Free Red Flags by Tammy Kaehler

why Don and Nikki thought the cops might arrest Don for Billy’s murder. “I wasn’t accusing you. I was trying to understand.”
    Don gave one curt nod and slipped his sunglasses back on, turning and starting to pace back and forth in front of our seats.
    I exhaled and glanced around the pool area. No one seemed to notice Don’s tension. Or they weren’t acting like they noticed, which was close enough. I decided to get the tough questions out of the way.
    â€œAt the risk of making you mad again, why might the cops start looking at you?”
    His smile was laced with chagrin. “My temper, though I don’t often lose it.” He walked back and forth two more times, then stopped. “Plus the fact I’ve never had anything good to say about Billy. Plenty of people can attest to the opposite. To be blunt, I’m not sorry the asshole is dead.”
    I agreed, but kept it to myself. “You said he’d ruffled feathers in the race organization. Who in particular did he make angry?”
    Don sat down again and propped his sunglasses on top of his head. “Mostly me. I didn’t want to burden my staff. But also my marketing and PR guru Erica Aarons, because she had to pick up the extra work he created with his genius press ideas.”
    â€œThat’s it?”
    â€œI think so. He pissed off Elizabeth Rogers over at the SCC, with how much he bungled their logistics.” He thought a moment. “I think Penny, Maddie Theabo’s assistant, was furious at him the other day.”
    â€œHe got around.”
    â€œI’m not saying any of those gals killed Billy.”
    â€œI don’t think they did either. But I want to find out what he was up to and come up with some ideas why he was killed. Maybe that’ll help the police figure out who did it.”
    â€œYou’re the pro.”
    I stifled an eye-roll. “Anyone else you can think of who might have been mad at Billy?”
    â€œHonestly, Nikki wasn’t happy with him lately. She said one more stunt and she’d show him the door. I didn’t take her seriously at the time, but maybe there was something to it.”
    â€œShe said he was going to leave her.”
    â€œMaybe he was. Maybe she was going to dump him. I have no idea.” He checked his watch. “I need to go sweet-talk a sponsor.”
    We both stood up, and he smiled easily this time. “I’m sorry for getting riled up a minute ago. I appreciate your help. The whole race organization does. I can’t offer to pay you, but we’ll do what we can to promote you.”
    Back in my room, I thought about what Don had told me and wondered if Billy had angered as many people in the business world or his personal life as in the racing world. Those would be harder questions to answer, since there was no one I wanted to talk to for information, except my father. He might not want to help.

Chapter Twelve
    I gave up on my attempts at sleuthing and packed what I needed for my afternoon adventure and an overnight in Ontario, loading it into my car and triple-checking I had all of my racing equipment. I traversed Beverly Hills from north to south, worked my way west to Overland Avenue, and drove to Sony Studios in Culver City. I felt both important and pretentious telling the guard at the gate I was there to visit Maddie Theabo. By the time I parked in the large, multi-level structure to the right of the gate, Maddie’s assistant Penny was waiting.
    She worked her phone non-stop as always, but it didn’t dim her attentiveness or friendly nature. “How are you, Kate? Excited to be on the set?”
    I tried not to be a fangirl about meeting celebrities, whether in the racing world or out, especially considering Don Kessberg’s advice about interacting with them. But I was on a studio lot, about to go behind the scenes of a major motion picture, and I felt giddy. I didn’t bother hiding my grin.