Free The Killings (An Olivia Miller Mystery Book 1) by J A Whiting

out of mind.”
    “Good idea,” Melissa said. “Let’s just eat and talk about other things.” She carried two dinner plates to the kitchen to get squares of lasagna and a piece of garlic bread for each of them. “Let’s watch something mindless on television after dinner. A crime show or something.” She caught herself and looked up at Olivia. They both smiled. “Um. So, maybe not a crime show.”
    Just as they sat down to dig in to their meals, the intercom buzzer sounded. The young women gave each other a look.
    “Now what?” Melissa groaned.
    Olivia got up, walked to their apartment door, and pushed the intercom button. “Who is it?”
    A voice crackled over the speaker. “It’s Luke Smithson. I was a friend of Christian.”
    Melissa stood up from the table, her mouth open.
    “Well, I guess we don’t need to spend any time tracking him down tonight,” Olivia told Melissa. She pressed the button to unlock the front door.

Chapter 11
    With Melissa standing right behind her, Olivia opened the door before Luke even reached the sixth floor landing.
    “Thanks for letting me in. I’m Luke.” He shook hands with the young women. “I wanted to talk to you.” Luke had dark brown hair and golden brown eyes. He stood just under six feet tall but because of his long legs, he gave the impression of being taller.
    The girls introduced themselves.
    “We’re just sitting down to dinner. Why don’t you join us? It’s veggie lasagna. There’s plenty,” Olivia said. She gestured to the table.
    “Oh. Thanks. That’d be great. It smells really good.” Luke removed his jacket and hung it over the side chair.
    “We were planning on getting in touch with you,” Melissa told him. “We were hoping to meet and talk.”
    Luke looked surprised. “Really?”
    Olivia said, “We heard Christian was going to move in with you. We wanted to talk to you about him.”
    Melissa and Luke sat down at the table.
    “How about some wine or a beer? There’s soda too. Or iced tea,” Olivia said.
    “A beer would be great.”
    Olivia went to the kitchen to get another plate, a napkin, and some silverware. She placed a square of lasagna and a slice of garlic bread on the plate, grabbed a beer from the fridge and returned to the living room.
    “We’re sorry about Christian,” Olivia told him as she set the food and beer on the table in front of him.
    Luke shook his head. “It was a shock. No one expects a young person to pass away. Let alone get murdered.” He coughed. Olivia could see tears welling in his eyes as he ate a few bites of the dinner. “The lasagna is really good.” He put his fork down and took a long swig of beer. “I heard the two of you found him, and Gary, too. Right after it happened?”
    Melissa nodded.
    “It was tough,” Olivia said. “When we saw them in the living room like that, I felt like I just spaced out. Like my mind was separate from my body. I know that sounds strange, but it was so unexpected and horrible that my brain just turned off.”
    “I completely freaked out,” Melissa said. “I was no help at all. I just shut down. Liv ran down the hall trying to find Colleen.”
    “It was a stupid thing to do,” Olivia said. “The killer could have still been in the apartment. Like I said, I wasn’t thinking clearly.”
    “It was a brave thing to do,” Luke said.
    “I’m sure you would have done the same,” Olivia said.
    Luke set his fork on his plate. He put his hands in his lap and looked down. “No. I wouldn’t have.” He shifted his gaze to the girls. “I didn’t. And I’m ashamed of myself.”
    Olivia and Melissa didn’t say anything for several seconds wondering what he was talking about.
    “What do you mean?” Melissa asked.
    “I was there.”
    “At the apartment?” Olivia asked. “Where? When?”
    Luke took another long drink of his beer and let out a sigh. “I was at Christian’s. The night they were killed. When I got there, Christian and Gary were in the