Page 97 of Pied Sniper

“I’ll pack your dessert to go,” said Mom. “Unless you’re all coming back? Oh, Adam, your lovely Pavlova!”

“I’ll make another dessert next dinner,” said Maddox. “I might try your tiramisu recipe.”

“She refuses to give that recipe to me,” I muttered while aiming a daggered look at Maddox. He grinned and winked. I restrained the urge to flip him off, which only demonstrated how much I’d grown up in recent years.

“I hope you all have rain jackets. The weather forecast doesn’t look so great later,” said Mom.

“Got it covered, Mom,” said Garrett.

“And bring your guns for the damn tiger,” said Dad. “Is that dessert for me?”

“This is a disaster,” sighed Mom while being hugged repeatedly as the men filed out the door. “I didn’t even get to tell them about the new class I’m taking. Everyone would love the cheesemaking class. Who doesn’t love cheese?”

“It isn’t a disaster,” said Dad. “Not as long as we have all the dessert and Serena doesn’t speak another word.”

Mom flopped into her seat and picked up her fork. “Eat, everyone,” she said.

“Haha,” snorted Sam. “You sound like a cannibal.” He nudged his mom. “I didn’t do anything silly tonight. Do I still get a treat later?”

Traci glanced from Serena to Lily, then at me, then my mom. “Sure, honey,” she said. “You definitely get a treat tonight.”

“Asshole,” said Victoria.

Chapter Nineteen

“I know Serena is your sister but she’s such a Class Triple A jerk,” said Lily.

“She is, and she is,” I agreed. “She was the most supreme jerk she’s ever been tonight.”

“I don’t mind that she calledmetrashy but she insulted Poppy! Poppy is nothing less than awesome.”

I opened the car door so Lily could strap Poppy into her car seat and when she finished stuffing the little octopus into her restraints, I said, “Youshouldmind. You aren’t trashy. And nothing Serena said was true. Sure, you’re a bartender but you also own the bar. Besides, what’s wrong with being a bartender? It’s honest work. And if she wants to insult Jord’s profession, well, she’s just insulting our whole family. Plus, your mom is an ambassador, so you’re hardly trashy.”

“You could have said all that inside,” yelled Lily, pointing at the house.

“I would have if everyone hadn’t raced for the door!”

“Fine. You’re forgiven. Get in the car.”

“Thanks.”

“And now you can tell me why you got all light-headed.”

“I know you want to hear I’m pregnant but I’m not. I was just a little dizzy all of a sudden.” I paused before I added, “But we are still trying to get pregnant although last night we were both too tired.”

Lily squealed so loud a neighbor’s light came on. She clapped a hand over her mouth before checking on Poppy. Poppy was happily snuggled into her carseat and fast asleep. “That’s so exciting,” she said. “Does Solomon know?”

I rolled my eyes. “Of course! Since he plays such a crucial part in the proceedings.”

“Oh, yeah,” she giggled and just like that, all the horrors of family dinner disappeared. She quizzed me all the way back to my house on our pregnancy endeavors. “As soon as the case is over, we’re going to brunch,” she said, “and I can give you all my tips.”

“I can hardly wait,” I said, slightly horrified.

“I meant cribs, buggies and maternity clothes, notthosetips but if you want me to send Jord over to have a man-to-man talk with Solomon, I could make that happen too.”

“Heck, no!” I hopped out of the car. “Bye!” I waved before Lily drove off, then jogged up the steps and let myself into the quiet house. I set the box of dessert my mom insisted I take on the counter and checked my phone. No calls yet. I was feeling left out of the loop. I switched on the TV but none of the channels featured Tiffany’s parents so I clicked it off and tossed the remote on the coffee table. My thoughts drifted to Davy Morris. He didn’t strike me as the type to ditch the police by climbing out a window but it made sense that he fancied himself Tiffany’s savior. Clearly, nothing could stand in the way of that. Doing it right after Abigail Swanson did the same thing must have been galling to Garrett. I just hoped Davy would recover from the rejection Tiffany would almost certainly mete out to him once she was freed. I couldn’t fathom what that would do to him on top of losing his life savings. Perhaps he would be satisfied just to have Tiffany returned alive. I couldn’t imagine she wouldn’t be, considering how suspicious I was now of her involvement.

I knew it was a long shot, but I had Davy’s number. I called him three times before he answered. “Where are you?” I asked as I paced the length of the house.

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