Booked For Murder

by Laina Turner

  I looked at the mail and started to set the obvious bills aside. Stuck in between the water bill and the gas bill was a letter from my mom. She was somewhere over in Europe. She’d gone on a month-long tour overseas with a group of her friends, and from her earlier postcards, she was having the time of her life. I was insanely jealous, but if anyone deserved it, she did.

  Sure enough, it was postmarked from Paris. Hmmm, I wondered why a letter instead of a postcard. I opened the envelope and unfolded the letter, and a piece of paper fluttered to the floor. I picked it up—it was a check. For fifty thousand dollars. I turned the check over in my hand and wondered what the hell was going on. I started to read the letter:

  Dear Trixie,

  I am sure you saw the check when you opened this letter and are wondering if I have completely lost my mind, or maybe I robbed a bank. While sometimes I think I have lost my mind, that fact has nothing to do with this money. I have enclosed a check for fifty thousand dollars that is yours, free and clear, to spend as you wish. You see, this money was in a mutual fund your father started to save for your college. I had no idea it existed, and it appears your father forgot about it when the time actually came for you to attend college. The story of how I finally found out is a long one, and I won’t bore you with details right now. The good news is that it’s worth a lot more now than it would have been when you went to college, so I hope you can put it to good use. I am loving Europe. I may never come home.

  Love, Mom

  Wow. I leaned back onto the couch. I couldn’t believe it. So maybe the bad things were over, and the good things were starting

  Chapter 6

  “So, what has you so excited that you had to meet with us and wouldn’t tell us over the phone?” Sally said, sliding into her seat at McDonald’s, where I was already waiting with Cora. I had asked them to meet me for coffee, and this was the most convenient location. Though I would have much preferred Tanner’s Diner, where we usually went for coffee. But truth be told, McDonald’s coffee wasn’t that bad.

  “I have some news I wanted to tell you in person,” I said, hardly able to contain my excitement.

  “What? Jared gave you all the money back?” Sally said.

  “Hardly. You know that day probably won’t come any time soon. Though this is right up there with that level of I wouldn’t have thought it would happen.”

  “Tell us already. Don’t keep us in suspense,” Cora said.

  I pulled the check from my mom out of my purse and put it down on the table in front of them.

  “What’s this?” Sally said.

  “Just look!” I pointed to the check.

  “It looks like a check for fifty thousand dollars.” Cora frowned.

  Sally looked at it closer. “Your mom sent you a check for fifty thousand dollars,” she said, eyebrows raised.

  I nodded.

  “I didn’t know she had that kind of money,” Sally said.

  “She doesn’t.” I shrugged. “Apparently, it was some college money my dad set aside and forgot about.”

  “So it’s basically free money,” said Sally.

  “I guess. I mean, I certainly wasn’t expecting it.”

  “Then you can use it to open our business,” Sally said with a huge smile.

  “Sally, I don’t know. With my retirement money gone, maybe I should play it safe and

  save this money,” I said.

  Sally and Cora both looked at me like I was crazy. “Isn’t that the responsible thing?” I said.

  “Screw responsible,” said Sally. “Take a chance. This money fell in your lap. It’s a sign.”

  I hesitated. “I don’t know.”

  Sally looked at me, eyes narrowing. “Wait a minute. You’re bluffing.”

  I couldn’t contain my laughter any longer. “I’m sorry. You should have seen your faces. I couldn’t resist.”

  “Does this mean what I think it means?” asked Cora with a big smile. “Yep, I think our business dream might just turn into a reality.”

  “That’s awesome!” Sally squealed, then looked at her watch and stood up. “We have just enough time. Let’s go.”

  “Go where?” I asked.

  “I told you I found us the perfect location. Well, I just happen to have the key.” “What do you mean?”

  “It means I knew this would all work out. C’mon!”

  Fifteen minutes later we’d parked and were following Sally down the sidewalk of an older part of downtown Romero I’d always loved. It was rundown but had so much charm.

  “I don’t have a lot of time. I need to get to work.” I glanced at my phone to check the time.

  “You just have to look past the dirt and grime and see it’s a gem,” Sally said, ignoring me. She unlocked the door to the old fabric store she’d told us she thought was perfect for our new home. How she had already scoped this out and gotten a key was beyond me. She always seemed to know how to get things done. She’d only mentioned it as an option a couple days ago.

  I walked to the middle of the space and looked around. This section of town had been built in the early 1900s and had a lot of character. The ceiling went up a full two stories, had exposed brick that was gorgeous, and the front was all windows, letting in a lot of natural light. I could envision tall bookshelves along the walls with space for tables in the middle, with a coffee and wine bar across the back. Plus, there was plenty of room for a pastry case. “You nailed it, Sally, this place is awesome, but is this even affordable? I thought this area of downtown was expensive. Even though it’s rundown. Word on the street is someone bought up the empty storefronts. They held onto them until the area started to revitalize, and then planned to sell for a profit. So far, all that’s happened is they are all still empty.”

  “Well, it is, but that’s the good news,” Sally said, barely able to contain her excitement. “We own it.”

