Free Molly Dox - Annie Addison 01 - Color Me Crazy by Molly Dox

and passed it off to Greg one night. Greg used the key to break in. The intention was to pin it on somebody else, and Annie was an easy target according to Trish.
    Charlotte couldn’t help herself. “What about the poison they found?”
    Greg had the last laugh. “I wasn’t going down for murder. Are you kidding me? I’d never survive in jail. I may have loved you Trish, but I was willing to let you take the fall. I knew my mom was going in to the salon, so I set her up.” Greg smiled at his cleverness. “And here you thought I was backstabbing Annie. It was you I hoped they arrested all this time. You’re nothing but a snake. I may have loved you, but I could smell your greed a mile away. I loved my mother. I wanted to help her so she wouldn’t suffer. You wanted her out of the way so that you could manipulate me out of insurance money. I only kept you around for the sex.”
    “You lousy…you said you were going to set up Annie !” She ran over to where he was, wanting to get her hands on him, but another officer stopped her and arrested her for conspiracy. There was more going on than anyone anticipated.
    Annie gasped. They were going to pin this on her. She had no reason for them to pin it on her. Trish apparently pointed out that Annie was an easy target. She didn’t have family here, was divorced and lived alone, and didn’t have a large group of friends. Her social life was almost non-existent, except for her one older friend . That would take the fire off herself and Greg.
    “Wait, how did she die?” Annie asked.
    Officer Frisco spoke up from behind the bar. Annie hadn’t seen him there. “Cyanide, he must have laced her drink for it to act that quickly. Doing it so publically with witnesses gave him an alibi. He looked concerned and surprised like everyone else. The problem was that the poison in the salon wasn’t cyanide. It was arsenic, which could have absorbed through the skin. Things didn’t match up, but we couldn’t say anything until we knew more.” He walked a step closer. “We had our suspicions once we identified the fingerprint inside the glove, but we couldn’t tie it all together, until now. The footprint that was found placed him inside the salon. It was a large man’s footprint, too wide to be yours or Trish’s. And thank you, Greg for spilling your confession. It makes our job that much easier.”
    Annie stood stunned. “What does that mean?”
    Officer Ross answered. “It means you’re free and clear. And thank you for your help in solving this puzzle.” He smiled softly at her.
    “I’m free?” Annie couldn’t stop the tears. Her body shook as the stress drained from her body.
    Charlotte wrapped her arm around her friend. “It’s over.”
    “It’s really over?” She almost couldn’t believe it. She asked the officer again.
    “For you , it is. For these two, it’s just starting.” He nodded his head toward the women and joined the others as the two new suspects were brought out to the waiting police cars.
    “It’s over,” Annie said again, dropping her head to the bar.
    Her entire life had been put on hold, her freedom, her business, and just like that it was over. Annie sobbed, getting the built up emotions out.
    “You know, Annie , you were pretty good at this. I wasn’t half-bad myself.  Maybe we should team up and start an investigation agency,” Charlotte said, her mind clicking with ideas now. “Let’s come up with a clever, catchy name.”
    “Are you crazy? I don’t want anything to do with law enforcement at this point.” Annie was overwhelmed by the turn of events.
    “Not even anything to do with sexy Officer Rossi?” Charlotte nudged her friend.
    “Okay, well, that’s just not fair. You know what I mean.” Annie smiled.
    “Think about it , kid. You and me, solving crimes and, interrogating people…” Charlotte started to build a case for them to go into business together.
    “I think I’ve had enough crime solving to last me a