Free The Old Witcheroo by Dakota Cassidy

my lawyer, Luis Lipton, stuck his head inside, narrowed his gaze at my surly detective friends, and pursed his lips.
    “Ah, gentleman. We meet again. I’ll assume you’re done with my client, from the resounding silence I’m greeted with?”
    Detective Moore used the heel of his hands to push off from the table with a snarl. “Yeah, we’re done with her.”
    “Gosh, you make it sound so final, Detective Moore. I hope you don’t mean done-done, as in forever. What would my life be like without you in it?” I teased.
    “Of course you are, Detective… Simone, is it?” Luis asked on a chuckle, reminding them he was in on my joke.
    I giggled and shook my head as I began to rise. “No. he’s Sipowicz. You know, cranky, easily riled. They’re easy to confuse.”
    “Riiight,” Luis drawled, winking at me before he double-checked with Detective Montgomery. “Are we sure we’re done, Detective?”
    “We’re done,” Detective Montgomery said, but this time he wasn’t smiling.
    Luis held out his dapperly clad arm to me. “Shall we, Miss Cartwright?”
    I wagged my fingers over my shoulder and grinned at the pair. “So until the next pointless interrogation? TTFN, guys!”
    As Luis escorted me toward the front of the station, I apologized for making him leave his dinner for nothing, but he wouldn’t hear of it. “You pay me quite well. No apology necessary. Besides, you saved me from ordering dessert.” He patted his non-existent belly with a chuckle. “Now let’s get you home. You’ve had a trying day, no doubt. And my apologies about your acquaintance. So tragic.”
    Just as we were stepping out the door to the station, three officers charged in, along with Officer Gorton, who, if at all possible, looked even worse than he had earlier, making me pause.
    I wasn’t as familiar with these two officers as I was with Sandwich and Officer Nelson, but Officer Gorton appeared pretty frazzled, or maybe a better word was defeated, disappointed. Beaten. Yeah. He looked beaten.
    He had something in his hand in a Ziploc bag, which he set on his desk with great reluctance, judging by how hesitant his movements came across, and as I got a closer look (okay, I stood on my tiptoes to see what was in the bag. I did say I was nosy), I saw it was a gun.
    Now if that didn’t make me pause, the unfamiliar officer’s words did.
    The tall blond one, lanky, with limbs like spaghetti, shook his head when the shorter, baby-faced guy mumbled, “Can’t even believe we found that at Nelson’s.”
    “You think it’s the murder weapon?” Spaghetti Limbs asked.
    The baby-faced officer’s eyes went grim. “Looks like it’s been fired recently, and it’s the same caliber bullet used to kill Sophia. A 9mm.”
    I fought a loud groan.
    Have I mentioned I really hate this day?

Chapter 6
    “ U gh,” I sighed, letting my head rest on my Madam Zoltar table. It was the morning after Sophia’s murder and I hadn’t heard a single peep from Officer Nelson, but that gun those two officers had found last night had troubled me something fierce, leaving me with a fitful night of nightmares.
    “We should have cancelled appointments today, Dove. You’re exhausted,” Win chastised.
    “If I’m tired, just imagine how Dana feels, Win. No rest until we find Sophia’s killer.” I was so distraught about this gun they’d found, I couldn’t concentrate on anything else.
    “Are we sure those blokes said it was Officer Nelson’s? One hundred percent?”
    I nodded, blowing out an anxious breath of air. “I heard the guy who doesn’t look old enough to have graduated the phase of cuddles and warm milk before bed, let alone be a police officer, say they found it at Dana’s. The gun they had matched the kind of gun used to kill Sophia.”
    “And where is Officer Nelson? Why can’t we locate him?”
    “Well, if he knows they found a gun at his house, and it looks like it might be the same gun used to murder Sophia, I’d bet he’s