Page 69 of Road Queens
But given that the bike would probably be exhibit A for a prosecutor at some future date, putting more fingerprints all over it wasn’t such a great idea.
“Sonny!” Other than on the day she’d gotten her scar, Amanda had never heard Cass sound so horrified. “Why is it still here? And why is it in such good shape after all this time?”
It wasn’t in good shape; it was ingreatshape. Cassandra’s Commando was spotless, so well maintained that Amanda was sure if she started it, it would kick right over, and they’d all hear the delightful rumble of the OHV engine.
“I ... what?” Sonny picked up a shop towel and was wringing it like a goose’s neck. “I’ve been keeping it here for you. I knew you’d be back for it. Again, I mean.”
“Backagain?” Beane asked as Cass groaned and bent like she was about to barf all over the surprisingly spotless workshop floor.
“Well ... yeah. Cass took it out a couple of times in the last week or so.”
“Um.” Amanda took a second to steady her tone. Probably wouldn’t do to sound too shrill. Or accusatory. “What?” She turned to look at her (estranged) friend, who was currently so pale that her scar stood out in glaring relief. Guilt? Shock? “He thinks—you’ve been—haveyou been—?”
Sidney was studying Cassandra, her head tilted to one side like a—like some kind of—Amanda couldn’t even finish the simile, she was so rattled. “Something you wanna share with the class, Cass?”
“Jesus, you guys, it wasn’t me!” Cass was holding her hands up like someone about to be arrested, a stance that wasn’t helping her case. “You think I’ve been secretly tooling around town under cover of darkness? That I—I killed Jonny Frank and then hit the Muddy for cheese curds? And I turned myself in and tagged along with you guys, ultimately leading you—and a former cop—here? Right here? This shop? All to—what? Throw you off the scent?”
There was a short silence, broken when Sidney cleared her throat. “It does sound out of character.”
“Well,thankyou.”
“You’re way too lazy to put up with any of that, Cass. I just don’t see you doing any kind of premeditated murder. Crime of passion, sure. Road rage? You bet. But nothing that takes research. Nothing that takes more than half a day of planning.”
“I did think you turning yourself in to the police was unfathomably stupid,” Amanda added, because Sidney was right: the elements of this particular murder were beyond Cassandra. But that presenteda bigger problem. “Maybe so stupid only an innocent person would have done it?”
“Not the vigorous defense I was hoping for,” Cassandra sighed, “but I’ll take it.”
“But that means—” Amanda cut herself off. It meant that not only did someone specifically target Jonny Frank, but they also targeted Cassandra. Only she was to be a different kind of victim: the kind who went to prison for two decades while the true killer got to roam free.
Which made Cassandra’s situation so ... much ... worse.
Beane stepped forward with a carefully blank expression. “You saw Cassandra Rivers take the bike?”
“Don’t answer that!” Amanda screeched, startling Sonny into dropping his rag. The list of people who would want to frame Cassandra five years after Starfish disbanded was short. Which meant this shop was the very last place they should be talking about Jonny FrankorCassandra’s bike.We have to leave. All of us. Right now.“Let’s ... let’s think a minute. Preferably somewhere else.”
“It’s okay,” Beane soothed. “Cassandra wasn’t Mirandized. She’s not even under arrest. And I’m not a cop anymore, so I can’t use any of this against her.” He turned back to Sonny, and you wouldn’t know he didn’t have a badge anymore, given how he radiated calm authority. She couldn’t decide if that went in the Like column or the Dislike column. “Now, Mr.Manners, did you see her ta—mmph.”
Amanda had seized him by the shirt, yanked him close, and kissed him.
Stupid, stupid, stupid idea, this will never work and calls my sanity into question, and it’ll be awful because first kisses almost always are, no idea why, too many teeth or something ...
It wasn’t awful.
At all.
Even better, Sean Beane was on board. His arms came around her as he pulled her up on her toes. And kissed back. And it still wasn’tawful. And he still smelled better than anyone had a right to. And he was breaking the kiss. Disappointing yet sensible. And she was beyond gratified to see the flush of arousal on his face.
She only remembered their gaping audience when Sidney smacked her palm on top of one of the tool cabinets. “Wow, do I feel silly. I thought finding out someone’s framing Cass would be the most off-putting moment of the day.”
Ha ha. Someone framing Cass for murder wasso much worse. And it wouldn’t be long before an actual investigator would be sniffing around and talking to a judge about probable cause for a search warrant.
No, that wasn’t fair. Beanewasan actual investigator. Giving up the badge didn’t change that. The only thing that changed was who signed his paychecks.
“I’m confused,” Sonny announced.
“Same,” Cassandra replied.
“Shut up, shut up, all of you shut up! Especially you, Cass.” Amanda realized she still had two fistfuls of shirt and forced herself to loosen her grip. “Sean, I need to speak to you privately.”
