ever,” Viv huffed. “First she wants a fedora then she wants a cloche and why do I have to charge her twice and can’t I just bend the fedora into a cloche?”
    I said nothing as I watched her cut the ribbon she planned to use on the freshly formed cloche with a pair of very sharp scissors.
    â€œNext she’ll change the bloody ribbon from red to blue and I’ll go mad, absolutely mad,” Viv said.
    â€œThen you’ll officially be a mad hatter,” I said.
    â€œArgh, I can’t even go mad without it being redundant,” she said.
    â€œGo batty instead,” I suggested. “The batty hatter sounds much more hip anyway.”
    Viv