A Murder Moist Foul: A Frosted Love Cozy Mystery (Frosted Love Mysteries Book 1) Read Online Free Page B

alive.
    “You know what, I think I’ll just
wait, I’m headed straight home after this anyhow,” she crinkled her nose
flirtatiously, pulling out all the stops.
    “You look very familiar to me…” the
dark Italian observed, narrowing his eyes.  “Have we met?”
    She avoided the question deftly. 
“You know, people say that to me all the time – I guess I just have one of
those faces.”  She beamed at him one more time and moved toward the door which
led to the front of the store, fingers crossed that he wouldn’t block her
passage as she made her exit and got back in her car to head to see Chas.

Chapter 5
    “Do you realize I could have you
arrested for impeding an investigation?” Chas hissed at her, livid.
    “How can you be upset with me when
I found evidence linking him to the crime?” Missy shot back, hurt.
    “Evidence?  You call a box of rat
poison evidence?  There’s probably one of those in every kitchen in Louisiana,”
he commented dryly, bursting her bubble.  “And what made you think that rat
poison is what killed Davis anyway?” he scorched her with his gaze.
    “I’m not revealing my sources, but
I have it on good authority that rat poison is what killed Darryl, and the fact
of the matter is that someone who has motive to kill him is in possession of a
great deal of it!” she stomped her foot in frustration.  “Can’t you just arrest
him for something and then do a search to see if you find anything?” she
pleaded.
    Beckett sighed, running a hand
through his hair, exasperated.  “No, we can’t just arrest him, there has to be
a reasonable suspicion of guilt and there are proper procedures involved.”  He
came around to the side of the desk where Melissa sat fidgeting in her chair. 
“Look,” he said quietly, “I told you that I would look into it, and I am
looking into it, you need to trust that I’ve been following up on every
possible lead.”  He held her gaze and part of her melted at the concern that
she saw in his eyes.  For the first time in a long time, she was at a loss for
words.  It had been a long, tiring week and suddenly she felt entirely drained.
    “When’s the last time you had a
decent meal?” Beckett suddenly asked almost sternly.
    Thinking about it, Missy realized
that she hadn’t eaten since dinner yesterday and her stomach growled audibly in
response.  She giggled, embarrassed by the expression of her hunger and
admitted that it had been almost 24 hours.
    “I’ll meet you in an hour,” he
shocked her by saying.  “We’ll continue this discussion at the steak house if
that works for you.  I could use a good meal myself,” and he actually allowed
the corners of his mouth to lift briefly in a gentle and devastating smile.
    Missy’s insides shook like
well-made aspic whenever she thought about her impending meal with the handsome
Detective Beckett.  She changed her blouse three times, finally settling on a
bright blue silk that looked perfect with the ivory trousers that she had
selected for the occasion.  She brushed out her gleaming cornsilk tresses,
leaving her hair falling gently down around her shoulders in a glorious cloud
of soft curls, and finished her look with a touch of eyeliner and lip gloss. 
Simple sapphire studs adorned her ears and she admired their sparkle in the
mirror.  Missy knew that she was probably putting way too much thought into the
evening, Beckett probably just wanted to pick her brain for more ideas about
the case, but she was an old-school Southern woman and when a gorgeous man
asked her for the pleasure of her company, she would dress for the occasion, no
matter what his motives might be.
    Toffee followed her from room to
room as she prepared for her evening (she refused to call it a date, she hadn’t
been on one of those for a couple of years), the tags on her collar jingling as
she moved.  Missy had watched her carefully after the incident with the
cigarette butt and the creaking gate, relying upon