Worked to Death (Working Stiff Mysteries Book 2) by Kerri Nelson

cut her a break."
    He seemed to be considering his options. And finally, he nodded.
    I breathed a sigh of relief. He was such a stickler, but maybe I was getting through to his softer side.
    "Ma'am, you're going to have to step down and leave peaceably, or I'll have to place you under arrest," he said, his voice back to all business mode.
    "Screw youuuuu," Matty breathed out in long syllables and then flipped him her middle finger.
    "All right, that's it." Mr. Nice Guy was gone in an instant. He stepped onto stage and started to pull her hands behind her back.
    "Get off me. I hate you. I hate all of you," Matty screamed and struggled against Officer Keith.
    "Hey, Matty. I'll take you home. We'll have some hot chocolate," I said, my voice calm but loud enough for her to hear through her tantrum.
    She turned to look at me and then hung her head and started to cry, more softly this time as if her energy had been drained out.
    "Devon, I've got this." I made eye contact with him. He still held her arms behind her back even as she sank toward the ground.
    We stood there, in front of the all-you-can-eat night crowd—in a sort of standoff between the law and the ladies.
    I implored him with my eyes. "Please, let me take her home. She's wrecked. She doesn't know what she's saying."
    He thought about it a moment more and then spun her around, lifting her up and carrying her out of the bar.
    I followed after him. Sundae was waiting by the door, and all three of us made our way out to Stella.
    "You make sure she gets home and stays home until she sobers up." It wasn't a request but an order. Officer Keith was back to his strict self.
    "I promise. You have my word."
    He gave one more nod and then headed back into the bar without another word.
    Somehow I knew this was a big deal for him. He seemed like the type that never backed down when it came to the law. So, I considered this a huge victory on my part.
    "Let's take her home," I said as I slid behind the steering wheel, and Sundae threw our bags inside before joining me in the front seat.
    A loud snore sounded from the backseat as I slipped the key into the ignition.
    "Boy, she's messed up. Do you think she could have actually killed Mick?" Sundae asked as she buckled her seat belt.
    I put the car in drive and slowly pulled out of the gravel lot. "I just don't know. There are so many things that could have happened. I just don't know enough to even guess. But, I will tell you one thing—"
    "What's that?" she asked as she pulled her sweater tighter around her small frame.
    "I didn't get to finish one single steak, and I'm absolutely starving."
     
    *  *  *
     
    An hour later, Sundae and I were sitting on the living room sofa in Matty's house, snacking on burgers, fries, and slurping our milkshakes down with vigor.
    "Well, it's no Cabana Boy, but it does fill the belly," Sundae said between bites.
    "I'm sorry we had to leave. I know you were looking forward to chatting up Hank," I said, pressing my friend for details about the now mysterious owner of the bar.
    "Yeah, he comes by the salon sometimes to get his hair trimmed. We chat," Sundae said.
    "Really? What do you chat about?" I was curious about the man now that he was involved in something that somehow struck me as shady. Perhaps I was reading too much into the overheard conversation he'd had with the creepy Mr. Blue a/k/a Barefoot Redneck. But I just couldn't get it off my mind. I had this niggling feeling that it had something to do with Mick, but I couldn't quite put my finger on why.
    "Oh, he grew up in Ireland, but he's been here for twenty years or so. You know, he's forty-five." When she said his age, her voice dropped to a melodramatic whisper.
    I tilted my head back and forth. "That's not so old."
    "Well, my momma wouldn't be impressed with it if I started dating him. She thinks I should go after that cute Officer Prentiss. He and I went to high school together, and he chased me a lot back then."
    "Yeah, he's cute. I