“Hi,” Hannah said, reaching in the back to retrieve the bakery boxes and handing one through the open window. “These are for you. Thanks for being here for us.”

“What’s in there?” the driver leaned over to ask her.

“Something called Butterscotch Brickle Bar Cookies. They’ve got chocolate and butterscotch.”

“Hey, thanks!” the officer in the passenger seat said. “You got a live one out there. Bleached blonde, red dress, black boots. Name’s Starlet.”

“Scarlet?” Hannah asked.

“No, Starlet. Like a movie star.”

“Oh. Okay. Starlet.”

“She’s real young. Maybe sixteen. We picked her up a couple of months ago, and her pimp bailed her out. That one was a piece of work!”

“Starlet is a piece of work?” Delores asked him.

“No, the pimp. At least he’s gone. And good riddance.”

Hannah wasn’t sure what to say, so she said nothing. The officer obviously didn’t know that she was the one who’d killed Starlet’s pimp.

“Did someone else take his place?” Delores asked.

“ ’Course they did. This new one’s a woman. We hear she’s one nasty . . .” he stopped, obviously considering the fact that he was talking to a genuine lady. “One nasty you-know-what,” he finished. “Name’s Lady Die.”

“Like Princess Di?” Delores asked.

“No. It’s Lady Die, like in make you dead. Which one of you is going to talk to Starlet?”

“Both of us are,” Delores answered before Hannah could even open her mouth. “Where’s Starlet now?”

“Around the corner and a block up. We’ll stay here with the windows rolled down. Did Mike give you that whistle to blow?”

“I’ve got it,” Hannah said, patting her pocket. “Will you take our purses with you?”

“Sure thing.” He grabbed the two purses Hannah handed him. “How about that sack in the back? Anything valuable in there?”

“Just a couple of sandwiches.”

“Want us to take them? Somebody could get ’em if you leave ’em back there. Most people around here can break into a locked car in thirty seconds flat and eat your lunch.”

“More power to them,” Delores said, sotto-voce. Hannah turned to grin at her and then she turned back to answer. “That’s okay. They probably need them more than we do and we’re going to stop for something to eat on the way home anyway.”

“Hi there.” Delores walked right up to the smiling girl in the red dress who had struck a sexy pose on the street corner. “I hope you’re doing what I think you’re doing.”

Hannah came close to groaning. Whatever was her mother doing?!

“What’cha think I’m doing, Church Lady?” Starlet asked, never losing her smile.

“I’m hoping you’re soliciting on this corner. And I’m not a church lady. I’m a romance writer.”

Starlet’s smile slipped slightly. “You’re a . . . what?”