by Kelly Ethan
He shrugged. “Suppose it won’t hurt me. Even with your murder rep I could take you. Come on.” He inclined his head and invited her in.
Xandie gulped and slid into the office but stayed in view of Lila.
“Again, what do you want?”
“Has Braun been here asking questions about my run-in with the car? “
“Tried to talk to me, but I’m busy.”
Straight to the point. “Have any green SUV’s with black tinted windows and a broken taillight come in here?”
Aaron’s face settled into a stone pattern. “I’ll tell you what I told Braun. I’m a paper guy, no computers. I’m still going through receipts. I’ll let you know. Now get out, unless you have a car for me to fix.”
Xandie held her hands up. “Whoa there. I don’t want to upset you. I just need a little help is all.” She coughed and wrinkled her nose at Lila. Getting the sign, Lila disappeared for a moment before returning with a bent-over and groaning Holly.
“Helping you will get me killed or bankrupt. Leave me and Rose alone, got it?”
“Look...” Xandie trailed off as Lila charged through the doors with Holly.
“Hey, we need help. Holly cut a hand on your door. She’s bleeding.” Lila waved Holly’s red-covered hand around Aaron’s face.
A face that turned chalk white and quivered like a bowlful of cottage cheese.
“I got a kit out back. I’ll grab it, you doctor her then leave, got it?” He bolted for the door, yelling over her shoulder as he went, “and no suing. You aren’t paying customers. It doesn’t count.”
Here’s hoping the glove of blood coating Holly’s hand was fake or Xandie was joining Aaron in the club of wimpy blood haters.
“It’s sauce.” Holly licked one of her fingers.
Xandie and Lila shuddered as one.
“Who’s the coward now? Come on, or he’ll be back in and my special effects will be pointless.” Holly waved her ketchup special at her cousins.
“Fine.” Xandie caught herself before she asked Holly if she wanted fries with that. She pawed through the mess on Aaron’s desk. “Geez. This guys a pig. We’ll never find anything.”
“Germs are the only things we’ll get from him.” Lila screwed her nose up as a piece of lettuce stuck to her fingers. She shook it off, and it flew up and stuck to Holly’s ketchup-covered hand. Lila snickered. “All we need is bacon.”
Xandie tuned out her cousin’s crazy antics and kept flipping through the paperwork.
“He said he’s working on receipts now. Has to be on his desk somewhere.” She moved his keyboard and flattened underneath was a receipt for a broken taillight. “Bingo.” She waved the receipt at her cousins and stuffed it in her bra when she heard Aaron stomping back.
“Quick. Cover the hand up with this.” Lila shoved an oil-stained shirt at Holly. “We don’t want him to realize its sauce.”
Holly grabbed the shirt, wound it around her hand and held it tight to her chest.
Xandie moved closer to Holly and Lila, pretending to inspect the injury.
“Here, doctor her up and get out. Shut the door when you’re done. I’ll be working out back.” He threw the kit at Lila and bolted again.
Holly whimpered as Lila took the bandages out and covered Holly’s fake injury.
“Your injuries are fake. Why moan?” Xandie whispered.
Holly whispered back, “I have to make a sound in case he’s listening. Plus, I’ve got cramps and a fierce craving for fries.”
Lila whacked Holly on the back of the head. “Let’s get out of here before he rumbles us, and we all spend the night in jail with a Chief tight-butt.”
The girls nodded their thanks to Aaron as they shuffled a moaning Holly outside. They took their time, strolling down the street until they hit Lila’s bakery.
Lila ushered them straight through to the office and stuck her fingers out for the receipt.
Xandie fished a hand into her bra, looking for the paperwork she’d stolen from Aaron’s garage.
Holly covered eyes with her sauce-covered digits. “I’m too young to watch such antics. My innocence is in danger of corruption.”
Lila snorted. “Please, senior year corrupted your innocence. Don’t you remember the mascot fiasco?”
“I told you I had nothing to do with how that video got on the Internet. You were in charge of the ferrets, not me. That’s all I’ve got to say.” Holly jammed her hands on her hips, forgetting the ketchup, which speckled the area in a bizarre crime scene painting.
