Free This Old Homicide by Kate Carlisle Page A

It’s being delivered to Sloane’s sometime next week. I was hoping you’d run out and pick it up for me.”
    “Of course.” Sloane’s Stones was a brick and masonry yard out by the highway. They had an enormous inventory and I did a lot of work with them. “Just let me know when it arrives.”
    “I will, dear. You’re a good girl.” She turned and continued watering her roses, indicating that I’d been dismissed.
    Chuckling, I crossed the street to my house.
    “You look like you just heard a good joke.”
    I glanced in the direction of the voice and saw my neighbor and tenant, Mac Sullivan, smiling as he held open the gate leading to my backyard. “Hi, Mac.”
    The man had a beautiful smile and I took a moment to enjoy it. There was no getting around it: Mac Sullivan was drop-dead gorgeous. With dark hair and blue eyes, he had a dangerous look about him that was utterly masculine and sexy. He was also a bestselling mystery author whose hero, ex-SEAL Jake Slater, had become a worldwide household name in the tradition of James Bond. I still wasn’t sure why Mac had chosen Lighthouse Cove to call home, but the women in town were eternally grateful he had.
    Heck, the men liked him, too. He was a great guy and a wonderful writer.
    “I was just talking to Mrs. Higgins,” I explained.
    “Ah, no wonder you’re smiling. She’s a pip, isn’t she?”
    “The word suits her, whatever it means.”
    He laughed, and there went that tingling sensation again. Was there anything more appealing than a man with a great laugh? Not in my book.
    “Did you get any writing done today?” I winced. “Sorry. I imagine writers hate that question. And it’s none of my business. But I hope you had a good day.”
    “I had a great day. And I don’t mind you asking about my writing. It went well.” He grinned. “I killed two people.”
    I headed for the steps leading up to my kitchen door. “Sounds delightful.”
    “It was,” he said, and leaned against the stair railing. “And to celebrate, I was hoping you’d join me for dinner.”
    For a few brief seconds I reflected on the fact that after years of avoiding the dating scene, I found myself interested in two attractive men at the same time. I didn’t know what would happen in the future, but for the moment I was determined to enjoy myself. “I’d love to. Give me ten minutes?”
    “I’ll meet you right here.”
    *   *   *
    We ate dinner at Rosie’s Crab Pot, which, despite its name, was a lovely restaurant with an old-world clubroom atmosphere and an excellent wine list. From our quiet corner booth, we gazed out at the ocean and shared a dozen oysters and a bottle of Chardonnay. I ordered salmon and Mac had sea bass. We talked about Jesse and I told Mac how I found him among the chaos inside his house.
    “I’d like to get into his house and see it for myself,” Mac said before taking his first bite of fish. He nodded his approval. “You have a key to the place, right?”
    “Well, yes.” I bit into my salmon. It was perfectly prepared, not overcooked, with a light butter and lemon sauce. “But you know, it’s probably still a crime scene.”
    “I’ll talk to Eric.”
    “Good idea,” I said, relieved that he wasn’t going to put me in a precarious position with Eric. Now that I had finally won the police chief’s trust and we were friends, I didn’t want to go back to the days when he had looked at me with suspicion.
    Mac gazed at me as he sipped his wine. “Would you let me into the house without my talking to the police?”
    I thought for a minute. “I guess I might, but I wouldn’t feel comfortable doing it.”
    He nodded and took a bite of baby potato. “One of the many things I like about you is that you believe in following the rules.”
    Nonplussed, I said, “I’m a simple small-town girl. I don’t generally break the rules.”
    He chuckled and shook his head. “You’re anything but simple. And not everyone in a small town follows the