Colorado 01 The Gamble by Kristen Ashley Page B

town,” Max
returned.
    “Yeah, that’s why I got deputies visiting a
lotta folk. You’re my third this mornin’,” Mick explained.
    Well, at least that was something.
    “What happened?” I asked in order to turn
the conversation and hopefully diffuse the situation.
    “Dodd was shot,” Mick answered.
    “Where?” Max asked.
    “His house, guy broke in,” Mick
answered.
    Max came closer, his body touching my back
and I could feel something strange coming from him.
    “Where was Bitsy?” Max went on, his voice
cautious or maybe concerned.
    “Visitin’ her sister, she don’t like the
spring break tourist season. Too many kids, teenagers gettin’
sloshed.” I felt something coming from Max, I didn’t know what it
was but it was also coming from Mick. He was uncomfortable again
for some reason that was different than before and he hurried on.
“You know she goes down to Arizona for a coupla months every March
and April.”
    I felt Max relax before he asked, “Who found
him then?”
    Mick shifted on his feet and I knew he would
have adjusted his collar if he didn’t think it would give him
away.
    “Dodd wasn’t exactly alone,” Mick
muttered.
    “Fuckin’ hell,” Max muttered back but his
mutter was clipped and annoyed. “Shauna.”
    Surprise hit me and I looked at Mick nodding
then over my shoulder at Max’s hard, angry face.
    “Shauna said he heard the break in and went
to investigate then she heard the shots. Lucky for her, seems the
killer didn’t know she was there, just did Dodd and then took off.
Hearin’ the shots, she was scared shitless. Took her awhile to get
her shit together to leave the bedroom, find Dodd then call it in.
She was pretty shaken up. Still is.”
    “Bet she is,” Max muttered like he did
indeed bet she was and he didn’t give a damn.
    “What about Harry? I thought she was with
Harry,” I asked stupidly, looking over my shoulder at Max and his
eyes came to me then his hand came to my waist and he gave me a
squeeze. He didn’t have to answer, that was answer enough. Shauna
was stepping out on goofy, sweet Harry. Then I whispered, “Poor
Harry.”
    “Yeah, poor Harry,” Max replied, his voice
quiet.
    I looked back at Mick and added, “And poor
um… Curtis Dodd.”
    Mick examined me a second then his face
split in a genuine, amused grin before his gaze shifted up to
Max.
    “Nina’s new around here, I’m guessin’,” he
noted.
    “Yeah,” Max answered.
    “I’m sorry?” I asked and Mick looked at
me.
    “There’s about two people in a four county
area that’d say, at learnin’ the news that Curtis Dodd was
murdered, ‘Poor Curtis Dodd’. You and Shauna. You because you don’t
know him, Shauna because she was sleepin’ with him.”
    “Oh,” I mumbled and wondered about Curtis
Dodd.
    “You want coffee?” Max asked and Mick shook
his head.
    “Gonna be a busy day, gotta get on my
way.”
    “You have a travel mug in your truck?” I
asked and Mick looked at me.
    “Yeah,” he said.
    “If you’ll go get it, we’ll give you a warm
up.”
    Mick’s face changed, his eyes cut to Max
then back to me. He smiled and said softly, “Be kind of you.”
    “Well, not really. Max made the coffee
though I think he used coffee from my grocery stash. I’m finding
Max isn’t good with grocery boundaries.”
    A short, surprised laugh escaped Mick as his
eyes shot to Max.
    Max moved to my side and slung an arm around
my shoulders, noting, “You’ll find, Mick, that Nina’s somethin’
else.”
    My head tipped back and I looked at Max.
“What does that mean?”
    “Relax, Duchess,” Max grinned at me, “it was
a compliment.”
    “It didn’t sound like one,” I retorted.
    He bent at the waist and his face got close.
“Well, it was.”
    Mick cleared his throat and I decided to let
it go. It was rude, arguing in front of other people, especially
people you didn’t know.
    I looked at Mick and prompted, “Your travel
mug, officer?”
    “Call me Mick.”
    I