“Chupacabra. They were chupacabra you ordered, not ferrets. They ended up chasing the whole junior class. Seniors had to donate blood and you know how I hate needles.”
“Guys?” Xandie waved the receipt in the air, but both cousins ignored her in favor of squabbling.
“Except you.” Lila dramatically pointed at Holly. “You disappeared when it was blood donation time.”
Holly cleared her throat. “About that.”
Lila covered her eyes and slumped on the couch. “I don’t think I want to know.”
“When everyone was giving blood, I was under the bleachers with Caleb Braun, Zach’s younger brother.” Holly cringed waiting for the explosion.
“What?” Lila drew the word out, with the implied promise of future violence.
“He wanted to show me his roar under the bleachers.”
Xandie snorted, caught up in the cousin’s spat.
“What did I tell you about the Braun twins? They can’t keep their fur zipped up.”
“I swear it wasn’t like that,” Holly protested.
“It never is, sweetie. It never is.” Lila shook her head in disgust.
Xandie intervened before the ketchup morphed into the real red stuff. “Anyone care to read the receipt with me or continue squabbling about your past flirts?”
Holly burst out laughing together. “He really was practicing his roar with me that day, Xandie. The Brauns are bear shifters.”
“Oh. My. God.” That explained everything. Xandie slapped a hand against her forehead. “Braun is German for brown and his family comes from the Black Forest. Makes complete sense now.”
“I guess unless you grow up here, it’s hard to imagine people as a different species.”
Xandie agreed with Lila. She’d have to process ‘Zachy bear’ another time. Now she had to focus on the receipt and who wanted to hurt her. She flapped the paper in the air again, this time grabbing everyone’s attention.
Holly grabbed the receipt from Xandie’s hand and read it aloud. “One tailgate light, green paint match. SUV Council lease.”
Someone who worked for Point Muse council tried to run her down. “So it’s about the land, not my library?”
“Even if the council leases the SUV, it still means multiple suspects with motives.” Lila paced through her office. “But the mayor has a council vehicle. Irene holds the purse strings, and she’s cheap enough to lease rather than buy.”
“The mayor had run-ins with Sera, according to Rose. Plus, he knew all about the development. He owned the building where the agent died, and he was at the anniversary ceremony when my lawyer died.” She shook her head. “He’s the mayor. Why would he want to kill people? He’s in charge of the town anyway, so what’s his motive?”
Snorting, Lila poked her head out of the office to check on the bakery before popping back in. “It’s always about greed. Whether it’s money or knowledge. Who knows? He’s a politician, it’s second nature.”
“What do we do?” Holly curled up on the couch, nibbling on a nail.
Lila grabbed the receipt and held it out to Xandie. “Keep the evidence in your underwear. Safest place for it. As for our next move, we get Xandie to her council hearing and make sure she doesn’t lose the library.”
In the rush of investigating, Xandie had forgotten all about Irene Cummings, the council meeting, and about losing the library for good. No wonder her screwed-up priorities annoyed the cat.
Somedays sh
e annoyed herself.
“Now, I want to remind people. This is a friendly meeting, just to air any issues and make sure Alexandra Meyers meets all requirements in accepting her inheritance and position with the library.” Mayor Cummings smiled widely at the room of assembled do-gooders. “Let’s get going. I’ll open the meeting to the floor. Please state any grievances against Sera Meyers’ beneficiary, and to the estate and the separate supernatural holding of the Great Library of Alexandria.”
Gulp. “Sounds serious when he puts it like,” Xandie whispered to her Aunt Winifred. Winifred had taken a year of a law degree at the community college next town over. This was the closest the town had to a lawyer now Neville Essam had died.
“Hush, dear. Look like you’re taking this stupid farce seriously.” Winifred sat bolt upright, blinking furiously.
Xandie guessed this was her aunt’s version of serious.
One of the naked brigade waved her hand. “We have a complaint. She spied on us during our practice and made Chief Braun remove us from the property.”
“I can answer to that complaint.”
Zach Braun’s growly voice was a welcome sound to Xandie’s already-burning ears.
