Read Online Foul Play by Janet Evanovich - Free Book Online Page B

of routine.”
    Amy helped scoop up the garbage and stuff it into a large plastic bag. “No problem. Would you like some iced tea?”
    The detective declined; he washed his hands and left. The house seemed depressingly quiet. A cherrywood mantel clock ticked somberly in the living room. A bowl of fruit had been placed in the middle of the little table, and Jake stared at it as if mesmerized. Finally, he spoke. “Who do you suppose took that damn bird?”
    Amy stood against the counter, her armscrossed over her chest. “You think it could have been a prank? Vandalism? Someone broke into the office and thought a rooster would be a fun thing to steal?”
    â€œThat’s one possibility.”
    Amy raised her eyebrows. “Another possibility?”
    â€œWho knew the bird was there?”
    â€œA lot of people,” Amy said. “Everyone who works at the clinic, everyone in the waiting room when the bird was brought in, everyone they talked to…”
    â€œOkay, who knew the bird was there, and might have had a motive for taking it?”
    â€œYou aren’t thinking of playing detective, are you?”
    Jake looked offended. “It isn’t as if I haven’t any experience. I watch a lot of television. I saw Beverly Hills Cop three times.”
    She studied him for a moment. “You have any ideas?”
    â€œI don’t like Turner. Besides, he was too fast to point an accusing finger at you.”
    Amy agreed. “But why would he want the rooster?”
    â€œCould be a publicity stunt. Could be the change in format isn’t going as well as he’d like.”
    â€œGee, you’re pretty good at this,” Amy said.
    â€œYeah, and I don’t even have a script.”
    â€œI’m afraid to ask what comes next.”
    Jake looked at his watch. “Dinner comes next. We’ll wait until it gets dark to do our detecting.”
    Amy took two potatoes and two rib steaks from the refrigerator. “We? As in you and me?”
    â€œYou know where Turner lives?”
    â€œOh no! Forget it. I’m not going skulking around his house. I’m in enough trouble.”
    She scrubbed the potatoes, punctured them, and put them in the microwave. “Besides, I don’t know where he lives. And if I did know, I wouldn’t tell you.”
    â€œHmmm,” Jake said, stalking her around the kitchen table, pinning her to the counter. “There are ways of making a woman talk.”
    He nudged her with his knee and stared into her wary blue eyes with his laughing brown ones. “I could torture it out of you.”
    Amy’s gaze dropped to Jake’s mouth. It was smiling and very close. Close enough to kiss, if she wanted. Her hands were splayed across his chest, originally put there to push him away, but now they felt more inclined to caress than rebuke.
    She moved her hands over the material of his button-down shirt, straightening his collar, touching her fingertips to the heated skin of his neck. He was nice to touch. Warm and firm. She watched his mouth soften, his lips part ever so slightly. She felt him lean into her just a bit, fitting himself into her curves.
    â€œYou don’t seem like the torturing type,” she said, lacing her voice with false bravado.
    â€œOh? What type am I?”
    The loving type, she thought. She didn’t mean it in the physical, sexual sense. She simply thought that he was a lovable person, and she understood why the checkout ladies had given him such an enthusiastic recommendation. His positive good humor inspired good feelings in others. She was sure his success as a veterinarian waspartially due to this. With the possible exception of Mr. Billings’s cat, animals immediately responded to him.
    She heard his breath hitch and realized she’d drawn a line across his lower lip with the tip of her finger.
    â€œCriminy,” she said, pulling her hand away as if it had been burned. “I