Page 66 of Beach Reads and Deadly Deeds

“Hypothetically,” I said, “if a cop was skimming money from drug busts, but it was never found and he doesn’t have a drug problem, how could he hide it? I came up with a few scenarios—keeping the cash in a safe deposit box in the name of a friend or family member, investing through a shell corporation, keeping a mistress that no one knows about—”

“Is this about a book you’re reading?”

I hesitated. “Um, yeah,” I lied.

I don’t lie well. I don’t know if Braden picked up on my tone, but I was glad he couldn’t see my face.

“All those are possible,” he said. “But I guess if a cop is stealing from bad guys, he has a vice. If it’s not drugs—are you sure?”

“Pretty sure.”

“Then he needs the money for something else that isn’t easily traceable.”

“Something illegal,” I said.

“That would be my guess. He’s already committed a crime, right? So what’s another crime?”

“Like prostitutes,” I thought, and didn’t realize I’d said it out loud.

“Why are you reading anything?” Amanda said in the background, closer this time. “Do I need to get Jane on the phone?”

“No,” I said, realizing that Braden had put me on speaker.

“I’m serious, Mia. I told you, no books. You’re supposed to have fun. Meet people. What happened to that Mayan god hunk you were talking about?”

“I don’t want to hear this,” Braden said.

“Are you having fun, or are you hiding in your room, reading?” Amanda demanded.

“I’m having fun,” I said. “I went to a beach party tonight and talked to a lot of people.”

“And the demigod?” she asked.

“You know I’ll tell you everything when I get back,” I said. “In fact, I’m heading to a late-night swim date in a few minutes.”

“Ohmigod!” she squealed. “I have to call Jane.”

We said our goodbyes, and I sighed. My friends could be exhausting. I hoped I had something to tell them about Jason when I got home.

Hey, girls! I had sex with a gorgeous bartender and solved a murder!

I thought about all the illegal ways that Gino Garmon could have spent the money he’d stolen.

Allegedlystolen.

I wish I knew how much money we were talking about, but Brie said there were no dollar amounts in the news articles. If you took the money before it was put into evidence, it would only be a guess.Myguess was that he would pocket whatever was easy. A few hundred dollars at every scene... maybe a few thousand.

Drugs, prostitution, gambling...

Gambling.

I grabbed Diana’s book and skimmed the opening chapters until I found what I remembered reading yesterday.

Totally broke, he’ll help.

The number 77 was underlined. What did that mean? Maybe a dollar amount?

Was Diana referring to Gino Garmon? If he really took the money from the drug busts, why was he broke? What had he spent it on? Could he have lost it all gambling? That made a lot more sense than spending it on prostitutes and drugs.