Free Candy Apple Dead by Sammi Carter

Summers and Gavin Trotter most of the night.”
    “And then what?”
    I hesitated over the next part, but what if someone had seen me? “I went out for a walk,” I admitted. “I ended up walking past Man About Town while I was out. I was getting worried about Brandon, and I thought maybe something had happened to him.”
    “You were alone?”
    The sun inched higher in the sky and turned Jawarski into a hulking silhouette. Using one hand, I shielded my eyes so I could see him. “Unfortunately, yes.”
    “What did you do there?”
    “Nothing. I walked past, that’s all. The building was dark, and Brandon’s car wasn’t anywhere around, so I just kept walking.”
    His face gave nothing away, so I couldn’t tell whether he believed me or not. “Did you see anyone else in the area?”
    I hesitated for no longer than a heartbeat. “Not a soul.” Maybe I should have mentioned seeing Wyatt’s truck, but I knew that my brother had nothing to do with the fire, and I saw no reason to raise questions in Jawarski’s mind.
    That eyebrow winged upward again. “Nobody?”
    Did he know something already? My palms grew clammy, but I stuck to my story. “I saw a few people walking home from the meeting, but I didn’t see anybody around Man About Town.”
    “Where did you go from there?”
    “Home.”
    “And where is that?”
    I jerked a thumb over my shoulder. “I live here. There’s an apartment above the shop.”
    “You live alone?”
    “At the moment.”
    “So no one can vouch for you?”
    “No, but I don’t see why anyone would need to.”
    Jawarski scribbled another note before he looked at me. “We have a dead body on our hands, Ms. Shaw. I’m trying to determine the extent of Brandon Mills’ involvement in the fire. By your own admission, you’re well acquainted with Mr. Mills, and you had reason to be upset with him yesterday.”
    “Not that upset.”
    “I find it a little difficult to believe that he stood you up, but you didn’t care.”
    “Well of course I cared, but I’m not crazy!” I folded my arms, realized I’d assumed a defensive posture, and dropped them to my sides. “I was a little hurt at first, but that’s all. When he wasn’t at the meeting, I got worried and walked past the store to see if he was there. He wasn’t. I came home. End of story. I didn’t set the fire and kill somebody in the process just to get back at him over a missed plate of pasta.”
    One corner of Jawarski’s mouth curved, but he kept his opinion to himself. “Is there anyone else you can think of who might have wanted to hurt Mr. Mills?”
    I’m not even going to pretend I wasn’t relieved that we were moving on. I thought about all the whispers I’d heard in the past few hours, but that’s all they were. I still didn’t know anything. “I don’t know,” I said. “I thought everyone liked him.”
    “And you don’t have any reason to believe he might have set the fire himself?”
    “No.”
    Jawarski stared me down. I stared back. After a few minutes, he stuffed the notebook and pen into his pocket and shoved a business card at me. “If you remember anything else about last night or anything Brandon said in recent days that might shed some light on this case, I want you to call me.”
    I took the card without looking at it. “Sure.”
    “Is that a promise?”
    “Sure. Why not?” But I think we both knew I was lying.
    I wasn’t sure what was going on inside Jawarski’s head, but I didn’t trust him. He hadn’t come right out and accused me of anything, but he didn’t trust me, either. If I was smart—and I like to think I am—I’d fly beneath his radar for a few days. The less attention I called to myself, the better off I’d be. But I’m a Shaw and, much as I hate to admit it, we just aren’t known for staying on the sidelines—even when that’s exactly what we should do.

Chapter 7

    My concentration level was at an all-time low for the rest of the day. I tried not to let