Page 91 of It's a Wonderful Knife
Mona forced a smile. “Of course.”
Ezra merely grunted.
I said, “If I need to talk to you again, I’ll let you know.”
“That’ll be just fine.” Mona stood.
“What in tarnation would you need to talk to us again for?” Ezra scowled, getting to his feet. “We told you all we know. You want us to start making things up?”
“Obviously not.” My face twitched as I held his irritable gaze.
“This is a murder investigation.” Max stared at Ezra as if he had two heads. “Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”
I put my hand on Max’s arm. “It’s fine. We’re all under a lot of stress.”
“I knowIam.” Shaking his head, Ezra stomped to the door. “Hopefully you can catch the killer soon. Maybe if you stopped wasting your time talking to innocent people like me, you’d be better at your job, Sheriff.” He opened the door and left, not waiting for Mona.
Mona’s face was flushed, and embarrassment glittered in her eyes. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what to say. I’ve run out of excuses for him.”
I felt bad for her. It was apparent Ezra embarrassed her. I’d have loved to ask her why in the hell she’d ever married him, but that wasn’t my business. She’d obviously had her reasons. “Don’t worry about it, Mona. My feelings don’t bruise easily.”
“He wasn’t always like this.” She grimaced. “I mean, he was never Prince Charming, but…”
“It’s fine. Really.” I gave a reassuring smile.
She started to leave but stopped. “Who would you like me to send in next?”
“Madison if she’s free? Then Leo.”
“I’ll go get Madison. She’ll start the cabins in about thirty minutes, so now is perfect.” Mona hesitated in the doorway. “I’ll have Leo stay inside until you need him. Otherwise, you’ll have to hunt him down outside.”
“Sounds good.”
She left the room, leaving the door ajar.
I waited until I was sure she was down the hall, and I turned to Max. “Ezra is a piece of work. He’s so disrespectful to Mona.”
Max nodded. “I half expected her to slap him.”
I laughed gruffly. “God, that would be all I need—for Mona and Ezra to start brawling.”
He grinned. “My money would be on Mona.”
“Mine too.”
There was a knock on the door, and Madison poked her head around. “Mona said you wanted to question me now?”
“Yep. Come in, Madison.” I waved to the comfy chair. “Sit.”
“Thank you.” Madison swept her long dark hair off her brow. “Things sure are nerve-racking right now.”
I settled in my seat. “I know. It’s been hard on everyone.”
She crossed her hands. “Yes indeed.” She was nervous. The pulse at the base of her throat fluttered quickly, and she seemed breathless.
“So, I wanted to talk to you about Santiago.”
She nodded. “Yes.”
