Free Ashes and Bone by Stacy Green Page A

outing to the prison.”
    Jaymee bit back a retort. He knew she hated being called “girl,” which was exactly why he said it.
    “That sums it up, yeah.” Dani grinned. She handed him the homemade brownie she’d snagged at Sallie’s.
    Cage ignored it and gritted his teeth. “Why would you not call me first? Let me know you’re visiting a men’s correctional facility? Or even that you’re out of town?”
    “It’s a private prison,” Jaymee said. “And we can handle ourselves just fine. Besides, you were busy with Joseph Stanley and the lead Lee gave you. And I had to do something, Cage. You know me better than that.”
    His eyes softened, but he pointed a long finger at both of them. “You two need to stop going on adventures. You’re going to get yourselves in trouble one day.”
    “We’ll deal with that if it happens,” Dani said. “So what do you think about the whole Dixie Mafia connection?”
    “Yesterday I would have said it’s a stretch, but today, I don’t know. I’m still having trouble believing this was all over some fake relics, but whoever did this either was a professional or knew Nick. Hit him and then got him out of the car.” Cage ran a hand through his short hair, an annoying habit he’d had for as long as Jaymee had known him. “Without leaving any real trace. We’ve searched within a two-mile radius of where the car was found and haven’t turned up a damned thing.”
    “What about Joseph Stanley?” Jaymee asked.
    Cage hissed at her. “I never gave you that name. You just assumed—”
    “He’s a slick one.” Gina entered the office. “And I see you two are playing amateur detectives. Foster, you need to stop giving out information.”
    Cage looked sheepish.
    “It’s my fault.” Jaymee said. “I’m a mess, and I’m a pushy broad. I bullied him until he caved.”
    “He knows better.” Gina still looked pissed, but she let out a long sigh and sat down on the edge of Cage’s tiny desk. She crossed her feet at the ankles and then her arms over her chest. She looked more intimidating than any of the men in the department. “Shit gets around anyway, and you’re right, you are a pushy broad. Stanley says he gave Nick his card last month when he requested an interview about Norton Investment’s plans. Told him he’d set something up, but Nick never called. That’s the only interaction Stanley had with him. Plus, he’s alibied for last night. He was stuffing his face with wings at Pig’s and riding out the storm with the rest of the restaurant.”
    “Do you believe him?” Dani asked.
    “Doesn’t matter unless I break his alibi,” Gina said. “As for the interaction with Nick, I’ve got my reservations. This guy is big business smooth. Willingly came to the station and completely at ease in the interview room, which tells me he either believes he’s above the law, or he’s just naive. Gut tells me it’s the former.”
    “What’s wrong with being at ease in the room if you’re innocent?”
    “Most people,” Cage said, “even if they’re innocent, get nervous in a windowless gray room with the cops asking questions about a felony. It’s human nature.”
    “So Stanley’s attitude bugs me,” Gina said. “But that’s not enough to get a warrant or even consider him a valid suspect. Now, what’s this about the Dixie Mafia?”
    Jaymee and Dani went through their story again, but Gina didn’t bother to chide them. “I think it’s an interesting angle, but murky. I know these replicas being sold as authentic can be good money, but it’s small beans for a group like the Dixie Mafia. Although we really know very little about them. Some say they aren’t active at all, others go on about them infiltrating local governments and all sorts of conspiracy theories. I suspect it’s somewhere in the middle.”
    “But all the fakes and the cartridge case,” Dani said. “It’s obvious that’s what Nick was working on. And what if there’s something