“The ladies taking part in the ceremony did not reach acceptable contact with the owner of the land. They did not ask permission. They also failed to inform the owner of their clothing optional state. The owner was within her rights to ask them to leave. The practice ceremony also started late night/early morning, interrupting the owner’s sleep patterns and causing reasonable distress and disturbance.” Zach sat and crossed his arms, scowling at everyone.
Aggie reached around her son and gave Xandie a thumbs up.
The mayor nodded his head gravely. “First complaint noted, defended affirmatively. The Council will disregard this point.” He glanced at Irene and she stepped forward, reading a statement from another complainant.
“This is a general complaint on the character and suitability of the beneficiary of Sera Meyers’ estate, one Alexandria Meyers.” Irene paused for a moment before continuing, “It has come to the knowledge of the upstanding citizens of Point Muse...”
At this, equal amounts of laughter and agreement deafened the room.
Xandie peeked around. Most people were snickering over the upstanding citizen comment, but the older women were frowning and nodding. Not all of them were the naked octogenarians either.
Eyeing the culprits down, Irene continued. “Alexandra Meyers recently became the focus of a murder investigation and even arrested for it. This undermines the trustworthy characteristics needed to helm the library. The complainants request her removal, and the property reversion to council holdings. End of statement.” Irene peered over the paper at the crowd. “Rebuttal?”
Winifred held her hand up. “Although my client has been a central suspect of the murder of Neville Essam, no proof is provided of any crime. This complaint is pointless until or if my client is proven guilty of this crime.” She lowered her hand and smiled beatifically at the crowd of naysayers on the other side of the room.
“Way to go, Aunt Winifred”. Xandie permitted a small glimmer of hope to grow. Only one year, but it sounded like she’d missed her calling as a lawyer instead of making herbal remedies and candles.
Braun stood again, this time with a sigh and a quick look over his shoulder at the door behind them.
Xandie followed his gaze, but no one was there. Who was he watching for?
“Six days ago, Neville Essam was murdered in the library’s welcoming room. General statements of witnesses determine that Alexandra Meyers was found leaning over the victim, covered in blood, holding a chair leg. We found another chair leg to be the murder weapon. Also, the suspect was seen arguing with the victim, not long before the murder occurred. Subsequently, police arrested, but soon released her on bail while enquires are ongoing. Further investigation noted two other murders, that of Sera Meyers and Louise Maker, that share similarity. We concluded the suspect had motive for all three deaths.”
He paused when Aggie tugged on his sleeve and showed him a text. “Can you excuse me for a moment, Mr. Mayor? Something has come up.” Without waiting for acknowledgement, he strode to the door, opening it wide. Chief Braun’s deputy and sister rushed to the door and handed him a file. After perusing the file, he slapped it against his leg as he strode back to the mayor.
“Apologies, Mr. Mayor. Forensic testing has come back. The test revealed the skin under the victim’s nails does not match Alexandra Meyers’ DNA. And none of the prints recovered from the murder weapon were hers. Her alibi for the murder of Sera Meyers and Louise Maker has also checked out. She wasn’t in town for her great-aunt’s murder and records show she received takeout at the approximate time of Ms. Maker’s murder. Therefore, the police department of Point Muse drops all charges against Alexandra Meyers.” He sat in a controlled manner, ignoring the furor that broke out around him. Aggie high-fived her daughter who’d scooted in next to her after delivering the evidence to the chief.
Xandie stared openmouthed at Zach. He’d cleared her. She wasn’t a murder suspect anymore.
Winifred enveloped Xandie in a pillowy soft hug. “See, everything comes out the way it’s supposed to be. Trust in the universe.”
Irene cleared her throat. A frustrated expression crossed her face for a split second before clearing to her normal neutrality.
Xandie could have sworn the mayor’s sister wasn’t happy about the decision to clear Xandie of murder.
“Great news, Xandie.” The mayor beamed a fake politician smile out to the crowd, milking his spotlight for all he was worth.
But for all his pleasure at her non-murderer status, she noticed his knuckles were white. White from gripping the wood of his desk. Was it stress or anger at his thwarted plans? Xandie cocked her head to the side, examining Irene. All she showed now was disgust at the surrounding chaos. No, Irene Cummings was too uptight about law and order to stray. But would she cover up her brother’s actions?
