Reckless
Page 24
“So you really have no new information about the fire at my place?”
“Investigations aren’t finished,” Maxwell said, pulling onto Peachtree Industrial Boulevard and heading south.
“Sometimes investigators make predictions based on what they’re seeing,” Burton said dryly, “even before the investigation is officially finished.”
“That’s true, they do,” Maxwell said.
“Is there a problem, sir?”
“You know you don’t have to call me that anymore,” Maxwell growled. “And under the circumstances, I’d prefer you didn’t.”
“What would you prefer I call you?”
“Bill will do.”
Bill? Was he really going to call the Chief Deputy—his ranking superior for fifteen years by his first name?
“Okay, Bill,” he said.
They drove in silence for several minutes before Maxwell spoke again. “Look, I promised Jess I wouldn’t say anything, but keeping mum is not my style if I’ve got a burr under my saddle.”
Jack looked at him expectantly. What the hell was he talking about?
“You and Mia. There’s nothing there, right?”
That was not what he expected Maxwell to say.
“How is that any of your business?”
“It is my business because everything that has to do with Jess is my business and she’s worried about the girl.”
“Worried, how? Why?”
“You don’t need to know the details. But it seems she’s gotten herself hooked up with some guy at the barn where she rides and Jess is a little worried.”
The words tumbling out of Maxwell’s mouth hit Jack in the stomach like a cannon ball to the gut.
Mia is seeing someone? How the hell did I not know this?
He cleared his throat. “Jess doesn’t like the guy?” The bastard! Of course, Jess doesn’t like him. Jess is an amazingly astute judge of character.
“She hasn’t met him,” Maxwell said. “And I think that’s the problem.”
“I see.”
“I figured the two of you weren’t together. A blind man could see that. But Jess thought otherwise, is all.”
Stop worrying, Jess. I did stupidly promise you, didn’t I?
“Nope,” Jack said, his stomach churning. Can this day get any worse? “We are not together.”
“Well, good. Keep it that way. No offense, but you are the last thing that girl needs.”
No offense taken you fat bag of lard.
“Naturally not,” Jack said, staring out the window as they exited from I-285 onto I-85.
“Okay, good.”
They drove the rest of the way in silence until Maxwell was nearly at Mia’s condo in Atlantic Station. Jack hadn’t bothered asking him to stop so he could pick up toiletries mostly because he didn’t have any money and he figured he’d rather lay down in the middle of the Connector during rush hour than ask Maxwell to loan him twenty bucks.
“Listen, Jack, I know this has been a rotten start to your day what with your house burning down and all and I probably shouldn’t say anything but I’m gonna throw you a bone here. I figure you’ll find out soon enough.”
What the hell else did the fat bastard have to say? Could he ruin this day any more than he already had?
“It’s about the kid who died on your watch.”
Jack felt the nausea ratchet up in his gut as the familiar blanket of guilt dropped down on him once more. “What about him?” he managed to say.
“The coroner determined cause of death.”
Jack snapped his head around. “He died in the fire.”
“Actually, he didn’t,” Maxwell said, pulling into Mia’s condo parking lot. He stopped the car and looked at Jack as if trying to make up his mind about something. “Turns out,” he said finally, “the poor kid had his throat slit.”
* * *
To see what happens next, order Shameless, Book 2 of the Mia Kazmaroff Mysteries.
About the Author
Susan Kiernan-Lewis is the author of the bestselling Maggie Newberry Mysteries, the post-apocalyptic thriller series The Irish End Games, The Mia Kazmaroff Mysteries, and The Stranded in Provence Mysteries. If you enjoyed Reckless, please leave a review on your purchase site.
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Books by Susan Kiernan-Lewis
The Maggie Newberry Mysteries
Murder in the South of France
Murder à la Carte
Murder in Provence
Murder in Paris
Murder in Aix
Murder in Nice
Murder in the Latin Quarter
Murder in the Abbey
Murder in the Bistro
Murder in Cannes
Murder in Grenoble
Murder in the Vineyard
Murder in Arles
A Provençal Christmas: A Short Story
* * *
The Stranded in Provence Mysteries
Parlez-Vous Murder?
Crime and Croissants
Accent on Murder
A Bad Éclair Day
Croak, Monsieur!
Death du Jour
Murder Très Gauche
Wined and Died
A French Country Christmas
The Irish End Games
Free Falling
Going Gone
Heading Home
Blind Sided
Rising Tides
Cold Comfort
Never Never
Wit’s End
Dead On
White Out
Black Out
* * *
The Mia Kazmaroff Mysteries
Reckless
Shameless
Breathless
Heartless
Clueless
Ruthless
Ella Out of Time
Swept Away
Carried Away
Stolen Away
The French Women’s Diet