Never Sorry: A Leigh Koslow Mystery by Edie Claire

market, my lawyer will be calling. And I suppose that antique rifle is still sitting in the cabin?"
    "And what if it is?" Tanner snarled.
    " Sell it! I want that money, I need that money, and I deserve that money. Now ."
    "Get out." From the tone of Tanner's voice, it wasn't a suggestion.
    "With pleasure!" Stacey retorted, opening the door. She slammed it behind her and left.
    A dull thump issued from behind the closed lounge door. Fist on couch ?
    Leigh waited for Tanner to come out. She had no intention of going in. After a few long minutes, he opened the door and looked for her.
    "Still here, eh? I'm sorry you had to hear that."
    Leigh shrugged. "No big deal." She knew this was the part where she was supposed to be noble and insist that the argument was none of her business. But she'd never been good at that sort of thing.
    "So, you're Carmen's beneficiary. Does Frank know that?"
    Tanner nodded, his face grim. "Oh, yeah. He was all over me about that. But it doesn't matter. He knows that I know Carmen was in debt—it's not like I could have been expecting anything. Even if I was—all she had was the standard city-issue employee life. It's not like she was leaving a fortune."
    "But why—" Leigh faltered. Did she really want to know? She watched him as he absently ran a tanned hand through his tousled, sandy-blond bangs. Oh, yes. She wanted to know.
    "Why did Carmen choose you?" she asked flatly.
    As usual, Tanner didn't miss a beat. "I have no idea. I didn't know anything about it until Frank threw it in my face yesterday. I suppose because she didn't have any family, and she knew I was having my own money problems."
    Leigh considered. In high school, Carmen's only family had been an alcoholic mother with a bad liver, so her being alone now was no surprise. Nor were Tanner's monetary problems. Zoo vets, especially those employed by smaller, low-budget parks, did not make nearly as much as the average practice owner. It was true that Stacey had supported Tanner all through college and vet school, and if she had made a claim to half of his future earnings…
    Don't need lawyers , he had said. All I do is tell the truth .
    It was easy to see how he'd gotten fleeced.
    "I'm sorry," Leigh said, suddenly remorseful. "This has been harder on you than it has on me, and here I am bugging you with questions."
    He smiled at her warmly, then took her hand and led her back to the couch. "You've got nothing to be sorry for. It's not your fault I married the first girl I ever dated. Now, I know better." He spoke in a whisper, tracing her cheek with his finger. "Where exactly were we?"
    She had just started to demonstrate when a rapping at the hospital door intervened. "Come on in," Tanner yelled testily. "Door's open."
    They waited in frustration as two pairs of footsteps squeaked toward them on the ancient linoleum floor. When the visitors arrived at the lounge doorway, Leigh wasn't surprised. Some people had a flair for dramatic entrances. And bad timing.
    "Afternoon," Detective Frank began amicably. "Leigh Koslow, you are under arrest."
     
     
     
    Chapter 9
     
    The hours that followed marked a new low in Leigh's life. Being arrested as a teenager was far from fun, but being arrested as a responsible adult was worse. First off, and of little consequence in the grand scheme of things, was that Frank had caught her and Tanner alone. Again. He had also interrupted them. Again. That Frank should arrest her in front of Tanner, then proceed to parade her out of the zoo in handcuffs, was supremely humiliating. The detective didn't even have the decency to exit with her through the nearer employee lot—nothing but the main entrance would do. The only positive notes were that most of the keepers were busy behind the scenes and that no representatives of the press were visible. Her picture was snapped in passing, however, by an awestruck pubescent photographer who seemed to prefer women in chains to giraffes and elephants. She would deal