Free To Touch a Thief (An Everly Gray Novella) by L. j. Charles Page B

to further eliminate possible suspects.”
    Her gaze locked on me, cool but not accusing or intimidating.  
    “Sounds accurate so far. What’s O.R.?”  
    “Own recognizance.” She turned back to her notes. “At this event, Emir Solomon Tarik took ill, was hospitalized, and died several hours later. Homicide Detective Stephens and Officer Kennedy arrested Jayne Hunt earlier today in connection with his death. She lawyered up. You’re sitting in my office.”
    I nodded.
    “What don’t I know?” Detective Bryant asked.
    “Jayne and Parker are an item. Parker’s family and mine were friends, but we hadn’t connected for years until Jayne convinced me to play the role of medium at the fundraiser. Jayne’s brother and I are dating. Jayne was never alone with Tarik and had no reason to kill him.” My stomach churned as I listened to the facts pouring from both of us. There were way too many holes.
    A man barreled into Detective Bryant’s office, knocked into my chair, and planted his hands on the detective’s desk. Stale sweat permeated the air around him. “This is homicide, Bryant, not some white collar crap.”
    She stood, leaning into his personal space. “Detective Stephens, I’d like you to meet Everly Gray. She’s here on behalf of Jayne Hunt.”
    He spun to face me. “Gray? Saw your name on the initial report. You were that psychic woman running the séance.”  
    I gave him a toothy grin and shoved my hand out. “That’s correct, Detective…?”
    “Stephens.” He snarled his name, and then grasped my hand.  
    Images flashed. Disturbing images. This man was less a law enforcement officer than I was. Oh, he probably had the credentials, but he was a liar and a thief, and he knew Tarik.  
    “If you’ll follow me, we can move this discussion to my office. Where it belongs.”
    Damn it. I had to follow him. His office would be full of info that my fingers were itching to discover. I smiled at Detective Bryant. “I’ll just spend a few minutes with Detective Stephens. It shouldn’t take long for me to help clear Jayne, and then I’ll check back with you. Would that be all right?”
    She tilted her head as though listening to an inner voice, then nodded. “I need to get to a meeting, but I’ll be back in about an hour.”
    “Okay. See you then.”
    Stephens’s office was two floors up. The bad news: being confined in the elevator with his stink gagged me. The good news: he sat at the opposite end of the hall from Chief Hayes. It would be seriously bad timing to bump into the chief before I siphoned as many images as I could from Stephens’s office. Besides, my relationship with the chief would be a lovely surprise to spring on Stephens when they arrested him for grand larceny.
    He battered me with questions that were intended to intimidate and that bored me to drowsy inattention. I kept pinching myself to stay alert and keep from saying something stupid. Within minutes, I knew Chief Hayes hadn’t hired this guy. The greenest rookie was more skilled at questioning a potential witness. I offered him my most sincere monosyllabic answers while I worked on a plan to get a few minutes alone in his office. I needed to touch things.
    After fifteen minutes, I feigned agitation, stood, and paced. The movement brought his desk within reach, but it also triggered his temper. Damn. I’d have to resort to feminine wiles.
    I swooned.  
    Nothing to be proud of, but I was in a tight spot and had to get Jayne out of this mess before Parker lost it.
    Well-trained, most likely by late-night television, Detective Stephens hustled to get me a glass of water. He’d barely made it out the door before I turned my fingers loose on his desk. I didn’t waste time attending to the images, just stored them for future reference.
    The distinctive slap of Stephens’s footsteps sounded in the hall.  
    I grabbed a single sheet of paper, stuffed it in my pocket…too late. He caught me standing behind his desk.
    I