Read Online Don't Say a Word by Beverly Barton - Free Book Online Page A

place in town.”
    Zoe was smiling, very happy; all three of them were. Zoe and Julia had hit it off big-time since Julia had visited them a couple of times for her interview process at Chattanooga PD. “I can’t believe you’re really going to live here in town, Aunt Julia. That’s so cool. We can do things together all the time. Go to the mall, walk Jasper, go to Audrey’s gym and work out. You and Audrey and me.”
    â€œThanks a lot,” J.D. said.
    â€œYou’re not a girl, J.D. And you know you’re pretty much a stick-in-the-mud.”
    Zoe laughed at Julia’s remark. J.D. walked over and gave Julia a big hug. “So I’m a stick-in-the-mud—that’s what you think?”
    â€œ ’Fraid so, but a lovable stick-in-the-mud.”
    They all laughed. J.D. sat down. “Well, welcome to Chattanooga. Sorry again about not picking you up. That blasted trial is driving me up a wall. I’m next up, then no, never mind, we’ve got to put so-and-so on first. It’s crazy over there. Lots of recesses and bench conferences. Tam and I have been sitting around all day with little to show for it, except for heartburn.”
    He listened to the two girls talk for a minute or two, and then he had to ask. “So, Jules, how’d you like Will?”
    â€œHe’s okay, I guess. Pretty funny guy, made me laugh, at least until we got to the crime scene. Then he turned into Mr. Solemn.”
    J.D. said, “That sounds like you.”
    Zoe seemed to quiver all over. “OMG, Will’s such a hottie. Presley and all the girls think he’s McDreamy. Everybody thinks so, even Audrey.”
    J.D. frowned. “Audrey thinks that?”
    Julia and Zoe laughed at him. Zoe said, “Yeah, J.D., but then she said nobody’s as handsome as you.”
    â€œOoooh,” Julia teased him. “You’ve got her crazy about you already. What do all your other girlfriends say?”
    â€œHe doesn’t have any other girls, Aunt Julia. Can you believe that? Even that awful Holly that he used to hook up with all the time. Audrey’s got him hook, line, and sinker. Even he admits it.”
    J.D. felt sheepish, verging on silly, but everything Zoe said was true. Audrey was not like any other woman he’d ever met. Still, he didn’t like these fifteen-year-olds talking that way about older men. “Where have your friends even seen Will Brannock, Zoe?”
    â€œOh, here and there, when you bring him around with you. Like you did on your last case.” She grinned mischievously. “Actually, they all think you’re hot, too.”
    â€œWell, then that’s okay.”
    Zoe and Julia laughed together again. He loved to hear them laugh. He loved to see them together. Happy as a lark, Zoe raced off to the kitchen. “I’m gonna put in the pizza. It’s got everything on it that I could think of. Hope you like it, Julia!”
    â€œOh, I will. I like everything. Ask your dad.”
    After Zoe was gone and happily clanking around in the kitchen, Julia and J.D. shared a smile. “She’s just a great kid, J.D. I still can’t believe you have a teenage daughter. Man, what a surprise that was.”
    â€œYeah, tell me about it.” He’d had a casual affair with Zoe’s mother but hadn’t known she had had his baby until she was dying of cancer years later and called him about his paternity. After she died, Zoe came to live with him. It was rocky as hell at first, but things were good now. “She’s really special, Julia.” It had taken awhile to admit that, but now—now he didn’t know how he got along without her, teenage angst, the Biebs, and all.
    â€œSo the trial’s going badly?” Julia asked, unhooking her hip holster and placing it on the coffee table. She sank down on the couch and waited for his answer.
    â€œNot so much that. It’s pretty much open-and-shut. Just