Never Con a Corgi Read Free Page A

physically, while Ethan seemed an even blend of her own features and Warren's, Allison resembled neither of them. Rather, the poor thing was the spitting image of her grandfather Randall. "Do you think I should call him?" the girl asked, wrinkling her nose to adjust her glasses.
    "Sure, honey," Leigh answered, bemused at how her daughter seemed to have inherited her grandfather's mannerisms as well. "Go ahead. I may be late getting back today. Just please, don't get scratched again."
    "I'll be fine," the girl answered, not looking up. "I have my antiseptic spray."
    The sound of a second siren wailed on the road outside, and Leigh hastened her steps through the building and up to the reception desk. "I may be back late, Angie," she said to the young manager at the desk as she moved, "there's been... a problem at the church next door. Just keep the kids here—don't let them wander around the woods today, okay? Call me if you need me!"
    "All right, but what—" the front door closed behind Leigh before she could hear the end of the question, which was just as well, because she knew she couldn't answer it. She raced to the car, grabbed her purse and phone, and took off down the road at a jog. Her fingers itched to text her husband, but she had no idea what to write. Found body; please sympathize ? Client dead; not my fault ? Either way, it would hardly make his morning.
    She arrived back at the church parking lot, panting, to find not one but two black and whites in residence, their occupants already questioning a visibly flustered Shannon and Michelle. "She's back now," Leigh heard Shannon say as she came into range. "She'll tell you."
    The three policemen turned to face her.
    "Sorry," Leigh said weakly, still trying to catch her breath. "I got back as fast as I could, but I had to check on my kids and make sure they stayed at the shelter."
    "She ran right there and back," Shannon chimed in. "Michelle and I have both been watching—she hasn't been gone five minutes."
    Leigh resisted the urge to throw Shannon a thankful smile. At least one person understood her paranoia where law enforcement was concerned.
    "You say you found a body?" one of the township policemen questioned, his skeptical tone making clear that either (1) her full name hadn't been mentioned, or (2) he had never spent quality time with anyone on the county detectives' squad.
    Both points were in her favor.
    She nodded.
    "Supposing you show us where?" he prompted.
    Leigh looked in the direction of the woods, took another steadying breath, and started walking.
    She really wished she could develop another hobby.

Chapter 3
    Maura dropped her solid frame down onto the wooden picnic table that sat in the shady grove behind the church. She settled herself next to Leigh, who had been effectively chained there for the last half hour, and sighed.
    The two women stared at one another.
    "I don't do it on purpose, you know," Leigh offered.
    Maura's eyebrows puckered. "Debatable."
    "How could I?" Leigh argued. "You think I have some cosmic attraction for the marked to die, or the recently deceased?"
    The detective considered a moment. "Let's hope not. Sure as hell wouldn't bode well for me."
    Leigh frowned.
    The ghost of a smile crossed Maura's otherwise sober face. "Sorry. Couldn't resist. Now let's get this damned thing over with, shall we? You know the drill. You tell me absolutely everything about how you happened to be the first one to stumble onto Brandon Lyle's body, and then you move on to everything else you know that you're planning not to tell me unless I ask you about it specifically. And so help me, Koslow, if I find out later that there was one shred of evidence you didn't tell me, one little detail you thought it would be better for your cousin's in-law's daughter's pet turtle if I didn't know, I will—"
    "Yes, yes," Leigh cut in. "Thumbscrews, honey and ants, partial decapitation with a dull razor, yada, yada. Why would I hide anything from the authorities?