Free Two for Flinching by Todd Morgan Page A

I said. “Sarah has been through enough.
I can’t drag her away from her friends and her family. Besides,
startups take money.”
    “My credit is still good. For now. I could
cosign with you.”
    “I appreciate the offer, dad. I’ll think of
something.”
    “What you need to do is find a woman.”
    “I found Amber.”
    For a second, I thought he was going to lose
it. Finally, he grinned. “A single woman. You need to go to church.
Lot of good looking women in church.”
    “I thought you wanted me to stay away from
married women.”
    He punched me on the shoulder.
    Erin came into the kitchen, her hair still
damp, smelling of perfume. She went up on her tiptoes and kissed
her grandfather on the cheek. “Gotta run, G-Pop. Love you.”
    The other detective in the room said, “You’re
forgetting something.”
    “What’s that?”
    “Your books. Didn’t you say you had to go
study?”
    She blushed and pushed through the door.

 
     
     
    Chapter Fourteen
     
     
    “Hello.”
    “Hey. What are you doing?”
    “Watching television.”
    “You want to go have some fun?”
    “Where—“ I stopped. It wasn’t Amber. The
voice was close and maybe subconsciously I had been expecting her
call. “Who is this?”
    “Madison Hogan.” A little of the devil in her
voice. “Who did you think it was? My sister?”
    Hoping. For the first time, I realized
I missed her. “Where are you?”
    “In the neighborhood.”
    “What are you doing in Chickasaw Falls?”
    “I got bored and drove down. I thought you
could take me out for a drink and some laughs.”
    “I can’t. My daughter is sleeping.”
    “Where is your niece?”
    Don’t sisters keep anything private?
“Out.”
    “That works for me. I’m in your driveway.
Open the door.”
    I started to object, but she had already hung
up. I dropped the easy chair and shoved my feet into the sneakers.
Blondie gave me a hopeful look as her tail began thumping on the
couch. I opened the front door and there she was, dressed to kill
in a fur lined jacket, makeup artfully applied, tall black boots.
The devil was in her eyes, too.
    “Aren’t you going to ask me in?”
    “Do I have a choice?”
    She slid by me and I closed the door. Blondie
came running and jumping. Madison knelt on one knee, scratching the
dog behind her ears, letting the big lug bath her in kisses. She
stood, in what had once been the dining room, now overrun with a
child’s toys. She began walking through my home, inspecting the
pictures on the walls. There were quite a few holes. Holes that had
once been filled with pictures of Stella. Stella alone, Stella and
Sarah as a baby. Stella and me.
    “This your daughter?”
    “Yeah.”
    “Cute. Who are all these other kids?”
    “Nephews and nieces.” I took her by the elbow
and guided her to the kitchen.
    Madison stopped, sniffing the air. “Boy, you
don’t let the grass grow.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “That is definitely not Amber’s perfume.”
    “My niece.”
    “Sick, Beason. You know that?”
    I shook my head. “You want something to
drink?”
    “Sure. How about a beer?”
    I opened the fridge, took out a Naked Pig and
popped the top for her.
    “Aren’t you going to have one?”
    I generally reserved beer for cooking out,
sticking with my trusted rum and coke for general drinking. Since I
had abstained earlier for the sake of my father, I reached back in
for a beer of my own. “Come on.” I opened the door the back deck.
Blondie charged out.
    “Kind of cold, ain’t it?”
    Exactly. I didn’t want this visit to
drag. “Sarah is a light sleeper.”
    Madison sat at the outdoor table—in my
chair—and I had to take the one across from her. “You care if I
smoke?”
    “Knock yourself out.”
    Flame flared in the darkness. “I only smoke
when I drink.”
    “So you’re down to a pack a day?”
    She laughed, choking a little on the
Marlboro. “Amber told me about the pool.” The glint in her eyes was
lit by the embers. “You guys