Murder in the Mix Boxed Set 28-30: Cozy Mystery Addison Moore (the reading strategies book .txt) 📖

the top of my belly, and sure enough, my little sugar cookie rewards him with a kick. “How do you like that?”

He pulls his hand away slowly, his eyes closing once again.

“That was beautiful.” He sniffs hard. “My girl”—his voice breaks—“she was gonna have a kid. My kid.” He shrugs. “Truth is, she wasn’t sure whose kid it was. There was another guy in the picture.”

I shove another chip into my mouth and make quick work of it.

“Funny story”—I say, scooping up another chip and trailing it through the thick and cheesy nacho sauce—“I happen to be in the same baby daddy dilemma. It’s not a fun one.” I wink over at Flo, and she’s glowering at me—most likely because she wishes she could dive into these nachos with me.

“No kidding?” Cocky Rocky rumbles out a laugh. “Sounds like you really have been working up an appetite.”

“You don’t know the half of it.” Come to find out, hiding a body can really do a number on your caloric intake—of course, I mean increasing it. There’s no point in thinking I might be reducing it anytime soon. “So how far along is she?”

A moaning sound comes from Flo as her hands fly up over her ears.

“She’s no longer with us,” Rocky says at the exact moment I put two men plus one woman together.

“Oh my word.” I shake my head her way. “No wonder you said you had a secret!”

He inches back. “I don’t remember saying that.” He holds up his beer. “I usually hold my liquor a lot better than I am tonight.”

I look his way. “So tell me, Rocky, how long were you and Flo going at it behind Nicky Knuckles’ back?”

A choking sound comes from Flo, and she steals a nacho as if it were a reflex—a delicious reflex.

“How did you know?” Cocky Rocky isn’t so cocky anymore. In fact, he looks downright maudlin over the fact his baby mama is no longer among the living.

“I’m a mother now,” I tell him. “We know everything.”

“So you do.” His eyes expand a moment. “Man, I miss her,” he says with so much zest and vigor he’s starting to pull at my heartstrings.

Flo bucks and yowls as if she were a cat.

“I miss you, too, Cocky Rocky,” she calls out.

A baby.

I can’t believe she didn’t tell me this. I shake my head at her. It’s not like the coroner wouldn’t be able to give us this information. That is, if they had a chance to, and then the world would probably assume the baby was Nicky’s.

I suck in a sharp breath because it’s suddenly clear Flo may not have been as concerned about having a bad do at a subpar wake when she had us kidnap her corpse. Maybe she was trying to hide the fact she was knocked up?

“I’ve got your number,” I squint over at her as I hiss the words out.

Rocky winks. “Sorry, Mama. My heart is still aching for Flo. You know that old saying, the heart wants what it can’t have? Well, I really can’t have her now.”

“I’m sorry. How long did you know her?”

He glances over at her lovingly, and for a moment, I’m convinced he can see her.

“Flo and I had known each other since we were kids.”

“So why would you kill her?” I’m not convinced he did it, but I need to break the trance and get him back to the murderous brass tacks at hand.

“What?” He turns my way with an incredulous look on his face. “I would never hurt a hair on that girl’s head.”

Flo sniffs. “He’s right. The only thing this side of beef has ever done was love me.”

“Then why in the world did the two of you break up?”

His shoulders bounce. “She had a little thing for Nicky Knuckles. And well, I may have had a relationship I wasn’t quite through with myself and Angel Face found out.” His nose twitches. “So while we went dark, she went to the dark side, if you know what I mean, and that’s where we left off.”

Carlotta smacks me on the arm. “Hear that, Lot? That’s just like you, Foxy, and Sexy. You better start wearing a bulletproof vest. You’re gonna end up dead. But don’t worry. If you decide to haunt Honey Hollow, you’ll still have me to talk to.”

“There’s something to look forward to,” I mutter. “Rocky, was Nicky a good guy to Flo?”

Flo sulks as if another truth she’s been holding out on me is yet to be exposed. Here’s hoping Cocky Rocky has loose lips.

“The guy was a donkey to her. I was in the middle of a separation. But Nicky? That dumbbell was all out cheating on her. He was messing with Flo and another chick at the very same time. I would never disrespect her that way.”

“He cheated on you!” I squawk as I look to poor Flo. “I mean her.” I shake my head as I look back at Rocky. “That’s horrible.”

He nods. “You’re telling me? I wanted to kill him. But he might have been the baby’s father. I couldn’t do it. He and Flo really came to blows those last few weeks. It hurt to see her so upset.”

Carlotta squints over at him. “Came to blows or came to bullets?”

“Nah.” He shakes his head. “Look, I don’t like Nicky. Never will, but he’s not trigger-happy. And he wouldn’t hurt Flo like that. Yeah, he’s a jackass, but to kill the mother of his child? Not only is that the worst kind of sin, but he knows the boys in Jersey would have all the fire power of both families in Vermont after them. He wouldn’t mess like that. And to be honest”—he ticks his head to the side—“the method, the time, the place, it screams amateur hour. No offense to Flo, but I think one of her divas had it out for her.”

Flo sucks in a breath as she looks at him. “Are you saying one of my witches did it?”

“I’m