Stealth Moves by Sanna Hines Page B

when he finished his calls. She explained about Liv and her experience as witness to the Boston kidnapping. “So you see why we don’t want anyone connecting her to this victim.”
    The detective nodded, asked a few more questions, and dismissed Holly so he could interview the others. Mike went next, then Liv. Jim, who arrived while Holly was giving her statement, was called last.
    As time dragged on, Mike busied himself with his phone while Liv played a game on hers. When she started a text, Holly stopped her. “Don’t say anything about this to your friends.”
    “Why not?” Liv’s fingers paused.
    “Out of respect. Your friends will tell their friends, and so on. The dead girl’s family shouldn’t hear the news from the Internet.”
    Jim came out, shaking his head. “I’m a person of interest,” he said, “because I had keys to that house. They’re impounding my truck.”
    Holly shot to her feet. “Did they arrest you?”
    “No. Just ‘checking things out.’ Nothing will come of it. I’ve been with people on shoots or at home all week, so I can account for my time, but it’s damned inconvenient. Good thing I have a spare truck key in my wallet. The animal control guys took the dog.”
    “You told them about Teddy?” Liv cried.
    “I wasn’t supposed to?”
    Liv rushed to the glass window. “I have to talk to the detective again. Let me in!” As soon as the door buzzed, Liv whipped through it.
    Holly rubbed her face. She’d felt guilt about concealing evidence, but the matter was out of her hands. “Uncle Jim, do you need a ride home?”
    “Nah. I’ll call Eric. He didn’t leave with the rest of my crew. Probably still by the hotel flirting with that designer friend of yours. Give my best to your mother. Mike—” Jim shook hands before he left the building.
    Minutes later, Liv and the detective came through the door. Putnam patted her shoulder. “Don’t you worry,” he said. With a nod to Holly and Mike, he strode outside.
    Liv’s skin was puffy from crying. She wiped her face while saying, “Teddy’s mine. He said so—” She pointed toward the window. “Only I’ll have to wait. They’re taking him to a vet, then the crime scene lady will look him over, then we can pick him up.”
    “I didn’t plan to be here all day,” Mike said, frowning. “I have work to do.”
    “You always have work,” Liv said. “Don’t they ever give you a day off?”
    “No, not really, and besides, my mother is home alone. Someone should be around in case she has a problem.”
    “What about me ?” Liv said. “I need things, too. I’m—”
    Mike stood up. “Selfish. Selfish and spoiled like your mother.”
    “Don’t you dare talk smack about my mother!” Liv yelled.
    Holly stole a glance at the gawking receptionist. She said in a steady tone, “Look, we’ve all had a hard day. Let’s…um…let’s go to my house. We can get some lunch and figure out what to do.”
    “I don’t want to impose on your family,” Mike said. “We can go to a restaurant.”
    “My mom’s a chef,” Holly explained. “Even her leftovers are to die for. The house is only minutes from here. So, okay?” she asked Mike and Liv. “Okay?”
    Sullen nods. Holly led the way to Mike’s car and directed him as he drove the streets of Portsmouth’s South End. “There—the house on the corner. Cream paint, black shutters.”
    The frame colonial stood directly behind a narrow sidewalk, but a strip of brick paving along the side was wide enough for a car that wouldn’t fit in the driveway. “Off-street parking,” Mike said in awe. “Nice. Nice house, too.”
    “It has problems,” Holly admitted while Mike pulled alongside. “There were materials shortages during the war.”
    “Oh, right—rationing.”
    “I meant the Revolutionary War.”
    Mike rolled his eyes. “Don’t tell me George Washington slept here.”
    “He didn’t, but his runaway slave made dresses for my great-great-whatever