Free Book Club Bloodshed by Brianna Bates

don’t like short, thin men. Women tell me that all the time, that I’m not their type.”
    Missy said nothing.
    He pointed at her. “I’ll bet you know what that’s like. To not be somebody’s type, huh?”
    She wanted to punch him.
    “Oh.” He snapped his fingers in her general direction. “I forgot. Lee can’t get Noreen released.”
    “What?” Missy couldn’t believe it. Even after she’d given Tyler the jealous lover lead? “Why not?”
    “Attorney-client.” Paul shook his head. “He couldn’t say. But reading between the lines, it’s not good.”
    She shook her head. “Noreen didn’t do this.”
    He shrugged, like that was unimportant to him. “I hate to break it to you, but that means the police have all they need. Right now they’re just dotting all their I’s and crossing all their T’s. Your friend is in big trouble.”
    “You’re not exactly reassuring.”
    “What can I say? I tell it like it is.”
    Missy was dying for this conversation to be over. “Anyway, yes, I’m going to WiredFit tonight.” She groaned inwardly at the idea of immersing herself in an environment filled with super fit people, who were strong, athletic, flexible, and less than six percent body fat.
    “Good.” He nodded at her and stuck his lower lip out again. She realized he was trying to look tough, or smart, or both. “You shouldn’t have trouble getting one of them to pick you up, so then you can invite yourself to the bar after.”
    Missy wasn’t looking forward to this. “What are you going to do?”
    “I’ll be following your every move.”
    She couldn’t help but be sarcastic. “Great.”

Chapter Twelve
     
    Missy called in a favor with Brett, asking to leave early in light of the fact she’d be working around the clock the next three days. Of course he agreed. Brett was a nice man, probably too nice.
    “Brett, I really owe you.”
    He smiled. “Miss, good luck. I know what you’re going to do.”
    “You do?” she asked, incredulous. She hadn’t told him anything about her investigating the murder.
    He nodded. “I’ve worked with you a long time, Melissa DeMeanor. I’ve gotten to know you well. And I know this about you: you will not stand by and do nothing when there’s something wrong. You’re a good person.”
    She was embarrassed by the compliment. Missy just thought she was doing what anybody else should do for a friend.
    “Thanks, Brett.” She hugged him. “Have a nice vacation, I mean, as nice as you can.”
    “Thanks, Miss. Sell a lot of books while I’m gone.”
    Missy got home at six and found Cody in the same spot from when she’d left this morning. She quickly fed her, then hurried upstairs. The WiredFit class started at seven and she needed to find something appropriate to wear.
    Searching her bedroom, she found an old pair of yoga pants she forgot she had and a wicking shirt that was a size too small. She looked through her dirty hamper to see if she could reuse the outfit from her aborted run this morning, but like Paul Is Gold, she sweated a lot and the clothes had taken on an odor after being balled up in her laundry for the entire day.
    So yoga pants and undersized wicking shirt it was.
    Missy went back and forth on using the regular bra versus the sports bra, and eventually settled on sports bra. She’d heard the WiredFit workouts could get really crazy.
    The yoga pants stretched across her thighs and became almost transparent. She examined herself in the mirror…and almost died.
    ***
    Missy was normally a planner. As the day wore on she racked her brain to come up with a strategy. Finally, with nothing coming to her, Missy gave up and decided to wing it. She was not a winger by nature but she didn’t have much choice. Noreen was in jail and Tyler didn’t seem interested in pursuing any other angle to the case.
    Her phone buzzed as she pulled into the WiredFit parking lot. Lee Greenberg. She hoped against all reason that Lee had good news, that Noreen was