"Yeah, but you ate a meal with Dalton yesterday and you've darted your gaze around the room for the last three minutes. You're itching to say something."

Her cheeks pinkened. "You should be a cop."

"Yuck." I stuck out my tongue. "Too much paperwork."

We waited for about twenty-eight seconds before she sighed and opened her mouth. "Okay, fine. Dalton is..."

"Prime rib," Anessa shouted from behind the counter.

I laughed. "She means hot."

"Yeah, he's that," Braisley said, turning pinker. "He's great, but I live in Indiana."

"Don't move for him," I spat out before thinking about it.

She paused mid-chew. "That was... aggressive."

"Sorry." I dropped my cupcake. "Dalton is a great guy, but you just met him."

She waved her hand. "I'm definitely not moving for a guy I met this week."

I laughed under my breath. "Trust me, I've heard stranger things in this town."

"I heard that," Anessa yelled. "But also, she has a point."

Braisley waved her hand between us. "Totally not moving. I just don't know what to do. It seems a waste to never see him again."

"So do the long-distance thing," I said and shrugged. "Broadrick and I did it while he was in the military. It makes the times you see each other special."

"It will be hard. I work a lot and my job is draining." She finished her cupcake and unwrapped the second one. Already, becoming a local. "I love my company, but being on the customer service end is rough."

I didn't tell her about Dalton possibly moving to Florida. It wasn't my secret to share, but I hoped he wasn't pressuring her to stay in a town he didn't plan to live in much longer. If they were meant to be then fate would find a way.

"People are the worst. That's why I try to help people uncover jerks." It made having to people almost tolerable.

Braisley nodded. "Yes. They're so demanding. The fact our customer service department is so busy is telling. This is not what I planned to do with my communications degree."

She worked at a small leather company where they hand-made the bags. Think of it. Surrounded by all those delicious bags.

"You get to smell those leather bags all day," I said, fantasizing about the wonderful smells of leather. There were perks to working for a company that produced leather purses.

"Yeah, there is that." She nodded. "I love our products."

I rubbed my fingers across the smooth top of the table Anessa had painted a deep blue color.

"And the worse thing is," Braisley continued with her rant, "they don't want to fix the issues. They'd rather just make excuses than actually change business practices. We spend a ton in return shipping costs."

"Do you get a friend discount?" I asked when she stopped.

Braisley laughed. "Yeah, hit me up when I get home."

"Even if the company sucks, it doesn't mean we can't enjoy some leather." I broke my cupcake in half.

"How are things going with your case?" Anessa asked as she cleaned the table behind us.

I shrugged, and my stomach tumbled. The case. Ugh. "Fine. I guess. I don't know who did it, and that's frustrating. Is it the wife, the business partner, or the stepson?"

Braisley brushed crumbs from her fingers. "Who's the fourth person on your list?"

I pinched my lips. "It's not them."

"Okay, but who is it?"

"Me," I said and shoved the last of my cupcake in my mouth.

She nodded with wide eyes. "Ohhh."

"But I was here all morning. Working on my case scrapbook. Right, Anessa?"

She squirted the counter with her spray bottle. "All morning. On camera and everything."

The bell above the bakery door gave a ding as it opened. A tall guy with a short buzz cut and a sleeve of tattoos walked in. He gave one look around at the women and straightened his back when he saw Braisley.

Men.

"Ladies, my date is here so I must bid you ado," I said, trying to give Elizabeth Bennet vibes.

Tony stopped in front of our table and crossed his arms, pulling on the fabric of his long sleeve black thermal. "Don't let me interrupt your party. I can grab a cupcake."

I stood. "No time."

Plus, Braisley had enough boy problems for one vacation.

"Wait," Braisley said, glancing at both of us. "You have a date for a funeral? Is he your boyfriend?"

I laughed. "No, Tony is always my funeral plus one."

Tony scowled. "I prefer accomplice. She drags me to these things all the time. Broadrick is too smart to get roped into them."

I patted his shoulder. "It's rough being one of my best friends."

"That's an understatement," Tony mumbled.

"He kids," I said as I scooped up my dishes and passed them to Anessa.

Tony shook his head at Braisley. "Not really."

"Come on, big guy." I pulled on his arm toward the door. "See you later, Braisley."

We walked out together with me pulling him most of the way.

"We didn't have to leave so quickly," Tony said once we were both in his truck. "You should have introduced me to your new friend."

I buckled my seat belt and then gave him my best incredulous expression. "Sorry, she's been introduced to Dalton."

Tony's smile fell. "Cold. I thought I was your BFF."

See! I knew he admitted it.

"Don't worry. It was a distraction, not a planned-out thing. In the future, I will save all hotties for you." I searched his truck for gum, but didn't open the glove box because that's where Tony hid his gun, and he got real weird if you touched it.

"Acceptable. And there's no gum, so stop going through my stuff."

Broadrick always kept gum for me. It was sometimes grape flavored, but still.

"We'll have to pick some up on the way home."

"Yeah, sure," Tony said, but it sounded placating and not like he planned to actually get me gum. "What do we expect from this funeral?"

"The usual."

He sped up past the pelican on the way out of town. "So, drama?"

"Yup." I paused, thinking of the best way to ask my question. "Who do you think killed Mick?"

Tony smiled immediately. "My money is on you."

"Ha-ha," I deadpanned. "Seriously? The business partner, the wife, or the stepson?"

He shrugged. "What's the alibi situation?"

"Well... I'm on camera all morning, so it's obviously not me," I said, making sure he understood how much it really wasn't me. "The wife is on camera at work, so she says. Eric, his stepson, says he was asleep and..."

I stopped to remember my last alibi. The one belonging to Frasier.

"I don't know where Frasier was that morning." Did I ever ask him? Had he told me? I wouldn't forget something as big as getting his alibi. Would I? That would be a rookie mistake.

Tony took his eyes off the road to glance at me with raised eyebrows. "I guess I'd figure that out first."

I nodded once in agreement. "Looks like we have a plan of attack for the funeral."

"What? Wait. No, that's not what I meant. This is your case."

"Yeah." I tapped his dashboard in front of me. "And you're my backup. That means you have to go along with my hairbrained ideas."

"Does this hairbrained idea at least have a plan?" he asked, increasing his speed.

I tapped my lips with my index finger. "Give me a few minutes."

Tony groaned.