Poisoned Pin: A Cozy Mystery (Brenna Battle Book 2) by Laney Monday Page B

it right.”
    “You nailed it, Cinda.”
    “You just don’t want to shoot it again,” Jacinda snapped. “Give me the phone.”
    Now was my chance. I gently let the branch I’d been holding swish back into place, then inched backward. I rose slightly, my knees creaking. Over the bush and the brick side of the stair case, I could see they had their backs turned. They’d wandered a bit further away from my hidey hole, and were focused on the phone, watching the footage. I got up and dashed around the side of the house, out of sight, then found a narrow opening between two rose bushes and maneuvered my way to the sidewalk. Then I started to jog slowly, back toward the front of the house. Jacinda, apparently not convinced she’d nailed it, stood in the same spot, with a glowering Avery readying the camera a few feet back.
    “Is that shadow still there?” Jacinda said.
    “There wasn’t a shadow,” Avery grumbled.
    “Hey!” I smiled big and waved. “Jacinda. What are you guys doing here?” I did my best to sound surprised and curious instead of, you know, nosy and suspicious.
    “Oh, hello, Brenna! This is my assistant, Avery.” Jacinda smiled and waved back, a twist of beaded bracelets dangling from her wrist.
    She seemed genuinely pleased to see me there. Maybe she was hoping to milk some juicier details about Derek’s death out of me—on camera. So not happening. I kept the smile on and hoped it didn’t look plastered.
    “Are you guys filming something?”
    “Yes, we’ll have this episode edited and ready to upload within a couple of hours. I have thousands of followers online, and they’ll help spread the word. People deserve to know the truth.”
    And apparently they also deserve to know about your book , I thought. She sure didn’t miss a chance to plug it. But then, who was I to look down on someone for trying to make a living? She was just promoting her business. I knew how it felt, going door to door, hoping for “customers,” trying to make it.
    “Did you know the police just arrested Harvey, Derek Thompson’s uncle, for his murder?” Jacinda said.
    Yes? No? Should I play dumb? Quick! Think! I couldn’t make up my mind, but another, more pressing—to me, anyway—question did pop into my head. “How’d you find that out?”
    “I’ve developed several sources in town. I’ve spent so much time in and out of Bonney Bay the last few years, doing research. Friends know to call me with tips. I’m so glad I was right here in town for this one.”
    If Jacinda knew that right before Harvey was arrested, he and I had nearly been killed by a falling chandelier, she’d really flip. I’d be the new star of her next show. I wanted none of that. No, thanks.
    “Well,” I said, “good luck with that.” And I said my good-byes and headed home, trying to make sense of it all.

17

    Sammi actually raised her hand and said, “Later” to the other girls as they left practice that night. I wouldn’t go so far as to say she was getting friendly, but she was really coming along.
    I headed for the fridge and grabbed a soda. Those kids seriously wore me out. All the excitement earlier, my concern for Harvey, it all came sagging back on me as the girls walked out the door. All except Sammi. Her gi top and belt were off, wadded up under her arm. She walked over to me and said, “So, are you on the case or what?”
    I eyed her warily. “What case?”
    “Yeah, what case?” Blythe said.
    I cringed. I hadn’t had a chance to tell Blythe yet about Harvey’s arrest. I was kind of waiting to see if Seattle Channel Three bothered to pick up the story. Wasn’t it enough that she already knew I’d befriended a crazy old man, gone into his house with him all alone, then had him come in here and scare the children, without her knowing he was a murder suspect too? And then there was the chandelier, the near demise of her favorite big sister. Okay, her only sister. Could I get away with leaving that part