Free The Root of All Trouble by Heather Webber

wasn't happy Delphine had been seeing Joey. But that didn't make sense—he'd been at work at Perry's house.
    " Well," he said, sipping his coffee, "that I can understand. Delphine is a catch."
    One I 'd toss back. "What time was Mario at Joey's?"
    Perry bobbed his head from side to side. "Two, three o'clock. He was home by three thirty. The crew was gone, so we locked the doors, split a bottle of wine and—"
    I held up my hand. "I don't need the details."
    He laughed. "We ate every bit of junk food in the house. Don't tell him I told you."
    I laughed. "Promise." Then something he said registered and didn't make sense. "Why wasn't the crew there when he got back?" They still had a lot of work to do.
    Rolling his eyes, he said, "Everyone came back from lunch in such a bad mood that I suggested to Delphine everyone just leave for the day. I needed a break. They're...a lot to handle."
    With all the arguing that had gone on that day, I understood the bad moods. And that meant that Bear could have been the man Mario overheard talking to Joey.
    Interesting .
    " Well, Mario needs to tell the police about the fight and the person that was there."
    Shaking his head, he said, "He refuses to talk. And now that Delphine has been arrested, he won't have to."
    " Perry..."
    " Nina, you promised you would keep a secret."
    " I said I'd try ."
    " Try really, really, really hard."
    " I think that third really was a little gratuitous."
    His eyes twinkled. "Really?"
    I smiled. I couldn 't help myself. Then I sobered. "Did you think that Mario had something to do with..." I gestured across the street.
    " No. Not much." He held up two fingers an inch apart. "Maybe a little. Joey crossed a line, and it triggered something in Mario I'd never seen before. I was scared. For Mario and for Joey. But I guess I didn't have to be. Because Joey apparently had lots of enemies, including one seriously ticked-off girlfriend who did a lot of people a favor, in my opinion."
    It was hard to argue with that. After all Joey was about the least likeable person I ever met.
    I was ready for the whole seedy mess to go away and for life to get back to normal. To forget about Joey and Delphine and...everything. It was time to look ahead.
    A car door slammed and I spotted Brickhouse backing out of Mr. Cabrera 's driveway. The back of her car was stuffed with stuff—clothes, boxes, a Crockpot. I waved as she drove past, but she didn't see me, or even glance over in a wistful goodbye to her former boyfriend. Sometimes looking ahead meant not looking behind you.
    " That can't be good, her car packed like that," Perry said.
    " No, it can't."
    I wasn 't convinced the situation between Brickhouse and Mr. Cabrera couldn't be fixed, but it was going to take more than a sly smile or a strudel this time.
    " Breakfast?" I asked.
    " What're you making?"
    I laughed. "I thought you'd cook since, you know, you're living here free of charge for the foreseeable future."
    He looked like he was about to argue, then said, "How about egg white omelets with goat cheese and bran toast?"
    " Fine, I'll cook. Waffles with whipped cream and real maple syrup?"
    " Sounds good."
    We 'd just headed for the door when the screeching of tires stopped us in our tracks. I turned in time to see a small sports car swerve into my driveway. The driver's door flew open and a wild-eyed man jumped out and raced up to the porch.
    " Jean-Claude? What's wrong?" I hadn't seen him since yesterday afternoon in the cab of my truck. "Are you okay? Where've you been?"
    He waved away my questions. "You have to come with me, Nina. Hurry and change. No, we don't have time for that."
    " I'm not going anywhere in my robe and slippers."
    " Then hurry," he said.
    " Where to?" Perry asked.
    " The police station."
    Ah, now I understood. "Is this about Delphine's arrest?" She was his cousin after all.
    Jean-Claude dragged a hand through his hair. "Of course! The police are making a huge mistake. You have to stop them. They'll listen