Free No Returns by Rhonda Pollero

too.”
    “You stay in the car. I’ll tie you to the seat if I have to.”
    “I’ll behave.” Yeah, right.
    Palm Beach Gardens was just north of West Palm Beach. It was an easy drive up A-1-A to the apartment complex where Liam had found the car. When we pulled into the lot, Liam parked at the opposite end of the row from Buckner’s crushed and dented sedan.
    Liam was out of the car. “Do. Not. Move,” he threatened as he got his gun out of the glove box and tucked it onto the back of his jeans. “Lock the doors and wait for me.”
    I watched as Liam went into the two-story stucco building. He took the stairs two at a time and went to the third door. I saw him fiddle with the knob and then he drew his gun and walked inside.
    Five minutes passed. Then ten. At the twenty-minute mark I decided to go see what was happening. Liam might be hurt. I grabbed my cellphone, locked the car and cautiously followed in his footsteps.
    The door was ajar. I couldn’t see anything but I also didn’t hear anything. All I could think was that Liam might be dead or dazed. With my emotions leading the way, I pushed open the door and found Liam standing over a dead body.

It sucks when you have to parent your parent

Chapter Eight
    “D id you shoot him?” I asked.
    Liam shot me a look. “He hasn’t been dead long. The blood is still wet.”
    “Thanks for the detail. Did you call the police?”
    “I will as soon as I look around. What happened to you staying in the car?”
    “I don’t work and play well with others. What are we looking for?”
    “Evidence of the blackmail.”
    I felt my eyes go wide. Of course, my mother would be devastated if the police found her video. I carefully inched around the dead guy. It was definitely Steven Buckner, I recognized him from the DMV photo. Well, except for the gunshot wound right between his eyes. That was new. And disgusting.
    I joined Liam in the messy bedroom. He was going through a beaten-up dresser. “Found this,” he said holding up a tiny square thing with an antenna and a larger black box.
    “What is it?”
    “Remote video equipment,” he explained. “It’s like a nanny cam only smaller. You can get them at spy stores and some gun shops.”
    “Nice to know.”
    I lifted the corner of the mattress. Nothing. Crouching down, I peered under the bed. Again nothing. I walked back into the living room/dining room combination and checked under the sofa cushions. Liam moved to the kitchen and searched the drawers and cabinets. I tried not to look at dead guy and not to think about the fact that I was in the same room as a corpse.
    “This could be it,” Liam said as he opened the freezer. He was holding up a baggie with a flash drive inside.
    “That’s the original?” I asked.
    “Maybe, we’ll have to watch it to see.”
    I went to the desk and looked at the computer and all the peripherals. I lifted the tower of DVDs and counted. “There are three missing.” I blew out a breath. “One to my mother. One to Deacon. That leaves one unaccounted for.”
    “Assuming he didn’t burn himself something unrelated.”
    “Where else can we look?” I asked.
    “Nothing else here. We can check his car.”
    Which we did to no avail. If there was a third DVD, I sure didn’t know where it went.
    Liam checked his watch – a Breitling chronograph. Just one of the things I liked about him. He had a great watch. It was nearly one. “How about we grab some lunch?”
    “Sure. And by the way, we have a command dinner at the country club with my mother and my soon-to-be stepfather.”
    “They’re getting married?” he asked as he started the engine. “Didn’t they just meet?”
    “Two months. Long enough for my mother to gauge the size of his wallet.”
    “You make her sound very mercenary.”
    I shrugged. “She’s been through four husbands since Jonathan died. My mother is not real big on staying power. I think she has her divorce attorney stored in her favorites.”
    “My