Free Ghost Walking (A Maggie York Paranormal Mystery Book 1) by Ally Shields Page B

hadn’t been doing, especially the last few days. How could she leave her firearm in the laundry room? She’d never done that before. Or leave the chains off the front door? She’d lost her edge. If she didn’t get it back, she’d not only be unemployed, she’d be dead.
    She downed another cup of coffee, grabbed her SIG, and headed for the firing range. Maggie had thinking to do, and shooting sharpened her thoughts better than anything else.
     
     
     
    When she exited the range two hours later, she felt calmer than she had all week. She walked toward her Toyota and sighed when she saw Brandt’s Ford parked next to it. Now came the accusations. Thanks to Coridan, she was ready. As she drew near, he lowered his window.
    “Detective Brandt, how’d you find me this time?”
    “Easy enough. I thought about where I would go.” He opened his car door and got out. “But all the practice in the world won’t help if your weapon’s in the other room.”
    “Yeah, that was a serious lapse. It won’t happen again.”
    He studied her face. “I can see that.”
    Maggie bristled. “You think I’ve gotten a grip on myself? I was never as out of control as you think.”
    He frowned at her emphatic response. “Meaning?”
    She narrowed her eyes. “Why did you track me down? To talk about last night?”
    “Sure. That will do. Do you have anything to tell me?”
    “Like confessing I did it?” she snapped. “Well, I didn’t. I don’t care what the evidence says.”
    His frown cleared, and he almost smiled. “Ah, the fingerprint results. Not unexpected. If the intruder was going to set you up to look bad, he’d hardly risk leaving his own prints behind by not wearing gloves.”
    “But I thought—” Maggie blinked. “You believe it was a setup?”
    “That’s how I read it. If he wanted you dead, why not finish the job? And why drop the gun outside? What I don’t know is how he got into your apartment, and why he went to all this trouble.”
    “But Cor—” She stopped and said ruefully, “I thought no one believed me. Given all that’s happened over the past few months.”
    He offered no response to her comment but leaned against the side of his car. “It appears somebody wants you discredited. The question is why. To stop you from doing or saying something? Or at least stop anyone from believing it?” He turned a level gaze on her. “Do you know some secret, York?”
    “If I do, I don’t know what it is. If you think it’s about my shooting, I’ve already told you I didn’t see anything in the courtyard that night.”
    He shrugged and looked away. “Maybe it wasn’t that night. Maybe it was the night before. Or a month before.”
    “What are you saying?”
    “I don’t know. I’m just thinking aloud. None of it makes sense…yet.” He suddenly flashed a smile that made her heart skip a beat. “Sometimes I have to go down a lot of wrong roads before I arrive at the truth, but it’ll come.” He reached into his open car window, pulled out a brown paper bag, and handed it to her. “Your backup SIG. We’re through with it. Keep it close. You were lucky last night, but the shooter might have something else in mind next time.”
    Without saying good-bye, Brandt got back in his car, nodded to her, and drove away. Maggie watched him go. He’d given her a lot to think about. But it was the smile that held her attention, the way it reached and lit up his eyes. Damn, she hoped he didn’t turn out to be a dirty cop.
     
     
     
    By the time she parked near her home, Maggie’s mood had deteriorated to a frown. She’d gone over the parking lot conversation in her head a couple of time, and one question kept jumping out. How had last night’s intruder gotten inside? It almost seemed like he’d had a key. But she hadn’t shared her apartment key with anyone. Not a cleaning service, no one watered her plants, even Annie didn’t have a key. And she certainly didn’t have one hidden under a potted