A Good Day for Chardonnay (Sunshine Vicram #2) by Darynda Jones

She sat at her desk and asked as nonchalantly as possible, “So, do you know who did? Do you know who killed your uncle Kubrick?”

“Yes,” he said, matter-of-fact.

She heard Quincy come into the station. They really needed to hit the road, but the temptation to learn more about Kubrick’s death was simply too irresistible.

“Could you tell me, then? Could you tell me who killed your uncle?” Her heart raced. Despite her desire to uncover the truth about that night no matter the cost, she wasn’t sure she was ready for the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

“Yes.” He leaned closer for a better look at a figurine on her desk. If this were any other person, she’d think he was playing her when he didn’t elaborate, but this was Jimmy Ravinder. He was innocent and genuine and incapable of playing anyone.

“Okay,” she said, trying not to laugh. “Would you tell me?”

“Yes.” Just when she thought he was going to stop there again, he added, “Me.”

She gazed at him a moment, then leaned back. “You killed your uncle Brick?”

He petted the mountain lion figurine with an index finger. “Yes.”

“Sweetheart, you were two.”

“I know. It was an accident, but my mom freaked out!” He shouted the last words, his seriousness adorable, but he never took his gaze off the lion. “She told me not to tell anyone. Ever.”

Maybe not too innocent to make up stories? The fact that he couldn’t possibly have done it made his confession all the more adorable. But she wanted to know why. Why were so many people confessing? “Jimmy, did someone put you up to this?”

“Can I use your restroom?” he asked, shifting in his seat.

“Of course.” She stood and pointed the way, then looked past him to Rojas and Quincy talking in the bullpen.

Rojas leaned against Quincy’s desk. “I just lost, Chief.”

“Your virginity?”

“You lost, too. I think that kid just confessed.”

“No way.”

Quincy deflated before her very eyes. He’d been in first place to win the pool, but with another confession added to the growing list, his potential winnings of forty-nine dollars and a pan of Salazar’s homemade enchiladas dwindled by the second.

“I really wanted those enchiladas.”

“My tia is making some for dinner after church tomorrow. You should come by.”

“You’re killing me, Rojas. I have to go to Arizona. Think the boss would buy it if I called in with Ebola?”

“Since she’s looking right at you, I’d say no.”

They both straightened as Jimmy walked past her and took his seat again.

She sat across from him and grinned. “Okay, let’s say you did kill your uncle.”

“Accidentally, because I was two.”

“Accidentally, because you were two, and your mom told you never to tell anyone, why are you telling me now?” If someone was putting the people in Levi’s circle up to confessing, it wouldn’t have been Levi himself. His pride would never allow it, especially since he’d been insisting he had killed Kubrick for months. But why else would people just randomly keep confessing if it weren’t a concentrated effort?

“Because I thought you arrested Uncle Levi for killing my great-uncle Brick, so I had to, but since you aren’t, I’d like to take it back now.”

“Your confession?”

“Yes.”

“Yes!” Quincy raised his fists into the air. “He’s retracting his confession. I’m still on top.”

Rojas shook his head. “I don’t think it works like that, Chief. He already confessed. It still counts as a bona fide confession.”

“Those aren’t the rules.”

“I think they are.”

Sun shot both deputies a thinly veiled glare to silence them just as Jimmy stood to leave. “Thank you for coming in, Jimmy.”

He dropped his gaze. “Okay, thank you. I should go.”

“Okay.” She led him to the door. “I appreciate your trying to help your uncle Levi.”

“I know.”

She wanted more than anything to give him a hug, but according to her daughter, only Auri, Levi, and Jimmy’s mother were allowed to hug him. And very briefly at that.

“I’m going to have Deputy Rojas take you home, okay?” Poor kid probably walked into town and they lived miles outside of it.

“I guess, but I don’t know him.”

“Can I vouch for him?”

“Yes.”

Rojas walked up and held out his hand. “Hey, kid. I’m Deputy Rojas. Is it okay if I take you home?”

That didn’t sound creepy at all.

“I guess, but I have to call my mom and tell her so if you kill me and leave me in a ditch she will know who did it.”

He chuckled. “Deal.” The deputy led him out the door to his cruiser.

Sun went to grab the phone off her desk.

“What the hell, boss?”

She turned back to Quincy, who’d poked his head into the room only to stop and stare at the empty cage on the floor.

The epitome of dejection, he looked up at her. “You let him go?”

She grabbed her phone and walked over to stare at the cage alongside him. “He escaped.”