“Wait, wait. I have a complaint.” A chubby man with bright gold hair and heavy rings on his fingers huffed and puffed up to the mayor and slammed a document in front of him.
Mayor Cummings calmed the crowd down with a hand wave as he read the papers. “Unfortunately, this seems to be a valid contract of the sale for the estate of the late Sera Meyers, in its entirety, to the consortium of Louise maker, Neville Essam, and George Mitas for one million dollars. Witnessed by a Nicholas Meyers. This breaks the conditions of the inheritance as set out by Sera Meyers herself.”
This time the din of the crowd drowned everything except for the roar of blood in Xandie’s ears.
Winifred shot her niece a worried look. “If you have something to tell me, now would be a great time.”
Xandie shook her head, stupefied. Her father had signed the contract as a witness. She’d told him she wasn’t selling. She thought when he’d stopped calling, he’d given in. Instead, he went scheming behind her back. She spoke in a normal voice back to Winifred. “I did not sign a contract. I never agreed to a sale. In fact, I told my father, Nicholas Meyers, I was not selling.” She had no secrets to hide so damned if she’d whisper. The town would find out soon enough.
“Indeed.” The mayor confirmed Xandie’s words. “Alexandra Meyers has not signed the contract.”
Mr. Mitas swiped his palms down his dress pants. “Nicholas Meyers managed the sale on behalf of his daughter, Alexandra. He told us she was in complete agreement. In fact, he’s here to testify.” He pointed wildly down the aisle as Xandie’s father slipped out from chair at the back of the room and marched down the aisle.
How had she missed him in the crowd? With her father’s disdain of Point Muse, he should stand out like a flare.
He refused to look at Xandie as he shuffled past. He moved up next to Mr. Mitas and the mayor. Nicholas frowned gravely out at the crowd. “I knew my aunt’s property would be too much for my fragile daughter. She lost her job at a public library
and was emotionally vulnerable. I contacted the estate lawyer and explained my concerns. He spoke to his associates, Ms. Maker, and their banker, Mr. Mitas. The offer was tended to me as my daughter’s caretaker. Her signature was a mere formality. She would’ve agreed eventually.”
Winifred sprung to her feet. “You stated she would’ve agreed, eventually. This implies she wasn’t in agreement when the contract was drawn.”
“Well, I mean…” Xandie’s father seemed flustered for a moment before composing himself. “No, she hadn’t agreed. But she will.”
“That wasn’t my question, Nicholas.” Winifred shook a finger at Xandie’s father. “I’m curious, was there a finder’s fee by any chance?”
“A small amount. Nothing outrageous.” He smiled coolly at Xandie, meeting her betrayed gaze. “You’ve no clue what this town is like. It sucks you dry until your nothing but a husk. I’m protecting you.”
“Nicholas, unless Xandie has been recognized incompetent, which I know she hasn’t, then what you’ve done can be misconstrued as fraud.” Winifred shot a glance at Chief Braun who smiled at Nicholas Meyers.
“It wasn’t like that at all. I’m helping my daughter.”
Xandie took a deep breath and stepped out from behind the desk. She strode straight to the mayor and snatched the contract, proceeding to rip it in half. Take that, puny arm muscles. She stood with her hands on her hips. “Let me be clear to my father, Mr. Mitas, Mr. Mayor and all residents of Point Muse. I. Am. Not. Selling. I’m staying, so deal with it if you want access to the library.” She stomped back to Winifred and her chair.
Clapping reverberated around the room. Harrows, all shapes and sizes, stood in the last few rows of chairs in the room. All hollering for Xandie. Her family, at least the one from Point Muse, was overjoyed she was staying.
“Mr. Mayor, I think the complaints have been defended and rebutted splendidly, don’t you?” Winifred arched a brow at the mayor.
With a slap of his hand on the desk, the mayor yelled over the clamor. “All complaints are dismissed. Alexandra Meyers has met requirements and suitability for the inheritance of Sera Meyers’ estate. Land, library and feline included. This matter is closed.” The mayor stood and shook off Irene’s hand as she tried to pull him aside and whisper.