  “What?” I asked. “What do you mean? You bought a building? We don’t have that kind of money.”

  “Remember how Tom and I got in that big fight about a year ago because he’d been buying up real estate around town with our cash reserves and hadn’t told me until I went to pay our taxes and noticed our accounts were low?”

  “Oh, yeah, you were pissed that night,” Cora said.

  “Well, apparently, after the fabric store went out of business, the landlord was having trouble leasing it again and was running out of cash, so this is one of the buildings Tom bought. We have to pay taxes and upkeep, of course, but having no rent payment is going to be a huge help. As of last night, I persuaded him to sell it to us for a very good price.”

  “Like, how good?” I asked skeptically, as Tom wasn’t known for being generous. “Like for a dollar,” Sally said with a huge grin.

  “No way!” Cora and I said in unison. “He went for that?” I asked incredulously.

  “It took a little convincing on my part, but he finally saw reason,” she said smugly.

  “What did you threaten him with?” Cora asked.

  “Now what makes you think I threatened him with anything?” Sally said, trying to look innocent. “Maybe he was just in a giving mood.”

  We both gave her a look.

  “Okay, fine. I may have had a little something to hold over his head.” She laughed. “What?”

  “Tell us!” I said.

  “I found out he was cheating.”

  “Didn’t you already know that?” I asked, confused. “Besides, you’re almost divorced. Does it really matter at this point?”

  “Not cheating on me, silly. He’s cheating on Sylvia. Karma’s a bitch.”

  “What? No. Who with? How the hell did you find out?”

  “I have superior detective skills.” She paused. “And really good—or bad—timing, depending on your perspective. I saw his car at work late last night and stopped in to ask him again to just sign the damn divorce papers so we could both get on with our lives, and he was doing the horizontal tango on his desk with his new secretary. I knew he
hired that bimbo for more than her filing skills.”

  “No way! Do you think Sylvia knows?” I asked.

  “Based on his freaked-out response and the fact that he begged me to promise I wouldn’t tell her, I’d say no. That’s how I got the building. He said to name my price to keep my mouth shut, and I said this is what I wanted. He’s having the papers drawn up today, and it will be a done deal.”

  “Yeah!” Cora squealed with excitement. “Thank goodness for blackmail.”

  “I know, right? Poor Tom. Has to buy off his ex-wife to keep his girlfriend from finding out about his mistress. How the hell does that happen?” Sally laughed. “I couldn’t make this up if I tried. The situation is comical at this point. I admit I love knowing Sylvia is getting payback, and knowing I have something to hold over Tom’s head. I can’t believe I was married to that man.”

  “You’d think he would have learned his lesson,” I said.

  “Except, his inability to keep it in his pants got us this building. Since he’s no longer my husband, I’m glad his infidelity finally worked to my advantage.”

  Cora pulled out a notepad and pen. “We need to start making a list of everything we need to make this place ours, and start pricing things out.”

  “We should measure for shelving. We need some display cases toward the back, and we need to figure out how many tables will fit here in the middle, and chairs, of course,” I said, ticking this list off one by one on my fingers as Cora furiously scribbled it all down. “We also should find out from the fire marshal how many people this place can hold before we purchase anything.”

  “Slow down. I don’t want to miss anything.”

  “Trixie, have you given any thought to giving notice at the library, or are you going to try and do both?” Sally asked.

  “Since they’re making cutbacks anyways, I thought about asking if they would let me step down to part-time. At least for a while, until we get things going here.”

  “That’s a good plan,” Sally said. “Tom has the kids tomorrow, so I was thinking we should come here in the morning and clean and get started. That is, if you guys like this space.”

  “I’m in,” said Cora. “I think it’s great.”

  “Me too. I have Cody tomorrow, but if I bribe him with a few bucks to clean, he’ll jump at the chance. He’s been eyeing this new Star Wars Lego set at Target and has been looking for ways to make extra money.”

  “Awesome! I’m so excited. Now that that’s settled, I have even more good news to share,” Sally said. “I never thought blackmailing my ex-husband over his new girlfriend would be so much fun. Not only did we get the space we wanted, but I also got him to throw in those antique bookcases he inherited from his aunt that I’ve always loved, and I talked him into getting us some radio time to promote the store.”

  “All to not tell Sylvia?” I asked.

  “Yup. Oh, and I also said I had the right to keep adding things to my list of demands for as long as I wanted.”

  “You go, girl,” I said.

  “I’m hoping to get a lot of mileage out of this.”

  “Ladies, I had some ideas floating around in my head for some flyers for the book drive we need to have to collect all the used books we can,” Cora said. “I’ll work on that tonight, so we can finalize tomorrow and start promoting. I think we should open as soon as possible.”

  “I agree. We can’t afford not to,” I said.

  “That’s a great idea, Cora. I just hope we can get enough books to open with,” said Sally.

  “I think if we advertise around here, we should have more than enough,” I said. “The trick is for us to figure out how to pay people for the books, and how to price them for the customers. I’m sure we’ll make most of our profits on drinks and snacks. By the way, we need to apply for a liquor license and find a supplier for the baked goods.”

