Free Loose Screw (Dusty Deals Mystery) by Lori Devoti, Rae Davies

the small pieces for $20,000. A dried weasel and a whistle for twenty grand, the guy was out of his gourd.”
    Gregor cleared his throat. “You said apparently. Weren’t you present when they met?”
    “No, she ran into him on the street. I wish I had been with her. Maybe we could have avoided this whole mess.” There was a long silence. I began to wonder if they were done. Finally, Malone spoke. This time his voice was so soft I had to strain to hear. “My wife had a break-down a few months ago. She’s still recovering. The excitement of the sale and disappointment of not getting the set were bad enough. Then that Crandell started harassing her. Now the police are questioning her. I just don’t know if she can handle it.”
    The doorknob of the office I was in squeaked, giving me just enough time to jump up from my crouch and grab the papers I had left sitting on the chair.
    “You done in here, Lucy? Everything look okay?” George leaned in and frowned.
    “Right as rain. Here you go, all signed. Thanks for everything.” I handed George the papers and followed him back out to his desk. Pretending to search for my keys, I asked, “So, does Blake think the Malones know something?”
    “I couldn’t say.” George looked back over his shoulder toward the office where Andrew Malone and Gregor still sat.
    “George, you got that paperwork ready yet?” Peter Blake materialized in a doorway halfway down the corridor. He took a few strides toward us. When he saw me standing beside George, he paused mid-step. “Lucy, you here to sign your statement?”
    I nodded coolly. My success getting information from George and following Blake and the Malones to the station undetected was making me feel a tad cocky. “Yes, I just finished.” I graced George with my warmest smile.
    Blake looked back at George. “So, you got Malone’s paperwork?”
    Blake annoyed me to no end, but he also held the key to the castle here. If I wanted to prove Ted wrong, I was going to have to get information out of him. The poor little starving girl thing had worked with George. I wondered if something similar would work with Blake.
    I made my eyes round and doe-like. Bambi had nothing on me.
    “Oh, is that the couple from the auction? Are you talking to them about the murder?”
    The pointy end of a toothpick popped out of Blake’s mouth and just as quickly disappeared back inside. “Now why would you be interested in the Malones?”
    While I stumbled for an answer, George jumped in. “Lucy is helping out at the News . You know you scare the ink out of that Marcy.”
    Blake smiled slightly, and the toothpick reappeared. “That right, Lucy?”
    Outed by George, my new confidence was totally shot. I mumbled my reply, “Ted asked me to freelance.”
    The toothpick waggled up and down, as if it and its owner were laughing at me.  Then, without a word to me, Blake turned to George. “Get the papers together and bring them back. Looks like we’re about ready to get going.” He pivoted on his heel and started back down the hall.
    As they’d say in one of Rhonda’s regency romances, I had just been given the cut direct.
    Wuss ... or worse... I could already see me picture on Ted’s wall, sprouting antlers. I swallowed hard and yelled, “So, do you have a comment?”
    Blake stopped and turned. He stared at me long enough that I shuffled my weight from one foot to the other, like a guilty child. 
    “When’s your deadline?”
    I was suspicious, but answered anyway. “Five.”
    “We should have a prepared statement for the press ready by six, seven at the latest.” He grinned and disappeared back into the office.
    George tossed me an apologetic look, but I hardly noticed. I whirled and stalked out the front door.
    There was a cool breeze blowing across the parking lot. I slid behind the wheel and let myself steam for a few minutes. The man was an arrogant donkey’s ass, and I’d walked right into his little power play.
    I was worse than