Murder in Misery (Spook Squad) by Ashley K Broome

with paint and half finished images. The woman in question, Tiegs Holderman, was doing a shimmy of a dance in front of a canvas that nearly topped Keegan in height and definitely doubled her width if not tripled it. She pulled her badge out and held it in her hand as she moved beside her. It took a moment for Tiegs to realize that she was no longer alone. She pressed a hand to her chest before she ducked over to the stereo and turned the music down.
    “Who are you and what are you doing inside of my studio? ” Tiegs swiped her bangs from her forehead tucking it behind her ear and wiped her hands clean on an already destroyed tee-shirt.
    Keegan hel d out her identification for her to see before she answered. “I’m Detective Keegan Morne with Misery’s SIU. I needed to talk to you about Mason Mills?”
    “Oh god, please tell me he’ s all right?” Tiegs wide brown eyes started to turn a bright blue as the demon part of her rose to the surface.
    “Mason is perfectly fine. I actually just spoke with him at Tanked.” Keegan edged around to a table and planted a hip against what was hopefully a clean surface.
    “Oh thank goodness. When the cops come it isn’t usually with good news and my mind immediately jumped to the bad.” Tiegs set down her paint brush and folded her thin arms over her chest. “If he is okay then why are you here? If you don’t mind me asking?”
    “I just needed to verify a few facts that Mr. Mills gave me.” Keegan flipped open her pocket notepad, mostly as a prop for Tiegs’ benefit. She already knew what questions she wanted to ask but it was always good to be prepared rather than not.
    “Okay, shoot.”
    “He said he was in a romantic relationship with you?” Keegan clicked her pen ready.
    “Yes.” Tiegs nodded slowly. “We’ve been together ever since we were introduced a few years ago.”
    “Can you verify his whereabouts three nights ago?” Keegan asked and watched as Tiegs face turned to a startling red.
    “I, well, uh, he was with me, here at the studio.” Tiegs coughed into her hand.
    “All night?”
    Tiegs scratched at the back of her neck. “Yeah, we didn’t get much sleep that night if you know what I mean.”
    Keegan nodded not wanting to embarrass her any further . “He also alluded to you two being good friends with Cody and Alice Barr?” This was the question Keegan was most interested in. If Tiegs said otherwise, she would be kicking her self for not setting Leeroy on Mason to make sure he didn’t skip town.
    “They introduced us. ” Tiegs’ lips curled into a happy smile before she shook it off. “It’s horrible what happened to them. They were such a happy family, especially since they had Connor. It seems like the little guy just brightened their days.”
    “ They looked like a happy family.” Keegan commented softly remembering the bright smiles in the portraits that were hanging haphazardly on the wall as she made her way through the crime scene. Getting back to the matter at hand, Keegan switched gears. “Mason wasn’t known for being the nicest guy around. What, with his aversion to anyone who was of mixed heritage. It’s surprising to find the two of you are so happy with each other.”
    “People change d etective. I’m sure you have seen that at some point of time in your career in law enforcement. Cody, Alice and myself helped him see that there is so much more about a person then what they physically are. The soul, the life they live, that is what really matters. It may have taken Mason a little longer to get over the prejudices that he grew up with just like it would with anyone else. But Mason did change and he turned out to be a better man for it. He became a man someone like me could fall in love with and finally feel safe.”
    Keegan held her hands up to fend off the o nslaught of outrage Tiegs was emitting in effort to defend her mate. “I have to ask questions like this to rule Mason out. I do not like asking them but they are