Free Ultimate Concealer, A Toni Diamond Mystery: A Toni Diamond Mystery (Toni Diamond Mysteries) by Nancy Warren

was going to make. It seemed Dwayne couldn’t get close to anyone without trying to steal something from them. Their heart, their virtue, their daughter. In Brent’s case it seemed it was a purloined pancake recipe.
    While the three were busy in the kitchen, Toni took her cell phone out front and settled in the velvet divan, which enfolded her with so much luxury she could imagine for a moment she was at the spa waiting for some delicious treatment to begin.
    She selected the number on her phone and pushed send.
    “Hey, Toni, what’s up?” Luke had answered on the first ring.
    “You didn’t bark Marciano at me like you usually do,” she said.
    “You’re a woman with personal problems. I was being sensitive.”
    “Don’t let that story get around or you’ll lose your rep as a badass cop.”
    “I take it you found her okay.”
    “Yeah. I did. Thank you for giving the address.”
    “You don’t sound like you’re going to be on the next plane. What’s going on?”
    Sometimes it was spooky being involved with a man who saw what you tried to hide and heard what you didn’t say. But sometimes it was wonderful. Depended on the situation.
    In this one, having a man a step ahead of the obvious was a real bonus. “I need another favor.” She let out a breath and decided to cut to the chase. “Dwayne’s been picked up in connection with a murder. Tiffany won’t leave until we figure out why and if there’s a way to help him.”
    “Murder? That’s pretty serious stuff.”
    “I know.”
    “Honey, if your ex-husband killed someone he’s in the right place. You have to let the cops do their job.” He said it with an edge as though sometime in the past she might have been a little intrusive in an investigation he was involved in.
    “Luke, I don’t like Dwayne D. Diamond. I think he is a thieving, lying, cheating, heart-breaking, self-absorbed no good asshat. But I cannot believe Tiffany’s father is a murderer.” She felt the weight of her daughter’s trust that she could fix Dwayne’s problems. “Worse, Tiffany doesn’t believe it either.”
    “Poor kid.”
    “Yeah.”
    “Have you talked to him yet?”
    “No. He was picked up about an hour ago. I want to know what they’ve got on him.”
    “You know that the critical time in a murder investigation is the first twenty-four hours. Evidence is fresh, witnesses are clear. Maybe they simply want to interview him.”
    “They hauled him down to the station rather than interview him at home. Why?”
    He took a second to answer. “Probably because they think he did it.”
    “Can you find out what that case is based on? Here’s what I know.” By the time she’d outlined for him the name of the victim and that Dwayne had not only been threatened and beaten by the man a day before the murder but had claimed to have a meeting with him the night he was killed, even she could see that things weren’t looking too good.
    Luke obviously shared her dim view of things. “If you find out he is guilty as sin? Then what?”
    She tried to imagine that far ahead. “I guess I would hire a defense attorney, make sure he got a fair trial. For Tiffany’s sake.”
    “I’ll talk to my buddy. See what I can find.”
    “Thanks, Luke.”
    “Don’t get your hopes up, Toni. Most people who get picked up for murder did murder somebody.”
    “I know.”
    “Hang tight. I’ll find out what I can.”
    “Thanks, Luke.”
    “Oh, and Toni?”
    “Yes?”
    “Don’t go sticking your nose in where it doesn’t belong.”
    She ended the call and rubbed her nose reflectively. Her nose was a little on the large side. It was the beauty flaw she most struggled against. Other women might complain of bad skin or skimpy hair, thunder thighs or a short waist. For Toni her beauty challenge was her nose. She did her best to bring out her other features by wearing heavier eye makeup and brilliant lipstick to draw the eye away, but nothing but surgery would ever make it smaller.
    Luke