Highway to Homicide
Page 17
Cade shook it and then wrapped his arm around Scarlett again. “Anything for my girl’s best friend.” Scarlett and Cade made their way upstairs, whispering softly.
“I’m glad she found someone,” Hunter said.
“Me, too,” Cookie agreed and then bristled recalling what he’d just said about Cade keeping her safe. “You know I can take care of myself, right?”
Hunter laughed. “Yes, I do. I think I know better than anyone.”
“All right.” She took a deep breath. “Tell me about Hank and the Volkov mob. What’s going on with the condo project and the guns? And why was Hank trying to trade me to the DeMasis?”
“The condo project is dead. It was always just a front for the gunrunning anyway. It’s be up to Secret Seal Isle to decide what to do with the partial structure. There’s a crew from the FBI on the way to collect the guns. As for why the wanted to trade you, it turns out you were payment for a deal gone bad. The DeMasis and Volkovs were in a territory war. The DeMasis were who blew up that barge, but it was retaliation for the Volkovs stealing a gun shipment from them. They were going to call a truce when the Volkovs delivered you. Only they never imagined the Pussycat Posse and two former Navy SEALs would get involved.” Hunter chuckled. “Lord help anyone who decides to bring crime to this place again. No one could survive Rain and her friends.”
Cookie laughed. “You’ve got that right. Their sequins alone could blind one for life.” She sobered as she thought about how proud she was of not only her mother and her friends, but the residents on Secret Seal Isle. “The entire town loves Rain. Did you know they even raised over two thousand dollars in their Free Rain campaign?”
Hunter let out a low whistle. “What’s going to happen to it?”
Cookie shrugged. “Something for the island. Julie thinks they should donate it to the historical society, but Rain thinks it should be prize money for next year’s Miss Dumpy parade.”
Hunter snorted. “Of course she does.”
“It’s not a bad idea, actually,” Cookie said. “Could make things interesting.”
Hunter raised both eyebrows. “More interesting than a murder?”
She winced as she recalled how they’d found a body in the trunk of the car that the Posse had gotten from the dump for the inn’s Miss Dumpy parade float. “Good point.”
Hunter’s phone beeped with a message, and he glanced at it. “Looks like the boss has me on the next flight back to Philly.”
“I’m not surprised. You guys have a lot of work to get through,” Cookie said.
Hunter nodded. Then he gave her a quick hug and a kiss on the forehead. “I’m glad you’re safe, Charlie. Stay out of trouble.”
“I will.”
He stepped back, shaking his head as he chuckled to himself. Then he grabbed his duffle and headed for the door. But before he left he glanced over his shoulder. “Don’t be a stranger.”
She waved, as the finality of their goodbye struck her. This was the goodbye they’d never given each other when she’d left the FBI and headed to Secret Seal Isle the first time, and it was nice to finally close the chapter on that part of her life. Especially since she wouldn’t have handled it so well if the moment had come back then. “Count on it.”
He gave her a curt nod and then disappeared out the front door.
Cookie stood there, staring at the door for a long moment, not sure how she was supposed to feel. Free? Relieved? Elated? She felt all of those things, but she also felt a little hollow. After more than two years of looking over her shoulder, her new life was going to be a bit of an adjustment.
“Hey, gorgeous,” a deep voice called from the other side of the room.
Cookie glanced over at Dylan and felt her lips curve up as her insides warmed. He was dressed in dark jeans and a pressed button-down shirt, and he was as handsome as ever. She started to move toward him but paused when the office door popped open and Rain sauntered out in a skin-tight red jumpsuit.
She walked into the middle of the living room and twirled. “Well? What do you think of our performing outfits?”
Cookie let out a low whistle. “Looking good, Mom. But where is the rest of the Posse?”
Rain glanced around as if just noticing for the first time she was alone. She let out a heavy sigh. “Come on, Posse. Get your pussycat tails out here so we can show off our curves.”
“I think I have flat tires,” Winter said.
“If you have flats, I have over inflated ones,” Cari said.
Cookie and Dylan glanced at each other, both of them with mirth in their expressions. “Come on, ladies,” Cookie urged. “I’m sure you look great.”
“You first,” Cari said to Winter.
“Both of you. Just get out here,” Cookie called.
The women in question finally shuffled out of the office. Winter’s suit was deep green, while Cari’s was peacock blue. And surprisingly, they both looked pretty good.
Dylan let out a low whistle. “Lookin’ hot, ladies.”
“Right?” Rain said, shaking her head at her friends. “I told them the bodyshapers would do the trick. Look at that perky rack Cari has. And Winter’s waist? Geez. If I wasn’t so confident in my figure—" Rain ran her hands down the sides of her body. “—I’d be jealous.”
Cookie chuckled at her mother. “What happened to the superhero costumes?”
Rain shot a glare at Cari, who looked up as if something in the ceiling had caught her attention. “Wardrobe malfunction,” her mother groused.
Cookie jumped in before the two friends could start bickering. “You all look fantastic. Do you have a show tonight?”
