Page 27 of Over the Edge

No harm done.

“That fact isn’t for general consumption.”

“My lips are sealed.” She made a zipping motion across her mouth. “Someone saw the murder?”

“No. The perpetrator. After the victim was dead.” He gave her the bare bones.

“Whoa. That had to be super scary for her. Was she a wreck?”

“I wouldn’t go that far, but she was shook.”

“Who wouldn’t be?”

“True.” He unfolded his napkin and draped it across his lap. “But she was also kind of ... cool.”

As the words tumbled out, he mashed his lips together.

Blast.

Why had he mentioned Lindsey Barnes’s attitude? His perceptive sister wasn’t likely to let that slide by or miss the nuance in his inflection.

Bri inspected him. “Cool as in composed, or cool as in unfriendly?”

His sister’s ability to pick up subtle cues only got better with age.

“Closer to unfriendly.”

“It’s possible cops spook her. Did you run her?”

“Yes. She’s clean. And she was nice to Meyers.”

He stifled a groan. What was with his case of motormouth tonight? That wasn’t information Bri needed to know.

“Did you rub her wrong? You can be off-putting in interrogation mode, you know. Ask Marc.”

“I wasn’t off-putting. I was nice.”

“Hey, don’t get all defensive. I’m on your side.” She broke off a piece of her roll and swiped it through the pat of butter on her plate. “Why do you care about her attitude anyway?”

“I don’t.”

Too strong, Tucker. Dial it back.

Affecting nonchalance, he took a roll from the basket.

“Yeah, you do.” She examined him the way she used to study the pieces of a puzzle she was trying to put together when she was a kid. “The question is why.”

“Can we please eat our dinner and forget about work tonight?”

“How old is this woman?”

Apparently Bri wasn’t in a forgetting mood.

“Thirtysomething.”

“Pretty?”

“Yeah.”

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