Free A Ghost in Time (Destiny Bay Cozy Mysteries Book 3) by J. D. Winters

going to succeed, at least not right now.  
    He kissed me. And I liked it! He tasted sweet and crisp, like a fresh green apple, but heat poured through me like spiked cider. Yeah, I liked it. But it only lasted a few seconds, then he pulled away and said, “There. I did it.”
    That made me laugh. “Wow. Brave guy.”
    “You ain’t seen nothin’ yet,” he said looking cocky, but he didn’t follow that up with action. For one thing, a couple of officers were coming our way and as they passed they nodded to Roy. He nodded back, then tried to ignore the way they were grinning. Pretending complete interest in the book I was reading, he picked it up and looked at the title.  
    “ ’Sleuthing for the Clueless .’” That made him sit up and take notice. He gave me an incredulous look. “What is this? How to be a detective? Seriously?” Shaking his head, he handed it back. “I don’t believe it. You’re too cute.”
    “I’m serious about this.” Now I was starting to get annoyed. “Don’t patronize me!”
    “I’m not. Believe me, I’m not.” He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “But you know, you’ve got to stop getting yourself involved in murders. It isn’t healthy.”
    “This isn’t a murder,” I said defensively. “It’s an accident.”
    “Really?” He shrugged. “Maybe.”
    I didn’t like the sound of that. It got my hackles up. “What do you mean, maybe?”
    He looked so cool and calm and sure of himself. “I never make the final call until all the evidence is in.”
    “Wait a minute,” I said, one hand on his arm. I was remembering what Bebe had told me about her own doubts and hoping she hadn’t already been telling them to the police. “Are you suggesting that Bebe might have done this on purpose?”
    His gaze was veiled and his chiseled chin rose, just a bit. “I said, all the evidence isn’t in.”
    That sent me reeling. I could hardly believe it. “Don’t you dare go accusing her of…”
    “Listen.” He stopped me.   “We know there was a real war going on between them. And you know it too. We know what Star wanted to do to Bebe. She wanted to have her impeached—and barring that, make her life so miserable she would quit on her own. And we know that Bebe was pretty angry about it. People heard her say some pretty tough things. There have been some tips called in about it. I’ve talked to people who would swear Bebe aimed that car on purpose.”
    I thought about Bebe’s note. Was it still stuck on the fridge? I needed to take care of that right away—and that only made me more adamant.
    “Ridiculous. Lies!”
    “You can’t just dismiss those things. People heard them. It’s all part of the whole.” He held his hands out as though holding the world there. “The big picture.”
    “ I’ll dismiss it,” I insisted. “I’ll dismiss it all day. It’s crazy. There is no way my aunt murdered Star. No way in hell.”
    He shrugged, his eyes heavy-lidded. “Evidence is going to be coming in.   All kinds of contradictory facts will come rolling in and we’ll have to consider everything and try to map out what belongs where and what’s serious and what’s irrelevant. We’ll piece it all together like a huge jig saw puzzle, and then we’ll have a better picture of what happened and what caused it to happen. And finally, we’ll get to the truth.”
    I stared at him. He really believed that, didn’t he? Huh. Still, that was all very well, but I didn’t really care about the truth. I just wanted Bebe happy and out of this situation. It was tearing her apart and it was about to do the same to me.  
    “Listen Mele.” He reached out to touch my shoulder but I jerked it away from him.  
    He reared back. “Come on, Mele, cut it out. Don’t be like that. Be sensible.”
    “I don’t want to be sensible. We’re talking about the only close blood relative I have left. The only thing I have left in this world.” My voice broke and I swore softly,