"Vonnie!" my sister's panicked voice rang out through the growing crowd's murmurs.

My feet slammed against the dirt, grass, and then the parking lot as I followed her voice to make my way to her. "Vivi!"

A heavy presence followed behind me right on my tail. Broadrick kept pace as we cut through the crowd and I frantically searched the lot for my sister.

She slammed into me from the corner, and I wrapped my arms around her middle to keep her from falling over. "What's wrong, Vivi?"

Her fingers dug into my back, and she shoved her head against my neck, forcing me to breathe in her hair and the scent of her coconut shampoo.

"They're taking Allen to the station." She trembled as she spoke into my shoulder, making the words hard to hear.

My shoulders relaxed. That was what had her screaming my name? I thought she'd lost an arm or something. My word. Overreact much? Not that I could say that to her face. Vivienne Vines was what we called... emotional. I blamed it on the fact my parents named her Vivienne. It wasn't nearly as tough a name as Vonnie.

I ran my fingers through her hair, trying to calm her. It always worked when we were kids. "Okay. We can handle this."

Broadrick stood at my side, glancing between the two of us and looking like I had asked him to face off against a tiger. His pupils were round and dark even on the overcast yet sunny day. He reached out and, with an open palm, awkwardly patted Vivi on her back so hard it rammed her into my shoulder again. He lightened up and the next few pats didn't send her flying.

I bit my lip, watching the gesture. My man was so cute. Terrified, but cute. My heart grew a little warmer for him as he did his best to comfort my sister, even though she obviously petrified him with her tears.

Tears that dampened my jacket. Thank goodness I'd found it in the closet that morning or I'd have to change and dry out.

Broadrick gave Vivi a few more pats as she cried into my shoulder, and then, with a helpless glance at me, he withdrew his hand and hung it at his side. His gaze darted around the parking lot, looking for a threat to squish-anything to let him escape.

I bit my lips harder so I didn't laugh. That's why I had the bakery girls and cupcakes to handle my emotional needs and Broadrick to crush anything big and scary.

Vivi loosened her hold just enough to clutch her fingers into my upper arms like she had to hold on to her life. I'd definitely have bruises later. "Anderson said Allen is wanted for questioning."

I ran my fingers through her hair again, except when I hit the halfway point, my finger became stuck. Her hair had twisted itself up in my hand. Oh shit. My eyes widened as I tried to find where my ring became tangled in her strands, but I couldn't see anything past her massive head. I'd told her a hundred times that her huge brainiac head would get her into trouble. Now look at the mess she'd gotten us into.

I panicked, trying to dislodge my finger by moving it around in her hair. Vivi took it as more comfort and settled against my shoulder again.

"That's pretty standard," I said as I continued to wiggle my hand around and parted her hair with my other hand in an awkward hug only a sister might get away with.

Vivi pulled back, caused by either my overly aggressive hugging technique or my words. I stepped forward and kept my arm stretched out to follow her movements, so she didn't figure out the mess going on in her hair. She had enough on her plate.

"It's normal?" she asked around a new shed of tears.

I glanced at Broadrick, trying to get his attention and motion to the monstrosity happening with my sister's hair attacking my hand, but he had his attention on the cops at the dugouts. When we made eye contact, he gave me a smile but didn't react to my horrified expression. Such a clueless male.

"Yeah, totally normal." I moved to the left, trying to get a better angle on the mess.

Vivi would freak if she figured out I'd turned her head into a rat's nest, and we did not need to add another Vines freak-out to the situation. Things were bad enough. I twisted my hand, and it moved an inch before getting stuck again.

Okay, but progress.

Think positive, Vonnie.

"The cops always talk to persons of interest in a case, and he found the dead body," I said, more focused on her hair than my words.

Vivi jerked and my hand snagged against new strands of hair but thankfully broke free from the original tangle. Although she must have felt it when she moved. "Don't say that."

"What?" I wiggled my entire arm, trying to get the last bit free. "Dead or body?"

I needed specifics.

"Both."

My hand slipped from her hair and I blew out an enormous sigh of relief. I wrenched my hand to my side and shook it out. There, I fixed everything, and no one needed to be any the wiser about what occurred. Even Broadrick never figured it out. As long as my sister didn't pat the back of her head and feel the vast tangle poking out from behind her neck, we'd all be fine.

"They put him in a cop car, Vonnie." Vivi wiped at her eyes, and when she stepped away, I let her go, since my ring was no longer attached to her hair. I wanted to get far away from the crime scene happening on her head.

She turned around, and I grimaced at the rat's nest peeking out and looking at me. Pretending to console her, I flipped more hairs into a place to hide it. Hopefully. "Did they use handcuffs?"

She sniffled and pouted as she tilted her head up to meet my gaze. "No."

"Okay, then he's not under arrest. No big deal." I patted the last piece of hair into place and then removed my hand to distance myself from the association of the attack. "When did they take him?"

If Anderson really believed he was the killer, he'd keep him in the interrogation room to sweat it out for a bit before he sent someone in to speak with him. It was the oldest trick in the book.

Vivi pointed toward the cluster of cop cars. They'd parked in the middle of the lot like they got to make up their spaces. It looked like a pack of kittens parked their vehicles. We headed in that direction with me leading the way and Broadrick keeping our backs safe.

They had Allen in the back of a Pelican Bay squad car-we had three now-alone with no one watching the vehicle. He definitely wasn't prime suspect material. Yet.

Allen had his forehead resting against the headrest of the passenger seat, and he turned toward us as we approached. He and Vivi locked gazes, and he laid his open palm with his fingers stretched out on the glass window. Vivi ran to him and matched her hand against his like they were two lovers forever separated by a single pane of glass.

I did my best not to gag, but a little sound came out. Broadrick laughed and bumped my shoulder with his.

"Ah, young love," he whispered as we walked to the car.

I crinkled my nose. No wonder Romeo and Juliet both ended up dead.

"I think you mean dramatic."

I hip checked Vivi out of the way when we made it to the car and opened the back door.

Vivi gasp and Allen tried to close it from the inside. But I blocked it with my leg. "Chill, dude. You aren't under arrest."

"Vonnie, you can't do that," Vivi said, staring at me with eyes about to pop out of their sockets.

I rolled mine. How were we sisters? "They're only locked from the inside. It's fine."

It's like they thought a silent alarm went off somewhere and I'd be jumped by a hundred cops any second. The entire county didn't even have a hundred cops.

"Hey, Allen," I said when they finally lowered the gawking level a tinge.

Red rimmed his eyes, but he did his best to look macho. Probably for my sister's sake. "Hey."

"Piece of advice." I waited for him to acknowledge my words with a jerk of his head. "Get a lawyer before you answer questions. Don't accept their offer of a soda."