Rip Your Heart Out
Page 27
Her barely audible reply sounded like, "I'd prefer banana pudding on my radiator."
"Your what? Did you say radiator?" Between a terrible connection and her obvious distress, I was unable to make out much of what she said. I took comfort in knowing if she was able to speak, she was at least alive and conscious.
"All roads closed___ Milo ___ ___the roof___ ___ wind___ is dead___ ___ ___ripped apart___ ___ the pier___ dog___ ___ big mess___ ___ ___what to do." That's all I could make out before the call dropped. I immediately tried to call her back, but to no avail.
Everyone gathered in the parlor stared at me in trepidation. I'm sure my expression was that of a person staring straight into the eyes of a rabid coyote, snarling and licking his chops at the same time.
"I, um, I think she was trying to tell me that Milo's dead." I was so choked up, I could barely speak. "And something to do with the dog making a mess."
"What?" Rip asked, clearly perplexed.
"Then again, maybe it was their dog that died."
"They don't have a dog!" Rip replied impatiently. "What exactly did Regina say?"
"I think she might've said Milo fell off the roof due to the wind." I was desperately trying to make sense of what few decipherable words I'd heard. "And something, or someone, was ripped apart."
"No doubt a lot of things were ripped apart, but even Milo's not foolish enough to stand on the roof in a hurricane. Did Regina specifically say he'd been killed?" After a career in law enforcement, Rip was more focused on facts than emotions.
"I'm not sure. There was a lot of static on the line."
"I reckon all we can do at this point is to wait for Regina to contact us again," Rip said after a heavy sigh. His voice was composed, but his expression was anything but.
Although I was extremely relieved to have heard Regina's voice, I remained distraught the rest of the evening over the possible fate of her husband. Sleep that night eluded me. I lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. An uneasy feeling churned in my stomach, letting me know that unforeseen changes were just over the horizon.
~
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Ripped Apart
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Acknowledgements
I'd like to thank my "quality control department"—Sarah Goodman, Shirley Worley, and Janet Wright—for donating their time and expertise to proofread my manuscript. A special thanks to Janet, my nightly walking companion, for her ever helpful input into my stories and the use of her late great-aunt's name, Mabel Trumbo. My dear friend even gracefully accepted the fact I killed Aunt Mabel off in my story. Our evening strolls are usually more talking than walking, but our discussions are invaluable to me when I'm in the midst of an evolving mystery.
My gratitude also goes out to my two wonderful editors—Alice Duncan, of Roswell, New Mexico; and Judy Beatty, of Madison, Alabama. And, as always, my deepest appreciation goes to my publishers, whom I'd be helpless, and probably hopeless, without. They are Nina Paules of eBookPrep, and Brian Paules of its sister company, ePublishingWorks.
Last, but not least, I'd like to thank my wonderful and long-suffering husband, Bob. He patiently tries to help me when I ask him things like, "Do you know how much arsenic it'd take to kill a man about your size?" Or, "What's a good way to kill a person without leaving any evidence?"
Bob doesn't admit to being concerned, but I swear he's learned to sleep with one eye open. I made him promise to never die in a questionable manner. As you know, the spouse is always the number one suspect, and if homicide detectives were to ever confiscate my computer and discover all of the suspicious-sounding topics I've researched over the past few years, I'd likely never see the light of day again.
Rapella's Heart-Healthy Meal
Garlic-Roasted Salmon & Brussels Sprouts*
Ingredients:
14 large cloves of garlic
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons finely chopped oregano, divided
1 teaspoon salt, divided
3/4 teaspoon pepper, divided
3/4 cups of white wine, preferably Chardonnay
6 cups of Brussels sprouts, trimmed and sliced
2 pounds fresh salmon filet, skinned and cut into 6 portions
Lemon wedges
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Mince 2 garlic cloves and combine in a small bowl with oil, 1 tablespoon oregano, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Halve the remaining garlic and toss with Brussels sprouts and 3 tablespoons of the seasoned oil in a large roasting pan. Roast, stirring once, for 15 minutes.
Add wine to the remaining oil mixture. Remove the pan from oven, stir the vegetables and place salmon on top. Drizzle with the wine mixture. Sprinkle with the remaining 1 tablespoon of oregano and 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and pepper. Bake until the salmon is just cooked through, 5 to 10 minutes more. Serve with lemon wedges.
*As you have already learned from this story, you should not consume large amounts of Brussels sprouts if you are taking an anticoagulant drug.
Oreo "Ripple" Coffee Cake
Ingredients:
20 reduced-fat Oreo cookies, coarsely chopped
1/3 cup of unbleached flour
3 tablespoons of light margarine, melted
1/3 cup of semisweet chocolate chips
16-ounce pound cake mix
3/4 cups of water
2 whole large eggs
Glaze: 1 cup powdered sugar and 4 teaspoons of fat-free milk
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a 10" tube (Bundt) cake pan with cooking spray and flour, and set aside. In a small bowl, combine Oreos, flour, margarine, and chocolate chips. Mix well and set aside. In a larger mixing bowl, combine cake mix, water, and eggs. Pour half the batter into prepared pan. Sprinkle two cups of cookie mixture over the top of the batter. Top with remaining batter and cookie mixture, pressing cookie mixture gently into batter. Bake for 50 minutes. Cool in pan for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and invert cake to cool completely. Meanwhile, prepare the glaze by combining powdered sugar and milk in a small bowl. Mix until drizzling consistency. Drizzle over cake.
Jeanne Glidewell, lives with her husband, Bob, and chubby cat, Dolly, in Bonner Springs, Kansas, during the warmer months, and Rockport, Texas, the remainder of the year. Unfortunately, Hurricane Harvey made landfall on August 25, 2017, in their beloved town and their waterfront condo was destroyed. But, fortunately, they were able to rent an apartment from their wonderful Rockport friends, Dave and Cindy Colmer, this winter as their home was undergoing reconstruction.
Besides writing and fishing, Jeanne enjoys wildlife photography and traveling both here and abroad. This year Jeanne and Bob traveled to Australia and New Zealand with friends, Sheila and Randy Davis, in February, and while Bob fished with friends in Canada, Jeanne and her friend, Janet Wright, enjoyed a Caribbean cruise in May. They look forward to returning to their newly rebuilt south Texas home in October 2018.
Jeanne and Bob owned and operated a large RV park in Cheyenne, Wyoming, for twelve years. It was that enjoyable period in her life that inspired her to write a mystery series involving a full-time RVing couple—The Ripple Effect series.
As a 2006 pancreas and kidney transplant recipient, Jeanne now volunteers as a mentor for the Gift of Life of KC program, helping future transplant recipients prepare mentally and emotionally for their upcoming transplants. Please consider the possibility of giving the gift of life by opting to be an organ donor.
Jeanne is the author of a romance/suspense novel, Soul Survivor, six novels and one novella in her NY Times best-selling Lexie Starr cozy mystery series, and four novels in her Ripple Effect cozy mystery series. She is currently writing Marriage and Mayhem, book seven in the Lexie Starr series, a
nd hopes to have it released in the fall of 2018. The Ripple Effect book 5, Ripped Apart, will follow, hopefully in the early spring of 2019.