Page 23 of Out to Get Her
Samantha did remember that. She also remembered that Paul didn’t actually remember being kicked out because he’d been drunk that evening.
But the more Addie went on and on about Paul, the more firmly her grudges placed her on Samantha’s suspect list. Even if it was more likely Addie would poison him in her restaurant than follow him to the Sonnier house to stick a needle in him. The best thing Samantha could do at this point was clear Addieoffof that list.
“Addie, where were you yesterday afternoon?”
“Yesterday afternoon? Well, I was—” She flinched as her eyes widened with horror. “Samantha Keller Ardoin, are you accusingmeof something? Because if there’s anyone you should be questioning, it’s that Erin girl. Happened in her house, and sheconvenientlyfound him. Not to mention she showed up in town at the exact time my restaurant burned, and a murder followed right behind. Downright suspicious, especially for someone who seems to always be in the thick of trouble, if you ask me.”
Samantha shut her eyes tight and took a cleansing breath. She’d been trying and failing all morning not to think about Erin Sonnier. Not to call to see how she was doing. Not to go out there and—
“I need to know where you were yesterday,” she repeated in a calm, clear voice. “I have to ask everyone.”
Addie frowned with stern disapproval. She was clearly used to being the one doing the accusing. “I was at home. Making phone calls. Ordering a new fryer. Following up with insurance. Trying to figure out when I might be able to reopen.”
“Can anyone verify that?”
“My insurance agent.”
“Did you use your home phone or cell?” Samantha asked.
“My cell phone.”
She’d really rather not have to get a court order to clear every single citizen in this town. So Samantha asked nicely, “Could we access your phone records to verify the calls and your location?”
Addie’s frown settled in even deeper. “If it gets you on the way to finding out who killed that man before I could strangle him myself? Absolutely.”
* * *
Erin placed her hands on the counter and whipped out her best smile. “Bet you didn’t expect to see me again so soon.”
The young man in a black polo shirt behind the clerk’s office counter shook his head, but the hint of an amused smile played at the corner of his mouth. “Something told me I might see you around again before long. You seem the kind that just can’t stay out of the spotlight.”
Erin’s cheerful act faded as her shoulders dropped with a sigh. “Who’ve you been talking to?”
“You would be surprised how many people in this town have a story or two and can’t wait to tell someone they think hasn’t heard it before. You are quite the hot gossip topic around here.”
Great. Absolutely nothing had changed.
Except this guy.
“How long did you say you’ve been here?” she asked sweetly.
“I didn’t.”
Erin rolled her eyes. She’d come here figuring she could pry some information out of the one person who was at least half as much an outsider in this place as she was, simply by the fact of being an actual outsider not born and raised in this hellhole. Turned out he was way smarter than everyone else around there and not at all fooled by her act.
“Five years,” he said anyway. “We moved here my senior year.”
She’d been close, guessing his age. “Long enough to listen and know things, but not long enough to feel some sense of loyal obligation to the good folks of Etta?”
“Something like that.” He leaned toward her over the counter. “Since when did you join the Etta Police Department? Should I be calling you Detective Erin?”
“Not on your life.” Or anyone else’s. Being a cop would be her nightmare. Not to mention it would compromise every one of the few moral sticking points she had.
Being pressed up against a cop, however—especially a certain Etta sergeant who’d specifically suggested that Erin lay low for a while…
“I’m just a concerned citizen.”
“A concerned citizen with a history of petty arson and the proud new owner of a homicide crime scene?”
