Free Death Loved A Woman (Happy Holloway Mystery Book 2) by Audrey Claire

“I’m a friend of Flynn’s.”
    “You’re friends with Flynn?” Connie demanded. She latched onto Annie, and Jamie took the other side. “I’ve been trying to get him to look my way forever. Is he coming tonight, do you think?”
    “I…” Annie began.
    “Enough, Jamie, Connie,” the attorney demanded. “Let the woman breathe. You both have enough young men hanging around you. Annie, I’m Percy Kelley, this one’s father as you probably have figured out.”
    He held out his hand, but thank goodness the girls gripped Annie’s arms. After a moment, he mopped his head again. Annie swallowed a few times.
    “Hello, ladies, I’m Omen Nobleton.” Omen smiled, but Annie thought it appeared more ominous than anything. He still fit her ideal for a serial killer, and Jamie’s slight tremor at her side concurred.
    The woman surprised Annie when she released her and moved to Omen’s side. “Oh, you’re interesting. Come talk to Connie and me. So what do you do for a living?”
    Annie coughed and muttered, “Hinkle.”
    Omen winked, and the three of them moved off together.
    “Young people.” Kelley sighed. “They take the energy out of me, and as much as I want to give my daughter the world, I can’t afford it.”
    “She seems to be happy and intelligent.”
    “She’s brilliant,” Kelley corrected, “but she has no ambition. All she wants to do is try to keep up with the Joneses as it were. You’ve heard the old expression?”
    Annie had, and she told him so.
    “Money isn’t everything. Look at what happened to the Witmans’ son. It can get one into terrible trouble.”
    “Or love.” The old man seemed to enjoy contradicting everything she said. She wondered if he did it with everyone. “Love can get a man in trouble.”
    “Has it ever gotten you into trouble?”
    “That remains to be seen.” He stared after his daughter, and Annie laughed.
    “You mean she hasn’t gotten you into too much trouble yet.”
    “She’s gotten me into a number of pickles.” He tapped his temple. “I’m clever enough to get myself out of them. That’s why Mr. Witman trusts me. I’ve rescued him a time or two as well.”
    A bragger, huh? Annie chewed on her bottom lip. A waiter happened by and held out a tray of fresh crab puffs. Annie dove at them and gestured to Kelley. He drew back as if repulsed. “They don’t agree with me.”
    Annie shrugged, and grabbed another for good measure. When she had enjoyed two, she got back to the conversation.
    “So you’ve rescued Mr. Witman. Does that include his family? Everyone’s speculating on Barbara Jean Stanford wanting Wesley for his money. If they were married—”
    “They weren’t! I made sure of that myself.”
    Annie started at the vehemence.
    He scowled and then glanced at Annie before his face turned red. “No, I didn’t mean it that way. I checked.”
    “Checked what?”
    He hesitated. “I don’t share attorney client privileged information. I take my job very seriously. Then again, I don’t want you leaving here and thinking I was saying something I didn’t intend. All I need is the police thinking I got my hands dirty with some silly business. No!”
    He rambled. Annie questioned if it might be time for him to retire.
    “I checked the county register. There’s no record of Wesley and Barbara Jean being married, so that’s that.”
    “I’m not so sure. Barbara Jean says they were married three days before he died. It’s possible she just didn’t have time to file the license. Or her minister didn’t.”
    Kelley shook his head, but he watched Jamie as she focused on something Omen told her. Connie responded to him more often, while Jamie listened.
    “No, the license would have turned up before now if it ever happened,” Kelley said. “I’ve only met that young woman once or twice, but she didn’t come across as very bright. I dare say she thought she could get away with just saying she married Wesley, and that would be