  “I’ll take care of the liquor license application,” Sally said. “It’s just paperwork, and then waiting for the council to approve it, which I am sure they will. They meet again next week. I’ll do what I can to make sure it’s on the agenda.”

  “More blackmailing Tom again to push it through?” I teased. Tom was well connected in town due to his business relationships.

  “I have my own connections there, so no blackmail necessary.”

  “That’s awesome, Sally,” I said. “You are on top of things.”

  “I told you almost twenty years playing Tom’s dutiful assistant would come in handy. I also took the liberty of calling Avery over at CupCakes and Donna over at the bakery yesterday to see if we could order from them daily. They were both thrilled to hear about our endeavor and are willing to work with us on a daily order. I also got the name of the wine distributor from Larry over at Bud’s Bar to see what we can do there.”

  “Sally, I don’t know what to say. I can’t believe how much you’ve done in just a couple days. I’d never have thought of all that,” I said.

  She smiled with pride.

  “I feel like such a slacker,” Cora said.

  “No kidding. Me too.”

  “This is what I’m good at. The details and making connections. You, Cora, are the rock star of marketing chick, whom we’re depending on to drive folks to the shop, and Trixie’s talent will be managing the store itself. That’s why we make such a great team.”

  “You said it, Sally,” I added. “We need a name,” Cora said.

  “We do, but you’re not going to get it from me,” I said. “I’m not exactly the creative type.

  Not even after a few glasses of wine.”

  “Me either,” Sally said. “Cora, you have any ideas?”

  “I’ve been thinking, and there are a couple I came up with that I was hoping you might like. Like, Sally, I had a good feeling about this and started working last night. I was so excited, the ideas just kept flowing.”

  “Well, what are they? Don’t keep us in suspense,” I said.

  Cora rifled through her papers until she found the ones she was looking for and held two papers up for us to see. One had the name Read Wine printed on it, and the other Thirsty Books. Sally and I were silent as we looked at the papers.

  A few seconds went by before Cora said, “What do you think? Do you hate them? I have other ideas. I just liked these the best.”

  I could tell she was nervous waiting to hear what we thought. “I don’t know about Sally, but I like them both.” I turned to Sally. “Your thoughts?”

  “I agree, Trixie. I love them both too. The difficult part is going to be choosing which one we like best.”

  Cora beamed with delight and pulled out some more papers from her pile and set them in front of us. She had created logos for both names in different fonts and colors. “Here, I thought it might help to see a few examples of how each name could be designed.”

  “I like this one for Read Wine with the wine bottle and glass in the background. Plus, I love the play on words. Red and Read,” I said.

  “Me too,” said Sally.

  “Then, ladies, Read Wine it is!” I exclaimed. “This calls for a toast.” I held up my imaginary glass.

  “To us and a successful business venture.” “To us,” they said

  Chapter 7

  I brought my coffeepot from home to the shop and was in the process of putting coffee in the filter and water in the reservoir to get it going. I needed the caffeine. I’d been restless last night, excited about doing this, opening a business, and apprehensive about becoming a business owner. I kept going back and forth between freaking out and being so happy I couldn’t stand it. Cody was already hard at work, sweeping. Granted, he was more just moving the dirt and dust around to different spots than cleaning, but he was trying. He was such a good boy.

  “I’ve got cleaning supplies and Krispy Kremes,” Cora called as she walked through the door, and at the mention of doughnuts, Cody dropped the broom and ran over to Cora to relieve her of the box.

  “Thank goodness for doughnuts and caffeine.
I may make it through the day after all.”

  “So, where do you want me to start?” Cora said, hands on her hips. She looked so cute in her jean capris and a bandana tied around her head. Whereas, I looked like a mess already. I didn’t have the energy to try to look cute today for cleaning, so I had thrown on an old pair of comfy sweats and a T-shirt. A low ponytail was about the extent of what I did to my hair, and makeup hadn’t even entered my mind. I was already covered in dust, grime, and felt gross.

  “I’ve started over here, so you could take that side of the room and we meet in the middle.

  It’s not like we need to do anything fancy, just scrubbing. Amazing how an empty building can get so dirty.”

  “Okay, then, let’s get going,” Cora said.

  My coffee was finally done, so I poured both of us a cup and doctored mine with the French vanilla creamer I had splurged on rather than the skim milk I should have bought. Cora drank hers black. I usually did too, to save calories, but I figured what the hell, with all the hard work cleaning, we would burn off the extra calories. And even if we didn’t, sometimes you just needed to treat yourself. That was a rationalization I used a lot. I took my coffee and cleaning supplies back over to the far side, where Cody was doing his sweeping. I pulled on my rubber gloves and got to work.

  “Where’s Sally?” Cora asked after about an hour of cleaning in silence, focused on the job at hand. “I thought she was meeting us here. Wasn’t it her idea in the first place? Why is she missing all the fun?” she asked, swiping a strand of hair away from her face.

  “I guess she’s running late.” I shrugged. “Should we call her?”

  “I’m sure something came up. We can give her some more time before we start harassing her,” Cora said. “I know she wouldn’t ditch us without a good reason.”