Free Family Secrets (A Darcy Sweet Cozy Mystery #8) by K.J. Emrick Page A

to come and go from the front so the desk sergeant could keep track of who was in the building.
    She made it seem like she was going to go out the back door for Grace's benefit.  What she was really about to do skirted a few more of the rules that Jon had already accused her of breaking.  His harsh words still stung.  Darcy didn't want to get her sister into trouble, too.
    At the back of the building was where the holding cells were.  When there were a lot of people on duty, they were guarded by one and sometimes two officers, watching whatever unlucky soul had been picked up for shoplifting or drunk driving. 
    On busy days like today, when there were already three people out of the building going to make a felony murder arrest, there just wasn't enough manpower in Misty Hollow's police force to watch a prisoner face to face.  Closed circuit cameras kept a steady eye on the lockup at times like this.  The image was sent directly to a monitor at the desk sergeant's station, the only officer guaranteed to always be there.
    Darcy knew from past experience where to sit across from the cells so that the cameras couldn't see her.
    Sneaking around the corner t o where the cells were located in a short dead-end hallway with a bare cement floor and a damp smell, she stayed close to the wall, until she could sit on a low wooden bench facing into the cell where Aimee was being kept.
    Jon's sister was laying on the single cot in the room, an arm up over her face, still in the jogging pants and t-shirt that she had been arrested in.  She hadn't noticed Darcy yet.
    Darcy very much wanted to do another reading on Aimee, to confirm what she had seen before.  She wanted to see the old, dried blood on Aimee's hands to confirm her suspicions.  She couldn't do it without physical contact, though, and she doubted the officers would just gladly open the cell up if she asked.
    "Hi," she said instead.
    Aimee jerked her head up, a quizzical look on her face.  "Oh.  It's you.  Um, Marcy, right?  You run the bookstore in town?"
    "Darcy," Darcy corrected.  "And, yes, I run the bookstore.  I also live with your brother."
    "So I heard," Aimee said as she sat up on the edge of the cot.  "I hope the two of you are happy.  God knows he and I never have been."
    Darcy had come back here with questions.  Now she was sidetracked by that comment.  "Never?  You two were always, uh, fighting with each other?"
    Aimee nodded.  "I'm sure you've seen it from living with him.  Jon is a very hard person to get along with.  Moody.  Self-righteous."  She frowned.  "A total jerk more often than not.  I can't believe I came here to ask for his help."
    Wow.  Where should Darcy even begin with all of that, she wondered.  "I love Jon.  And yes, we make each other happy."
    Just not so much recently, she added to herself.
    Sighing, Aimee stood up and began pacing.  "Well congratulations to you.  If you're happy with him then you've managed to do something me and our dad could never do.  I should have known he'd never listen to me if I came here."
    "You did wait two weeks before talking to him," Darcy pointed out.  "And even then it was only because you were being arrested for murder."
    "Not like I planned it," Aimee shrugged.
    "Murder kind of follows you around, doesn't it?" Darcy pointed out.
    The look Aimee shot her could have made flowers wilt.  "I didn't kill Vivica Chartrand."
    "I know that.  I helped prove it to your brother just now."
    The heat slid away from Aimee's voice.  "You…what?"
    "Sure.  It wasn't you.  It was her son Richard."
    Understanding shone in Aimee's eyes.  "Of course.  Vivica was always going on and on about having to cut the cord with someone.  Those were her words.  Somebody who should have grown up a long time ago, she said.  Now that all makes sense.  Her son, huh?  That's harsh."
    Darcy had to agree with that.  "But it's not like he killed his boss, or anything."
    Just like that, anger rose up in Aimee