Traci Tyne Hilton - Mitzi Neuhaus 04 - Frozen Assets Read Online Free Page A

Don’t you need to call a lawyer?”
    “Hold on.” The sound from the phone muffled. Mitzy looked around for Alonzo. He sat at the table with a blueprint spread out in front of him. “Karina’s been arrested,” she whispered.
    Alonzo looked up. “What?”
    Karina came back on the line. Mitzy held a finger up to pause the conversation with Alonzo. “They aren’t charging me with anything, but they’ve taken me to the station, and I’m in a little room, and I really don’t know what to do.”
    “Don’t say anything, okay? Not a thing. The only thing you should say is that you want a lawyer.”
    “Okay, but who do I get?”
    Mitzy rattled off her brother’s number. “Call Brett Neuhaus. Tell him you are my friend. He will help you find the right lawyer. But keep quiet until you get someone there to protect your rights, okay?”
    “Will your brother be my lawyer?”
    “He isn’t a defense attorney, but call him, and he will help you find the right person, I promise. Call him now, okay?”
    Karina choked back a sob as she said goodbye.
    Mitzy hung up and stared at the screen. Brett would find Karina a lawyer, of course, but if the police had Karina down at the station, would they ever find the real killer?
    She wanted to tell Karina to tell the truth. Everyone knows the truth will set you free, but with that two-million-dollar insurance policy nagging at the back of her mind, Mitzy was afraid the truth would cause more trouble this time.
    “Alonzo, what do you think the best way to help Karina would be?” Mitzy turned to her husband. She leaned over the arm of the sofa, perching her chin on her fist.
    “Pray.” Alonzo didn’t look up.
    “Obviously, but what else?”
    “You just gave her Brett’s number. Why don’t you wait until she calls you again. She seems to need someone who can listen.” Alonzo laid a small notepad on top of his blueprints and began to scratch in it with a stubby pencil.
    “Maybe I could talk to her neighbors, find out what they saw.”
    “Or you could just wait for her to call.”
    “Do you think any of them have security cameras?” Mitzy stood up and moved to the picture window. All was dark outside. If someone were lying dead on her front lawn, she wouldn’t have been able to see it.
    “Do you hear me talking to you?” Alonzo raised his voice on the last word.
    “I should go talk to that lady across the street, Arnold’s girlfriend. I bet she knows something.” Mitzy pulled the curtains shut.
    “Did you mean to say my name a few seconds go? Because I think you were just talking to yourself.”
    Mitzy turned back to Alonzo. “I’m not talking to myself. I’m brainstorming. If you have an idea, I will respond to you.”
    “My idea is to wait for her to call you.” Alonzo set his pencil down.
    “That won’t help her.”
    “It won’t make anything worse, either, Mitzy”
    “I’ll go talk to her neighbor first thing tomorrow.”
    “The dead guy’s lover?” Alonzo laid his pencil on the notebook.
    “Yes.” Mitzy straightened the folds of her velvet curtains. She ran her fingers back and forth over the soft pile, watching the color change.
    “Seems like that could make things worse.”
    “If you aren’t going to make useful suggestions, I am going to keep ignoring you.”
    “Mitzy, stop and listen to yourself for just a minute, please. You are a Realtor. You sell houses. You do not solve murders.”
    “Yes, I do.”
    “Did. Once.”
    “Can do again. If I can help an innocent person avoid jail, don’t you think I should?” Mitzy grabbed her laptop from the couch and rested it on the back of the recliner. She began to search for the Google street view of Karina’s neighborhood.
    “Of course I think you should help an innocent person avoid jail, in theory, but I think you already did by giving her your brother’s number. Please let the professionals handle this.”
    “How about I just talk to this one neighbor and then let it rest?”
    “This