First Do No Evil: Blood Secrets, Book 1 by Carey Baldwin

to learn to sleep through the noises of the night: The perverse chirp of the refrigerator, the eerie whistle of the furnace, the haunting call of branches rap-tapping against her bedroom window.
    “I can take care of myself,” she said.
    Skeptically, Garth closed one eye. “Oh yeah, when’s the last time you ate?”
    “I had potpie an hour ago.” Uncomfortable with even that innocent lie, her hands twisted, and to compensate, she capped the whole thing off with a truth. “At Danny’s house.”
    Garth’s eye popped open again, somehow causing him to appear even more skeptical than before. “Danny who?”
    “Detective Benson.”
    “Since when are you on a first name basis with Detective Benson, and what possessed you to go to his house?”
    “He wanted to ask me some questions about the robbery.”
    “So you went home with him. Were the two of you alone?”
    “Not initially. His brother and daughter were there in the beginning.”
    “And then you were alone.”
    “Yes.”
    Garth’s hands extended toward her shoulders, as if wanting to shake sense into an errant child. “If he planned to interrogate you, he should’ve taken you down to the station. And you should’ve called me. You don’t have to answer that man’s questions.”
    “You make him sound sinister. He wanted to interview me, not interrogate me.”
    “Same difference, and you certainly shouldn’t be alone with him in his home.”
    “For Pete’s sake, he’s a police detective.”
    “Don’t be naïve, Sky. He’s also a man.”
    “If I can’t trust the man who nearly lost his life in the process of saving mine—and yours—who can I trust?”
    “You can trust me.”
    “That was a rhetorical question.”
    Garth’s eyes narrowed, and his lips twitched, yet he refrained from reminding her that he, too, had once saved her life. Not that she needed reminding.
    There might be a few gaps in her memory, but one thing she could never forget was what she owed Garth. No sister ever had a finer, braver brother. “You know I trust you. In fact, that’s why I called you over here. Danny has a theory that Jack Spurlock’s motive might not have been robbery, that he might have been a contract killer. If that’s true, whoever hired him is still out there.”
    “Benson’s a fool.”
    “I doubt that.” Knowing how very much Garth hated to be doubted, she chose her next words more carefully. “But I don’t believe his theory either, not really. It’s just that some of what he said is bothering me. I asked you here tonight because I wanted to warn you…just in case. But also because you’re the smartest person I know, and I wanted to pick your brain.”
    “About Benson’s cock and bull theories? That’s all they are. If you need more evidence of his witlessness just think about the story he invented about having ten thousand dollars in his boots. You ask me, he put us all in grave danger with that one.”
    “We were already in grave danger. The robber had his gun stuck in Nevaeh’s face.” An involuntary shudder swept over Sky as she recalled Spurlock’s expression when he’d grabbed Nevaeh, as nonchalant as if he were holding a ragdoll hostage with a toy pistol. “Somebody had to do something. Danny took a calculated risk.”
    “Then he needs a remedial course in math.”
    A dull weight settled in her chest. There was no one she respected more than Garth, and being at odds with him was the last thing she wanted, but he was misjudging Danny. She was sure of it. And if he was wrong about Danny, he could be wrong about the robbery. Edmond was dead, and however disturbing the facts might be, she had to face them. “I don’t understand your condescending attitude toward Danny. You don’t know him. And regardless of what you think of him, I don’t see how you can dismiss his reasoning before you’ve even heard it.” She allowed herself a tiny quip. “So very unscientific of you.”
    Planting his feet wide, Garth crossed his arms