Cari clapped her hands together, happy to change the subject. “Yes! Down at the Tipsy Seagull. They’re trying something new.”
“And we’re going to be late if we don’t get moving.” Rain waved. “If you two need something to entertain you, come see us.”
“I think I’ve got the evening’s entertainment covered,” Dylan said.
“I bet you do.” Rain pumped her eyebrows at him. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”
“What would that be?” Winter asked her as they headed out the front door. “A threesome?”
“Please,” Rain said. “You’re going to have to try harder than that.”
The door closed, and Cookie just shook her head. “Can’t beat that for entertainment.”
“I think I can,” Dylan said, taking her by the hand and leading her through the kitchen and outside to the back porch. Beside the swing, candles were lit, and two glasses of wine were waiting for them.
“Well, isn’t this lovely,” Cookie said. “Something special planned?”
He just gave her a half smile and tugged her down into the swing.
Cookie grabbed the wine glasses and handed him one. Then she tucked herself in next to him, resting her head on his shoulder. “I could do this for the rest of my life, you know.”
“What’s that? Drink wine on the swing?” he asked, running his fingers down her bare arm.
“Yes, but that’s not what I meant.” She lifted her head and turned to him. “I meant the quiet nights, just you and me and the ocean and stars. It’s magical.”
Dylan’s steel-blue eyes held hers for a long moment. “You sure about that?”
“I’m positive. In fact, I have something I’ve been wanting to ask you,” she said and swallowed thickly. Now that DeMasi was no longer a threat, Cookie didn’t want to wait any longer to get on with her life. She wanted it all: Secret Seal Isle, the inn… and most of all, Dylan.
He pressed his finger to her lips, his eyes glinting in the candlelight. “Me first.”
“But—”
“Nuh-uh.” He shook his head and reached into his pocket, pulling out a small velvet box.
Cookie’s eyes widened as he opened it, revealing a sparkling diamond solitaire.
“I’ve been wanting to ask you this for months now, Cookie James,” he said, his voice hoarse and full of emotion.
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br /> “I’ve been wanting you to ask a question, too” she said, her eyes stinging with unshed tears.
“Shhh, Cookie. Let me get through this,” he said. “You remember the first job I did for you?”
She chuckled. “Sure. You fixed the porch railing and then got an eyeful of Rain’s female assets after she’d been skinny dipping.”
His grin widened. “If that wasn’t enough to scare me off, nothing was, right?”
She slipped her hand into his free one. “I think under normal circumstances that might be a fair assessment, but this is Rain we’re talking about. The woman is a magnet for the ridiculous.”
“I love your mother,” he said seriously.
“Good, because we’re a package deal,” she said, staring at their joined hands.
“I know.” He waited until she lifted her gaze to his again. “That first day we met, I knew I was going to fall in love with you, Cookie James.”
Cookie nodded and held her breath while she waited for what was to come next. Only when he hesitated, she couldn’t take it. She said, “Dylan, will you—”
He leaned in and cut her off, kissing her until all thoughts left her whirling mind and she leaned into him, grabbing his shirt with both hands.
Only then did Dylan pull back slightly and say, “Cookie, will you marry me?”
The vision of the first time she saw him, shirtless with the dark swoop of hair falling over his forehead and his blue eyes twinkling in the sun as he spoke to her flashed in her mind. She was like a fish out of water when she and her mother landed on Secret Seal Isle, but the day she met Dylan her life turned itself around. Little did she know that the next two years would show her that she’d found the love of her life. And the love of a small island town she could call home. She smiled against his lips and whispered, “Yes.”
* * *
Previous Secret Seal Isle Mysteries
New Corpse in Town
Life in the Dead Lane
A Walk on the Dead Side
Any Way You Bury It
Death is in the Air
Signed, Sealed, Fatal I’m Yours
Sweet Corpse of Mine
Knocking on Death’s Door
Coming Soon! Accidentally Undercover
Meet Dora and Evie, two best friends who are suddenly thrown into the world of life undercover as they fight to prove Dora’s innocence in the death of her money-laundering boss, in Peril in Pensacola.
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About the Author
Lucy Quinn is the brainchild of New York Times bestselling author Deanna Chase and USA Today bestselling author Violet Vaughn. Having met over a decade ago in a lampwork bead forum, the pair were first what they like to call “show wives” as they traveled the country together, selling their handmade glass beads. So when they both started writing fiction, it seemed only natural for the two friends to pair up with their hilarious, laugh-out-loud, cozy mysteries. At least they think so. Now they travel the country, meeting up in various cities to plan each new Lucy Quinn book while giggling madly at themselves and the ridiculous situations they force on their characters. They very much hope you enjoy them as much as they do.
Deanna Chase, is a native Californian, transplanted to the slower paced lifestyle of southeastern Louisiana. When she isn’t writing, she is often goofing off with her husband in New Orleans, playing with her two shih tzu dogs, or making glass beads.
Violet Vaughn lives on an island off the Coast of Maine where she spends most mornings in the woods with her dogs and most afternoons and evenings telling stories.
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