Fudge Cupcake Murder (Hannah Swensen, #5)(38)

Hannah kept her eyes on the road, but she listened as Andrea placed the call and got Ivan's wife on the line. Once Andrea had explained that Sheriff Grant was dead, the rest of the conversation was one-sided and there was little Hannah could learn from phrases like "Oh, that's too bad," and "I'm so sorry."

"Well, that was a waste," Andrea said, disconnecting the call and tossing her phone back in her purse. "Ivan Hill had a heart attack the night before Sheriff Grant was murdered."

"He's dead?"

"No, he's going to make it. But his wife said they had to do a triple bypass and he's still hooked up to all kinds of monitors. He's in the clear, Hannah. There's no way he flew to Minnesota less than a day after open-heart surgery and bashed in Sheriff Grant's head."

"I guess not," Hannah said, turning in at their favorite pizza place. Bertram and Ellie Kuehn owned the pizzeria and between the two of them, they couldn't come up with a single drop of Italian blood. But when they ran their first names together, it sounded Italian and that's why they'd named their place Bertanelli's.

"I can hardly wait," Andrea said, unbuckling her seat belt and getting out of the truck. "I'll make more calls while we're waiting for our order. I want an Ellie's special with everything on it. How about you?"

"That's fine with me. How about the anchovies?" Hannah raced a little to keep up. Even though Andrea complained she was having trouble with her balance, she could certainly move fast when there was food involved.

"Hold on. Let me check." Andrea stopped in mid-waddle and looked down at her ankles. Even in the dim glow of the neon sign that beckoned them to the best pizza in Winnetka County, Hannah could see that they were swollen.

"You'd better not," Hannah advised. "Your ankles look like sausages."

"I know. I probably shouldn't eat pizza either, but I really want it."

"Let's compromise," Hannah suggested. "We'll get a medium pizza instead of a large and then you won't eat as much."

Andrea gave her a saucy grin as she pushed open the door and the aroma of freshly baked pizza embraced them. "Wanna bet?"

Five minutes later, they'd placed their order and were waiting at a table in the back with large diet cokes and a tray containing glass shakers of Parmesan cheese and crushed red peppers, and a basket of moist towelettes in individual foil packages.

"I love this place," Andrea said, looking around her with pure adoration. "Their pizza's the best and they always…”

"What is it?" Hannah asked, when Andrea stopped speaking abruptly.

Andrea took a deep breath and when she replied, her voice was shaking. "It's him!"

"Who's him?" Hannah asked, wondering if there was a more grammatically correct way to ask the question.

"Mike." Andrea said his name with pure distaste. "He's sitting in a booth in near the front with someone I don't know. She's wearing a sheriff's department jacket, so maybe Mike hired her to…" Andrea stopped and swallowed hard, "…replace Bill."

Hannah sat up straighter for a better view and her stomach slammed all the way down to her toes as she caught sight of Mike. He was so handsome and she was so ready for this whole fight to be over. Here he was, a mere twenty feet away, and she couldn't even smile at him the way the new deputy was doing, or reach out and take his hand the way the new deputy was doing, or… Hannah gasped as the new deputy turned to look toward their booth.

"What's the matter?" This time it was Andrea's turn to ask. "Your face just turned a really funny color."

"That would be green."

"What?"

"Never mind. The woman with Mike isn't a new deputy."

"Well, that's a relief! Who is she then?"

Hannah decided to answer, even though it wasn't a relief at all. "Her name is Shawna Lee Quinn."

"What a name! She sounds like an actress, or a singer."

Or an exotic dancer, Hannah thought, but she didn't say it. "She's the newest civilian employee at the station. Sheriff Grant hired her when one of the secretaries retired."

"How do you know that?"

"The last time I was out at the station, when I was still speaking to him, Mike introduced me to her."

"Oh. Well, what is she doing with Mike?"

Hannah sighed. "Probably everything."

"What?"

"Never mind. Maybe Mike promised her dinner if she stayed late. He's the acting sheriff and he could do that."

"She's certainly attractive," Andrea commented, watching as Shawna Lee slipped out of the jacket, "and she knows how to dress. That's a really expensive sweater."

Yeah, too bad they didn't have it in her size! Hannah bit back the old taunt from high school.

"Oh, good. Here comes our pizza." Andrea was all smiles as the waitress approached their table. "Half for you and half for me?"

"Right," Hannah said, even though any appetite she'd managed to drum up had disappeared right along with the jacket that Shawna Lee had removed to show off her incredible figure. Hannah remembered thinking that the secretary was pretty when Mike had introduced them, but she hadn't been jealous. Of course that had been a work situation and she hadn't seen Shawna Lee in action. Tonight was different. Tonight she acted as if she were out on a date with Mike, looking up at him under her lashes and reaching out to touch his arm. Maybe she was on a date with Mike. It certainly wasn't impossible. After all, Hannah had made it clear that she didn't want anything to do with him.