Free Sprayed Stiff by Laura Bradley Page A

hold him at gunpoint.”
    Manning and all his muscles stepped into the room, training his gun and gaze on the Shadow, but talking to me: “You’re just mad I broke up your strategy session. You don’t have to tell me: You are the brains and he’s the brawn of this criminal operation.”
    Manning must have caught my raised eyebrows in his peripheral vision. “Okay, maybe you’re the brawn and he’s the brains.”
    “Or maybe he’s Tweedledee and she’s Tweedledum,” Scythe’s voice interceded in our tête-à-tête. Leave it to him to worsen any insult. “What the hell are you talking about, Manning?”
    “Lieutenant, sir, I caught these two getting their stories straight, before he likely escaped out the balcony doors.”
    “There’s balcony doors in this room?” the Shadow asked, confused. Yikes.
    “He’s definitely the brawn,” Manning concluded with an officious nod.
    “Yeah,” I said with exaggerated pride. “Look at those hands. Brawny.”
    In answer, the Shadow smiled shyly at me and shook his hands where they were suspended in the air.
    Manning, observing the big hands for the first time, looked duly impressed. I winked. Scythe sighed. Big and loud. “You two know each other?”
    “We do now,” I offered.
    “We met ten minutes ago,” the Shadow clarified. “Except I don’t think we ever formally introduced ourselves. I’m John Tanno.”
    “I’m Reyn Sawyer.”
    “Good to meet you, Reyn.”
    “Same here, John.”
    “Wait,” Harland interrupted, coming into the room. “If they only met ten minutes ago, they couldn’t have murdered Mrs. Barrister, because the medical examiner just said she died about seven to eight hours ago—”
    Scythe cut him off with a glare. “Thanks for relaying that vital information to potential suspects, Officer.”
    “Oops.” Harland blushed. “Sorry, Lieu.”
    Scythe slid his glare over to me. I grinned. He leaned over me on the pretense of checking the fit of my handcuffs. “Leave it to you, Reyn, to manage to bollix something up even when handcuffed and behind a closed door.”
    “That’s where I do my best work. Behind closed doors.” Hell, I was already in trouble, I might as well have fun with it.
    A flare sparked in his laser blues for an instant before he stepped back and cleared his throat. “Manning, take Mr. Tanno here into another room for an interview. Cuff him if he’s uncooperative. Harland and I will stay and try to figure out how he got into the guarded room with Miss Sawyer. And what went on after he was in.”
    “I’ll make it easy for you boys.” I nodded toward the table, where the tape recorder was still running. “It’s all on tape.”
     
    I figured that after Scythe listened to the tape and saw how I was trying to help instead of hinder the investigation, he’d soften up and let me go. No such luck. Without a word, he and Harland exited again, sending a uniformed officer with the personality of a mannequin into the room to watch me. Guess I was considered a high security risk now that I’d managed to produce a live body from an empty room. I sneaked a look at the monolith sharing my air space. I wasn’t sure he was even breathing. Just as I was about to miss Officer Halitosis, Scythe returned, unlocked the handcuffs, and pulled me to my feet.
    “Let’s go to the car.”
    “Is Lexa okay?”
    “None of your business.”
    “Murder solved yet?”
    That earned me a glare. Well, anything was better than the none-of-my-business thing.
    I shook the hand of the suit of armor. Scythe nudged me in the small of my back. “Come on.”
    “Sorry. In case you didn’t notice, he and I got close.”
    “You’re punchy.”
    “And whom do I have to thank for that?”
    “Yourself. You could be home snug in your warm little bed with your dogs—”
    “Hey, who’s to say I wouldn’t be snuggled up with someone else?”
    “You’re the one who said you took the vow of celibacy.”
    “Well, some vows are made to be