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

isn’t a negotiation. I’m not going to counter. You know my opinion.” Alonzo crossed the room. He paused at the front door. “I’ve got to run back to my office. I won’t be long.” He let himself out, pulling the door shut with a bang.
    Mitzy listened to the sound of his truck revving up and pulling away. Alonzo didn’t want trouble. That was understandable. Karina didn’t want to go to jail, and the pull of her need was stronger than the desire to keep her husband’s life simple.
    Arnold’s lover lived across the street from the crime scene. She would know more about what was going on in Arnold’s life than anyone else.
    Tomorrow morning, Mitzy and Arnold’s lover were going to have a chat.
    ***
     
    The weather was mercifully clear the following morning, and the streets were almost dry. Mitzy threw the chains in the back seat of her Miata and headed back up to Concord Street. According to the forecast, she shouldn’t need the chains, but she’d hate to be stuck on the hill without them.
    She parked her little red car two houses down from the crime scene. The place was quiet now, but still cordoned off.
    Livia’s house across the street from the crime scene was also a custom 1970s home. The front had the modest appearance of an extra-long, split-level ranch, but it was built into the hillside, and Mitzy knew the back of the house was three stories tall with wrap-around decks and a view that stretched all the way to Lake Oswego. She estimated the value, given the upgraded windows and siding, to still be in the high seven-hundred-thousands. Not that it was for sale.
    Mitzy rang the doorbell.
    A tall woman with thick chestnut hair and a long nose opened the door. She was wrapped in an oversized wool cardigan and had a steaming mug in one hand. Her eyes were red and swollen. “Yes?” Her voice sounded raw, as though she was coming down with something or had been crying.
    “Livia?” Mitzy held out her hand. “I’m Mitzy Neuhaus, a friend of Karina English. Can we talk?”
    Livia lifted an eyebrow but opened the door wider. “What can I do for you?”
    “I was hoping we could talk about Arnold.”
    Livia nodded. “I expected as much. What can I say about him?” Livia opened the door the rest of the way and stepped aside to let Mitzy in.
    However unenthusiastic the welcome, Mitzy took it. She stamped her boots on the concrete steps to shake off the clinging slush and stepped inside. “I was hoping maybe you had seen something. Anything.”
    “Do you drink coffee?” Livia asked. “Because I think we could be here awhile.”
    “Always, thanks. I’m so sorry for your loss.”
    Livia led Mitzy into a vast marble kitchen with long, low windows that framed the view of the city. The cupboards were white-washed country chic, about ten years out of style, and the kitchen smelled like cold frying oil.
    “My loss? Arnold was hardly my loss. He had quit me months ago, but thank you. I admit this is really hard.”
    “Were you in love?” Mitzy took a stool at the kitchen island and sat down.
    “Maybe. I don’t know. I was certainly infatuated. Arnold was a charming man.”
    Mitzy nodded, but kept her opinion of his charms to herself.
    “I wanted to be in love, if that counts, but obviously he wasn’t. Classic narcissist, if you ask me. Only in love with himself.” Livia passed a tall mug of coffee to Mitzy.
    “Did he come by and see Karina often?” Mitzy poured cream from a small ceramic cow into her cup and then stirred, watching the cream swirl into the brown.
    “No, hardly at all, in fact.” Livia picked up the ceramic cow and then set it back down. Then she lifted the sugar bowl and moved it as well. She shook her hand a little and picked up her coffee mug. “I’m sorry.”
    “Don’t be sorry. Take your time.” Mitzy took a drink of her coffee. It was strong and rich with cream. Perfect. “Had he been by to see you recently?”
    “He hadn’t been by in a week. You know he was living