Free Murdered in the Man Cave (A Riley Reed Cozy Mystery) by R. Barri Flowers

I'm sure they'd love to talk to you."
    "I have nothing to hide," she insisted.
    "If you say so."
    "What- ever ." She rolled her eyes. "I
can come back later when the police are done."
    "I can go in with you, if you want," I
offered, curious as to what she had left behind and wondering if
she might be able to offer any insight into Brent's death.
    "No thanks," Karla sneered. "I know Brent
couldn't quite get you out of his system, but just so you know, we
were planning to get back together."
    "Oh, really?" Brent had given me no
indication of that, but he didn't tell me everything going on in
his life, especially where it concerned romance. Still, somehow it
didn't fit that he would have wanted to start up again with someone
with whom he seemed totally mismatched. Or was that just my
opinion?
    "Yes," she said. "Only now that will never
happen."
    I detected little remorse from her about
Brent's death, per se, but rather the prospect of losing whatever
she could have gotten from him.
    "I'm sorry your plans didn't work out," I
told her. "And I'm even sorrier that Brent is dead and no longer
has a say in the matter. Also, I must add that I have long been out
of his system, other than as a friend."
    She wrinkled her nose, narrowed her eyes at
Pierce, and strutted back to her car in high-heeled stilettoes,
before backing out and driving off.
    "Is she for real?" Pierce asked.
    "You're probably asking the wrong person
that," I responded.
    "I never thought she was good enough for
Brent," he said, "but when it came to his love life, he didn't pay
much attention to what anyone else thought."
    "Isn't that true for most people?" I defended
Brent, respecting his choices whether I agreed with them or not.
That included Karla, though apparently he had ended things with her
while he was still able to.
    "I suppose so." Pierce glanced at his watch.
"Anyway, I've got a meeting to get to, though Brent's death will
follow me like a shadow till the police nab his killer. I'll see
you at one."
    I nodded to that effect and watched him get
into a black BMW and drive away.
    Turning around, I saw Emily finally emerge
from the house.
    "Did you find anything missing?" I asked
curiously.
    "Nothing that I could think of," she said.
"It doesn't look like anything is missing other than his
laptop."
    And even that might have only been misplaced
by Brent, I considered, rather than stolen by a killer. Still, I
hoped the authorities could locate it, in case it contained some
clues about Brent's murderer.
    "Was that Karla I saw leaving?" Emily
asked.
    "Yes."
    "What did she want—to gloat over my
uncle's death?"
    "Not exactly," I said. "Karla claimed she
wanted to collect some stuff she left behind."
    Emily frowned. "I think that's a load of
rubbish. There's nothing in the house that belonged to her."
    I couldn't say one way or the other, but
added, "She also said she and Brent were planning to get back
together."
    "Yeah, in her dreams," she sneered. "Uncle
Brent had already moved on."
    I looked at Emily. "Are you saying he was
involved with someone else?"
    "Yes. I never met her, but I could tell that
they were starting to get close."
    I wondered why Brent hadn't mentioned it when
he told me about his breakup with Karla. Perhaps he wanted to keep
it a secret until he was sure it would work.
    "Do you know her name?"
    "I think it's Ivana."
    "You might want to pass that information on
to the authorities."
    "I already did," she announced. "They plan to
talk to her."
    "Good," I said. "She might know something
important."
    "I'll be out of your hair later on today,"
she told me during the drive back to my house. "Detective Whitmore
told me that they would be through with their investigation inside
the house by three."
    "You're welcome to stay a little longer," I
said. I knew it wouldn't be easy being in the house where a loved
one had died. But I also knew that staying away would only delay
confronting what happened there.
    "Thanks, but I need to be there to do
whatever is