“So you killed Pete,” Gamma said.
“I did what I had to do!” Harley raised her knife. “They wanted to bring his business down. He was unhappy. I heard him talking to my father about it over the phone. Look, he’ll be here any second, and he’ll explain how much he truly loves me. And then him and I are going to move to England and we’re going to put in our bid as the rightful heirs to the throne.”
“Pardon, dear?”
“Don’t you see?” Harley jabbed with the knife. “Peggy and Pete are MI6 agents. They’re here on the Queen’s orders. They want me dead because I’m the anointed one who will lead the people to glory.”
Peggy whimpered. Perhaps, she’d realized that Harley really was loopy enough to kill her.
“Oh dear. That must be difficult for you,” Gamma said, glancing to Harley’s left. Seeking my help.
I was on Harley like a rash. I grasped the wrist of her arm and twisted it. The knife thunked to the ground. I swept my leg against the backs of her knees and sent her squealing to the ground. I bent her arm behind her back, then grabbed the other and did the same. I held them there with one hand, raising the other in Gamma’s direction.
She threw me the cable-tie, and I zipped it into place around Harley’s wrists. “No!” she shrieked. “Let me go!”
Thankfully, Gamma had stood directly in front of Peggy, so her view of how I’d incapacitated Harley had been blocked. Now, my grandmother bent and untied Peggy, hastily, while I booked it back into the trees. I’d walk all the way home, safe in the knowledge that we had solved the mystery.
Detective Crowley and his goon squad would take care of the rest. My cover in Gossip was safe.
For now.
34
Local Innkeeper Saves the Day!
The title on the front page of the newspaper proclaimed it loud and clear. Georgina was a hero. They’d printed a massive picture of her, standing in front of the Gossip Inn, a big smile on her face. And I was nowhere in sight.
Perfect.
The banging from down the hall brought me back down to earth. Maybe, it wasn’t so perfect. Gamma had brought in the contractors—stolen them back from Jessie Belle-Blue to be precise—to work on the museum and turn it into her kitty haven. The noise had induced a headache every day this week. But it made me happy, strangely enough.
I relished the thought of more cats in the inn and more people, now that most of the guests had checked out, and we were in the lull prior to taking on new ones. Not that I was a people person. No, not at all, just that… well, the inn was warm and friendly when it was full of noise.
Minus Harley Davidson—who had only stayed at the inn because her parents had found out she was privately in love with Tombs, and had kicked her out. A tidbit of information I would’ve loved to have had sooner.
I scanned the magazine article, grinning at how they described my grandmother as a vigilante sleuth and heroine. The swimming hole had been restored to its former glory, and Harley was behind bars.
Lauren entered the kitchen, humming under her breath. “Good morning,” she sang.
“Cup of coffee?”
“Please.”
I got up to fix us both another mug. “You’re in a good mood today.”
“What’s there not to be in a good mood about? The thief is gone. The murderer is gone. And I’m no longer being stalked by her.”
It had been Harley who had followed Lauren—because she’d caught wind that Lauren and Grayson had had a romantic evening at the inn. Not true, of course, since that had been Gamma and me setting him up.
“What’s on the menu today?” I asked.
“Oh, we’ll do poached eggs, bacon, sausages, and maybe, hmm, oh yes, I have the perfect idea.” Lauren grabbed her hallowed recipe book and set it down on the counter. She paged through it, grinning. “Ah, here we go. Strawberry cupcakes. What do you think?”
“Sounds sinfully delicious.”
“The only thing I can hear is that fantastic banging noise,” Gamma said, as she entered the kitchen, also smiling. “Coffee please, dear.”
I fixed another cup then brought all three over to the table. We sat down together, sipping our coffees and laughing at the past week and how crazy it had been to have a murderer under the inn’s roof.
“It’s going to be great this week,” Lauren said. “We’re going to have new guests and amazing food.”
“And no murders,” I said.
“Precisely. Though, I’ll admit that sticking my nose where it didn’t belong was quite fun,” Gamma put in.
