My Private Detective

My Private Detective
Rebecca Winters

Dana's in prison for a murder she didn't commit - and Heidi's determined to find out who did, determined to see Dana set free. But she has no idea how to go about it. Then, like the answer to a prayer, she meets Gideon Poletti, a San Diego homicide detective, who shows up at the school where Heidi teaches. He's there to give an adult education class in criminology. And he's doing it in her classroom.Not only is Gideon a celebrated detective, he's the most attractive man she's ever met. But she tells herself she doesn't have time for romance - her friend's very life is at stake! She joins Gideon's class to learn two things. Can he help her? And will he? To her relief and gratitude, he says yes to both.Their quest for justice uncovers a shocking truth, one Heidi could never have predicted. Nor could she have predicted that her "private" detective would fall as hard for her as she has for him!

“She didn’t kill Amy!” Heidi blurted

Tears sprang to her eyes. “Dana’s family lives next door to mine. We grew up like sisters. I know her as well as I know myself. She’s dying in that prison, Gideon.” Her voice trembled. “I’ve got to get her out of there or my life’s not going to be worth living, either.”

“Lord,” she heard him whisper.

“When I found out that a famous detective from San Diego’s homicide division was teaching a criminology course in my classroom, I considered it a godsend. That’s wh—”

“You don’t need to explain,” he interjected.

“You’ll never know how grateful I am that you let me join the class. I’ve already learned so much. I know vital evidence was overlooked in her case.” Heidi gazed up at Gideon. “The other night I phoned John Cobb, Dana’s attorney.”

“He’s one of the best around.”

She took a deep breath. “I hope you’re right, Gideon. He believes in Dana’s innocence, but he said that unless we come up with compelling new evidence, he wouldn’t be able to get the case reopened.”

“That’s because he knows how difficult it is.”

“But surely it’s not impossible….”

He reached out to squeeze her hand. “No. Nothing’s impossible if you want it badly enough.”

Dear Reader,

Recently I saw a documentary about a retired newspaper reporter who happened to be at a local library doing some genealogy and came across a twenty-year-old article about a murder that had been committed in the town where she lived. Being curious by nature, she made enquiries and found out the case was still open.

Intrigued, she started to dig around, talk to the police, interview people who knew the victim. Within a few months she’d solved the crime. There was a trial and the culprit was imprisoned.

When she was asked how she was able to do what no detective had managed to accomplish, she chuckled before answering. “I don’t know why. Perhaps it was a fresh eye, a new look at an old problem—the answer just seemed obvious to me.”

By the time the documentary was over, I had plotted My Private Detective, a romance novel in which a good cop, Gideon Poletti, brings a fresh eye to a closed murder case—only to fall madly in love with the convicted woman’s friend…who might know more than she’s telling.

Happy reading!

Rebecca Winters

P.S. If you have access to the Internet, I hope you’ll visit my Web site at http://www.rebeccawinters-author.com

My Private Detective

Rebecca Winters

My Private Detective

CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER ONE

“MR. COBB REALLY TOLD YOU there’s nothing more he can do?”

“Yes.”

Heidi Ellis felt her heart plunge as she stared at her best friend through the Plexiglas partition at Fielding Women’s Prison outside San Bernardino, California.

Dana Turner had always been a tall, dark-haired, vibrant beauty. But seven and a half months of confinement had already taken their toll.

Haunted by the pale, fragile-looking creature, who’d grown even thinner since her last visit, Heidi feared her friend wouldn’t last the year in this place, let alone thirty more. She was in prison for the murder of her sister—a murder she didn’t commit.

Heidi gripped the phone receiver more tightly. “I don’t believe that.”

“You have to,” Dana said in a dull voice. “He’s supposed to be one of the best criminal attorneys in Southern California. I’m resigned to the fact that this is my life from now on.”

“I’ll never be resigned to it!”

“You don’t have a choice. I told Mom and Dad the same thing. They’re so devastated that every time they see me, they age another year.”