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  She didn’t know how long she had been standing there, staring at what remained of her husband, when she felt a hand tugging gently at her arm.

  “Let’s go, Kate,” a soft female voice immediately beside her urged. “Everyone else has left and it’s beginning to rain.”

  Kate turned to look at the person that wanted her to leave. It was her best friend, Joanna. Joanna, tall and striking with shiny, dark brown hair cut in a neat bob and gorgeous pale skin. She was dressed in a black tailored pantsuit that toned down her curvaceous figure and wore makeup that was more subdued than normal. No red lips or bold eyeliner today.

  “I told your mom and the others that I would make sure you got going,” Joanna continued. “They wanted to wait, but I reminded Beatrice that she needed to be at the reception.”

  Beatrice was Kate’s mom.

  Kate managed a faint nod, and then she let herself be dragged away from the grave in the direction of the black town car waiting for them near an oak tree. She knew she didn’t have much time to waste. There was so much to do. She needed to attend the funeral reception at her mother’s house in Queens, even though the last thing she felt like doing was talking to people and receiving their condolences. But she had no choice; not showing up and going straight home to relieve the nanny from Luis and Anna was just not an option. Especially since so many people had traveled so far to be part of the funeral. For example, Diego’s parents and sister had come from Texas, and Diego’s maternal grandparents had traveled all the way from Mexico. It was because the grandparents had wanted to be part of the burial that they had waited two weeks to bury Diego. She had to grin and bear it for an hour or two, make sure she thanked everyone for coming. Considering that she needed to find a job as soon as possible, she might keep the nanny for the rest of the day anyway. She would not be able to search the Internet and send out resumes with the kids around, wanting her attention. Not that she had tried yet. It was only this morning that she told herself that she simply must snap out of the all-encompassing grief and accept what had happened, then do something about it. Do something as in finding a way to support herself and her family now that her husband was gone. They couldn’t continue to live on the money her mother and Diego’s parents had given them for much longer, and soon their meager savings would run out.

  Then there was the meeting with the detectives on Diego’s murder case. She couldn’t keep them waiting any longer. They needed to get to the bottom of what had happened to her husband. The two detectives who’d come to their house in the days following his attack had already done a preliminary interview with her, but because she had been so grief-stricken, they had agreed to go easy on her and do a more in-depth interview at a later date.

  She sighed with resignation; she might as well take care of that today as well. It was not yet noon, so hopefully the detectives would be available. She didn’t think talking about her husband and what had happened in more detail would be any less difficult if she waited another day.

  As she and Joanna entered the town car that would take them to her mother’s house, she found her cell in her purse. Having speed-dialed Cassie, the nanny, she placed the phone against her ear.

  The nanny picked up after several rings, right before the call could go into voicemail.

  “Hello.”

  Kate quickly cleared her throat. “Hi, Cassie, it’s Kate.”

  “Oh, hi, Kate. Is everything okay?”

  “Yes. How are Luis and Anna?”

  “Anna is napping and Luis is drawing a castle for me. They’ve been wonderful this morning, quiet and easy.” Kate could tell that Cassie was smiling.

  “That’s good. Hey, are you able to stay this afternoon, possibly the evening? I have a few things I need to take care of, and it will be easier if I don’t have to deal with the children then. I’ll pay you double your usual fee.”

  “Yes, sure, I can totally do that and you don’t have to pay me double. You’re already giving me more than any other parent I sit for.”

  This time it was Kate who was smiling. She had really lucked out when she’d found Cassie; not only did the kids love the college girl, but she was such a sweet, responsible, mature person. She had a feeling Cassie knew Kate was strapped for cash, even if Kate would never admit such a thing unless it was absolutely necessary. So far, it hadn’t been.

  “Thank you, Cassie, that’s so nice of you,” she said warmly. “I’ll be home in a couple of hours.”

  They said goodbye, and then Kate called the number on the card she had gotten from Detective Cooper. She had been prepared to leave a voicemail, but the detective picked up after the first ring had gone through.

  “Wilhelmina Cooper,” a female voice said in a confident tone.

  “Hello, it’s Kate Martinez. I’m ready to talk to you now. Later today sometime, if possible.”

  “Hello, Mrs. Martinez. That sounds good. Hold on a sec, will you?”

  “Sure.”

  Kate could hear how Detective Cooper said something to a person beside her. A few seconds later, she was back on the line.

  “My partner and I can be at your apartment at five p.m. today. How does that sound?”

  “That would work just fine.”

  “Great, see you then.”

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  * * *

  MORE JULIA DEREK BOOKS

  THE DIARY (Psychological Thriller)

  The Diary

  THE GIRL UNDERCOVER SERIAL (The Adler Conspiracy)

  Parts One, Two and Three

  Parts Four and Five

  Parts Six and Seven

  Parts Eight and Nine

  Parts Ten and Eleven

  Part Twelve

  The Meta-Human Series (Sci-Fi Thriller)

  Friending the Devil

  Joker's Wild

  Crossfire

  DUPLICITY (Prequel to the Girl Undercover Serial)

  Duplicity

  THE SMILEY KILLER (Companion book to the Girl Undercover Serial)

  The Smiley Killer

  The Celeste Jones Paranormal Mystery Series (Cozy mysteries)

  Haunted Hardbodies

  Spooky Hardbodies

  Ghostly Hardbodies