Chicken Caccia-Killer (A Jordan McAllister Mystery) by Liz Lipperman Page B

face lit up with renewed hope. “Maybe they won’t find Marcus’s DNA under your—”
    “Yes, Mother, they will,” Kate interrupted. “And when that happens, the police will pull off their kid gloves and come after me. But for now I don’t want to think about it. I’m exhausted, and I’m starving.” She sat down opposite Natalie at the table and unwrapped one of the sandwiches. “What do you have to drink, Alex?” she asked cutting off any further questions from her mother.
    After they’d devoured the sandwiches, Jordan cleared the table, gently rebuffing Kate’s attempt to help. “You’ve had a horrific night. Why don’t you lie down and try to catch a nap?”
    “That’s a great idea,” Natalie echoed, taking Kate’s arm and guiding her out of the kitchen.
    To everyone’s surprise, Kate allowed her mother to lead her to the bedroom. As soon as Natalie closed the door behind Kate, she turned to Alex. “You should get some rest, too, son. I’m counting on you to get Kate through this, and I need you at the top of your game.”
    “You’re probably right, but it’s not my A game we need, it’s Hamilton’s.” He chuckled. “A few times during the questions this morning I thought Captain Darnell might actually throttle him. As a cop I can tell you that lawyers are not our favorite people, especially ones who know their stuff. But as the brother of someone being interrogated, I felt damn lucky to have him in the room and on our side.”
    “Emilio wouldn’t send a lackey,” Natalie said, shooting a quick glance Jordan’s way as a reminder that their conversation the night before was not to be shared.
    Alex yawned before turning to Jordan. “What are your plans for today?”
    Jordan knew better than to tell him she intended to snoop around over at the Plainville fairgrounds. He’d be all over that like a colony of ants on a discarded doughnut, insisting she keep her nose out of it. “I thought I’d run over and interview some of the vendors at the festival for my column,” she said instead.
    Okay, that part wasn’t a lie.
    “Good idea,” Natalie chimed in, rescuing her from Alex’s searing gaze—one she knew meant he was trying to decide if she was telling the truth.
    She cursed the fact that he could read her so well.
    “Would you mind if I tagged along? That way the house will be quiet for these two, and they can get a good rest,” Natalie said.
    Crap . It would be hard to do a little investigating with Alex’s mother tagging along, but how could she say no without fessing up about her intentions? Besides, Alex was now grinning at his mother, probably thinking there was no way she could get in trouble with his mother around.
    “I’d like that,” Jordan said. “I don’t plan on staying long, and I can have you back in a few hours, unless you want to run by the mall after that.”
    Natalie shook her head. “We’ll see how I feel after traipsing around in the Texas sun all day, but there’s really nothing I need at the mall. I’ll probably be ready for a nap myself after we leave the fairgrounds.”
    “My mother is saying no to shopping?” Alex whistled, bending down to kiss Natalie on the forehead. “Somebody needs to check her temperature,” he teased before kissing Jordan’s cheek. “It’s settled then. I’m heading to bed, and I’ll see two of my favorite girls tonight.” He winked at them both before making his way to the bedroom.
    “Come on,” Natalie said, pulling Jordan toward the door. “I can’t stand sitting around watching my daughter go through this without doing something—anything. Talking to the vendors with you might be the perfect opportunity to find out what goes on behind the scenes. Trust me when I tell you that the worker bees know all the really good gossip. Maybe somebody out there has some dirt on Marco that will help my daughter, and you’re just the pretty face that it will take to dig it out.” She gave Jordan the once-over before