Free A Wild Fright in Deadwood (Deadwood Humorous Mystery Book 7) by Ann Charles Page A

Parker.”
    I ignored him, speaking again to the empty headrest. “He did what with key evidence?”
    “I’m not playing games here.”
    “What about the murder weapon?” I continued, ignoring the blusters coming from the detective’s side of the vehicle.
    “Keep it up, Violet, and I’ll arrest you.”
    “What’s that?” I asked the headrest. “Detective Hawke can’t arrest me without probable cause?”
    Hawke revved the engine. “Get out of here or I’ll run over your pointy toes.”
    Pointy toes? Ah, we were back to witches. I let out a loud, cackling laugh and wiggled my fingers at him. “I’ll get you, my pretty,” I said as he shifted into gear, “and your little dog, too!”
    Detective Hawke spit gravel at me in his haste to leave my witchy side. What a jerk.
    I held my phone to my ear. “Did you get all of that, Nat?”
    “You’re sending your flying monkeys after the self-righteous blowhard, aren’t you?”
    “I can’t. They’re out on another vengeful mission.”
    “Oh, yeah? Tell me more. Who else are we venge-ing today?”
    “Rex.”
    Silence came from the other line, followed by the sound of something crashing.
    “Rex Conner,” I clarified in case she hadn’t heard me.
    “I heard you the first time but had to hit pause so I could kick something.”
    That explained the crash sound.
    “What is good ol’ Rex up to today?”
    “The bastard stopped by Cooper’s house while I was showing it to some potential buyers and threatened me.”
    “That son of a bitch!” She growled and hissed, or maybe our connection was breaking up. “I’m gonna kill him.”
    “Can I watch?”
    “No. It sounds like you’re already at the top of the suspect list for Wanda’s death.”
    I’d texted her after leaving Doc’s office on Saturday, keeping her apprised of Cooper’s news about Wanda’s murder.
    “But I’ll tell you what,” she said, “I’ll bring you a trophy after I’m done.”
    “Deal.” That reminded me of Prudence and her trophy teeth.
    I rubbed the back of my neck where my tension was knotted and double-knotted. “You’re coming to Aunt Zoe’s tonight for supper, right?”
    “Are you cooking?”
    “No, Harvey is.”
    “Then I’ll make sure to be there.”
    “He’s making baked barbecue chicken.”
    “Please tell me you didn’t kill Elvis.”
    “Not yet, but I give no promises. Doc will be there, too.”
    “Good! He and I need to make plans on how to make Rex’s life complete and utter hell until the rat-bastard skips town again.”
    “Unfortunately, he’s not going anywhere soon. He told me he’s here on a year-long grant, working in the research lab up in Lead.”
    She sighed. “Do you think if I slept with Detective Hawke, he’d look the other way when I kill Rex?”
    “Probably not. You could give it a shot with Cooper, though.”
    “Nah, he’s not into the local crop of girls.”
    Not usually, but I was pretty sure he’d make an exception for Natalie. However, Cooper’s current fixation with my best friend was my gem of a secret. And Doc’s, too, since he’d figured it out the same night I had. And Cooper’s secret, of course. Oh, and I had a suspicion Harvey might know as well. But that was it as far as I knew. Normally, I didn’t like to keep secrets from Natalie, especially after the last time I’d kept my lips sealed up tight.
    This new crush, for lack of a more mature word, that Cooper had going for Natalie was different. First of all, I wasn’t sure how long it would last, so why open the door to yet another heartbreak if Cooper grew bored of the chase and moved on to his next prey. Secondly, Natalie had spent her life bouncing from one shitty boyfriend to the next. This summer, after limping away from another heartbreaker, she’d taken a sabbatical from men. Things had been bumpy at the start thanks to an initial attraction to Doc, but after she’d found out he and I were an item, she’d flown the straight and narrow, keeping her