I was going to post the second part of LOVE GONE AWRY this morning, but workmen came to change out electrical wires on our side of the street, and we didn't have any electricity for three and a half hours. It was 27 degrees outside. I finally put two huge soup pans on the stove filled with hot water, hand lit our gas burners, and boiled the water to get a little warmth in the house. HH and I wrapped in blankets, and things were tolerable. Anyway, this is later than I expected, but here's part 2 of Noira and Speed's story:
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The alarm went off, and Noira pressed her hand to her head. Pain. This was going to be Hangover Wednesday. Speed had the day off. She should have gone to bed at a decent time last night, but they just kept watching one Avenger after another. And now, she was tired, grumpy, and had to go to work.
When she was young, she'd always wanted super powers. But after watching the movies, she'd decided everything was still a struggle because your enemies had super powers, too. No matter what, Life just wasn't supposed to be easy, she guessed.
Groaning, she got out of bed, downed a few aspirin, and stumbled to the kitchen for coffee. If anyone walked in her office this morning, God help them. She was going to look like a wreck that barely survived.
The first person who burst through the door was Detective Hunter. He looked at her and laughed. "Speed must have had the night off last night."
She glared. "What do you want?"
"Elizabeth's old fiancee, Merit Lamrose, was shot early Saturday morning close to her home."
She held up a hand. "Speed already told me that."
He rolled his eyes. "Did he tell you Merit was shot with her gun?"
"No, but that figures, doesn't it? I mean, either she faked that the gun was stolen or someone did steal it to make it look like she shot him."
"What's your gut telling you?" Hunter asked.
"I think someone's setting her up."
"And you base that on…?"
"She's too put together to want to wear an orange jumpsuit."
Another bark of laughter. "Okay, I'll keep that in mind. I talked to the new girlfriend. A party girl. Not gorgeous but sexy. Works at a bar on Brooklyn Avenue. You should drink something with electrolytes. It might help." And he left the office.
She winced when the door slammed shut. Then she got down to work. She'd learned to persevere, no matter what happened the night before. But she was grateful to go home when five o'clock finally came. Everything on her desk had been dealt with. She was going to eat supper and go to bed early tonight.
The truth was, neither she nor Speed were interested in cooking all that often. Tonight, they ordered in pizza. Pizzas might not be super healthy, but they weren't super unhealthy either. And they tasted good.
While they ate, she told Speed what Hunter had found out.
"There's only one bar I know of on Brooklyn," Speed said. "Want to check it out?"
"Only if I get rid of this headache."
He went to the fridge and got her a bottle of Gatorade and laid two aspirin beside it. Why not? She drank them down and felt a little better. An hour later, they drove to the bar.
Merit must have had a thing for blondes. The bartender had teased platinum hair, black eyeliner, and lots of curves. Her name tag read Jessica. Speed and Noira took two stools, and he ordered a beer and she ordered pinot grigio.
When Jessica had a break between customers, Speed said, "I was hoping to bump into Merit Lamrose in here. I heard he stopped in to see you from time to time."
She stopped polishing a glass to stare at him. "Haven't you heard? He's dead. Someone shot him last weekend."
"Shot him?" Speed looked surprised. "Why would anyone do that?"
"That uppity girlfriend of his, the designer, has been trying to win him back ever since she found out we were engaged." She held up her hand to show a chunk of diamond on her finger. "But that girl wouldn't know how to have fun if it bit her on the fanny."
Speed took a sip of his beer. "When were you going to get married?"
"At the end of next month. Nothing fancy. Just one heck of a party. I already have my sequined dress in the closet. Neon blue to show off my eyes."
"That's rough. I'm sorry for your loss." Speed finished his beer.
Jessica's expression turned hard. "So am I." A customer motioned for her at a nearby table. She nodded and headed to him.
Speed tossed a twenty dollar bill on the bar, and he and Noira left.
"Your thoughts?" he asked on the drive home.
"We just narrowed it down to two suspects. One of those women is lying."
His lips quirked into a smile. "But which one is it?"
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