“And dangerous. You have to be more careful, Georgina. Someone might take exception to you sleuthing,” Lauren said, worrying her bottom lip with her teeth.
I buried a smile behind my coffee cup. Anyone who tried hurting Gamma would find themselves in a sticky situation of their own, facing off with a grandmother holding a shotgun and wearing a smile and a set of curlers in her hair.
What a way to go.
The chatter continued, but a bang that wasn’t from the museum section sounded through the inn and cut across our talk. Footsteps approached, and we turned our heads.
Jessie Belle-Blue appeared in the archway, glaring at us. Most specifically, at Gamma. “If you think for a second that this little article of yours is going to make your ridiculous inn more popular—”
“Oh heavens, here we go,” Gamma said. “Belle-Blue, you really need to control your jealousy. It’s affecting your business. If you’d just left me alone, your cattery would be doing just fine.”
“My cattery is doing just fine!” Belle-Blue snapped.
“Good for you, dear, but it’s time for you to leave.”
“This isn’t the last you’ll hear from me,” Jessie replied, waspishly. “I’m going to make sure your little inn never gets any cats. Do you understand me?”
“Bye, bye now.” I waved at her.
Jessie Belle-Blue fumed on the spot, ripped the pashmina from her shoulders and stamped her foot. She looked on the brink of saying swearing.
“You need to leave,” Gamma said.
“Mark my words, Georgina, I will raze this inn to the ground before I let you defeat me.” She stormed off and the inn door slammed a moment later.
“Dramatic,” Gamma sighed. “But her bark is worse than her bite.”
But after the past few weeks of murder and mayhem, I couldn’t help my wariness at the threat. A meow from Cocoa Puff outside the kitchen door, however, distracted me, and I chuckled. Our talk resumed, and in no time, Lauren had baked delicious cupcakes for us to enjoy.
A text blipped through on my burner phone—I’d lost count of how many I’d thrown away—and I lifted it out of my pocket. It was from Smulder.
The cat is among the chickens. No sign of the cockerel. The words ‘cat’ and ‘chickens’ had been replaced with matching emojis.
My stomach sank. The code meant two things. Firstly, that my ex-husband still hadn’t resurfaced and I wasn’t any closer to getting back to my old life. That wasn’t the part of the message that had made me nervous, though.
The first part had meant that Smulder had told Special Agent in Charge Grant about the ‘pictures of me online’ issue. It was no longer a problem, and that was why he had reported it. It was the right thing for him to do, and he’d likely get in trouble for not telling our boss sooner.
What did it mean for me? I had no idea. That depended on the Special Agent in Charge.
“Here we go, ladies,” Lauren said, bringing us a second round of cupcakes. “Enjoy.”
“You’re an angel, Lauren.”
I put my phone away. It wouldn’t help to worry about what was to come now. All that mattered was the here and now, with my dear grandmother and my new friend.
The sweetness of the cupcake spread across my tongue, and I relished the flavor.
I had good company, all the food I could eat, and a place to rest my head until my ex-husband was found and eliminated. And for the first time in a long time, I was happy. I was set
tled.
I was having another cupcake that was for sure.
What more could a secret-agent undercover ask for?
Gamma and Charlie’s story continues in Strawberry Sin, Book 2 in the Mission Inn-Possible Cozy Mystery Series, coming in February 2020!
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ALSO BY ROSIE A. POINT
The Burger Bar Mystery Series:
The Fiesta Burger Murder
The Double Cheese Burger Murder
The Chicken Burger Murder
The Breakfast Burger Murder
The Salmon Burger Murder
The Cheesy Steak Burger Murder
The Burger Bar Mysteries Box Set
The Bite-sized Bakery Cozy Mystery Series:
Murder By Chocolate
Marzipan and Murder
Creepy Cake Murder
Murder and Meringue Cake
Murder Under the Mistletoe
The Bite-sized Bakery Cozy Mystery Box Set: Books 1-5
Table of Contents
Title Page
Contents
Copyright
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
More for you…
Thank You, Reader!
Also by Rosie A. Point
Mission Inn-possible 01 - Vanilla Vendetta Page 15