Read Online P.I. I Love You (Miss Demeanor Suspense Series Book 1) by Joanne Jaytanie - Free Book Online Page B

said.
    “I just bet you will. I’d be fine too, with a nurse like that.” Cassie waggled her eyebrows.
    “Don’t you women have an agency to open?” River asked.
    “Hint taken,” Shay said.
    “Call us, if you need us,” Maile said, as they left the apartment.
    “They seem like great friends,” Gage said.
    “The best,” River said.
    River’s phone rang. She tried to reach out to pick it up from the coffee table and cringed.
    Gage shook his head in disgust as he picked up the phone and handed it her.
    Blake Baxter’s name displayed.
    “Morning, Blake,” she said.
    “We have a problem. I walked into the house last night and overheard Ellis and Garnet arguing. Seems Garnet told him about our sister, and Ellis was none too happy. He wants her to leave it alone. Asked her why she would be willing to lose half of her inheritance to a perfect stranger.”
    “Ellis sounds like a real gem. Let me give this some thought and I’ll get back to you later today.” Gage frowned at her. “For now, let’s keep this between you and me.” She disconnected her call and looked Gage squarely in the face. “If the offer is still on the table, I could use your help.”
    “On two conditions. First, we get some breakfast: I’m starved, and I know you haven’t eaten since yesterday.”
    “And the second?”
    “You’re going to start at the beginning and tell me the whole sordid story.”

Chapter Ten

    “So you instructed Garnet to keep this between the three of you, and she couldn’t keep her mouth shut. Love will make you do stupid things,” Gage said.
    “If it really is about love, don’t you find it strange Ellis’s primary concern is over her inheritance?”
    “What are you getting at?”
    “Obviously I’m talking about the money.”
    “Hold on. You think Ellis is in this for the money and he really doesn’t love Garnet?”
    “From the way I see it, the pieces are fitting together. He’s been with her through the entire ordeal of her parents’ murder. He’s pushing to move into her home. The scumbag proposed to her in her office, for crying out loud.”
    Gage lifted River’s legs up from the sofa and scooted under them, lowering them across his lap. This seemed natural to him. Looking after River felt like a primal need. He felt at home with her, comfortable, as though she’d been a part of his life forever. Shit, is this what love feels like? He wondered, and shook his head in an effort to refocus his thoughts.
    “What do you think?” River asked.
    “About what?”
    “Were you even listening to me?”
    “Sorry…tell me what you said.”
    She puffed out a breath and gave him a stern look. He could see the wheels moving in her head, trying to decide whether to start an argument or repeat what she’d said.
    “I asked if you could borrow your friend’s plane again.”
    “And go where?” Now he really was confused.
    “Back to Cellar Glen. I’ll give Mrs. Darnell a call, tell her my plan and see if I can get her to agree on flying back here with you to speak with her grandkids.”
    “And just when do you plan on us doing this?” Gage asked.
    “The day after tomorrow.”
    “You can’t fly then.”
    “I don’t plan to. I’ll be putting together the rest of my op.”
    “First of all, the doctor said no driving for the next three days. It sounds to me like you intend on driving somewhere.”
    “I do. I’m going to nail the bastard who killed Wade and Trudy Baxter.”
    “Now I see where you’re going with this. You believe Ellis killed the Baxters and had you followed to Cellar Glen.”
    “Yes, I believe Ellis cleared the way to Garnet’s inheritance when he killed—or had someone kill—her parents. Now he finds out there’s a half-sister. Based on my character analysis of him, he will try to find her. Even better, if given the opportunity, he’ll stop the one person who might know the sister’s identity.”
    “But Ellis doesn’t know that you know who Tami is.”
    “No, he