by Rae Davies
Surprised by his question, I hesitated. “July. Why?”
“I’m trying to decide if having them here will help keep you busy and out of trouble, or if having more of you here means I need to tell the department to defer all vacation requests until after they’re gone.”
Then, deadpan as ever, he walked off.
o0o
Three weeks later, life was just about back to normal, or as normal as my life gets. Rhonda, Betty, Phyllis, the WILers (except Kristi) and I were at Cuppa Joe’s waiting to hear word on who had won the window display contest. The judging had been two hours earlier, and I was feeling good about it.
Cindy had tried to get back all the things that she or Darrell had loaned me, but Darrell had gotten back in town and said a deal was a deal. I wasn’t completely sure what deal he meant and was suspicious it had more to do with what I now knew about his hobbies than honor among friends or frenemies, but I didn’t argue. The Deeres had put me through enough. I figured I’d earned the loan of Ruby’s painting and other items.
The timing had been good too. With the news of the prostitution ring that had been run out of the Caffeine Cartel hitting local, state, and even some national news, I’d had a lot of people come to the store specifically to see my ode to the oldest profession. And to meet Betty, who’d been built up as some kind of folk hero with her brass tray of justice.
“Too bad Kristi didn’t come,” Betty offered. “Having a real life madam in the display would have really been something.”
As if the two of us, looking like extras from Miss Kitty’s saloon in Gunsmoke, wasn’t enough. I glanced down at my naked cleavage and took a sip of my latte.
“So, she was running the prostitution ring?” Rhonda asked. “What about the pot? Was she part of that too?”
I shook my head. I’d worked a trade with Bev, the reporter, and managed to get what information I didn’t have filled in. “The prostitution was all Kristi and Rachel. Missy had wanted to keep things more in the R rating... pot brownies and Mardi Gras beads.”
“Without the beads,” Laura added.
Betty adjusted her bustier, pulling her “girls” higher. “Cash is a fair substitute.”
“Missy started the business, didn’t she?” Rhonda asked.
“No, it was Kristi. They think she has similar interests in other states. But then Missy had second thoughts, on the prostitution part anyway. She thought adding in the brownies would bring in enough money. Kristi and Rachel didn’t agree. Plus, they were worried that Missy’s ventures were bringing in too much attention.”
Rhonda posed a question to the group. “Do you think Kristi was in on the murder?”
There was a wide variety of headshakes and nods.
I wasn’t sure, but I was leaning toward guilty, at least to some degree. “Missy was a problem for both Rachel and Kristi, and I can’t really see Rachel doing that on her own.” I also couldn’t see Kristi doing the deed. “My guess is she put Rachel up to it and then tried to cover her tracks.” Which, obviously, Rachel didn’t appreciate.
“Well,” Betty said. “Kristi isn’t being charged with it. At least not yet.”
She also hadn’t been released on bail. Her possible interests in other states had been listed as a reason for the denial, at least for now.
“What about the stocking and all the phone calls trying to frame you?”
“I think Rachel did a lot of that. Some under Kristi’s guidance. Some not. She must have found the pill bottle when she killed Missy and put it in my Jeep that day when I saw her outside the B&B. The stocking had to be her too. She’s the one who was seeing Darrell. So she must have put them in the box and called the police once she thought they would have been delivered.”
“She did come by that day,” Betty added.
“But Kristi came by too and took the stocking back,” Phoebe insisted. “She had to know it was there.”
Phyllis spoke for the first time. “She took it back. Maybe she was trying to stop Rachel from framing Lucy.” She took a sip of her coffee, and then set her hands primly onto her lap. The revelation that her fellow WILer had been behind the prostitution ring had not set well with my partner. I didn’t think the prostitution part bothered her as much as feeling that she’d been taken in by Kristi’s act. Which probably explained why she, at least, was a fan of giving Kristi a break.
Another snort from Laura. “But that means she had to know that Rachel left the stocking, which means she had to know that Rachel killed Missy. At the very least.”
With that, an unsettled silence fell over us. None of us, with the possible exception of Betty, seemed all that happy with the outcome of our recent adventures.
Joe stepped into the middle of the room and waved a manila envelope, quieting the rest of the room too.
“First,” he said, looking around at the packed room. “I want to thank everyone who stood by me. Who believed in me and who fought to make things right. With that in mind, I have an announcement of my own. A new drink. Full cream, full sugar, and full caffeine. If this doesn’t loosen you up, nothing will.”
He carried over a cup and set it down in front of me. “Not,” he said with a smile. “That I think you need loosening up.”
I flushed. I thought he had forgiven me, but I hadn’t known for sure.
He paused for a moment, but then moved back to center stage. “Now, for the winner!”
Someone in the crowd made the sound of a drum roll.
“The winner is...”
I held my breath. I knew I was going to win. The picture of Ruby had just been too great and too timely. And I hadn’t dressed up in this gut–squeezing costume for nothing.
Joe cleared his throat.
“The Castle, for their live demonstration of 19th century sheep herding.”
My breath caught and not because of the corset.
Sheep?
“They serve food. Is that even legal?” Rhonda asked.
I didn’t know. I was too busy processing two hard–to–swallow facts: There would be no free B&B stay for my parents, and Kiska and I had been beaten by sheep.
Again.
-The End-
Thanks so much for taking the time to read Loose Lips! If you enjoyed it, I would really appreciate your help in keeping the series going by posting a review online.
Lucy, Kiska, and I thank you!
And big thanks to The Write Friends who allowed me to steal their names (and Abi's) for the WILers. All similarities stop there.
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Rae Davies
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Website: http://RaeDavies.com
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For dark paranormal romance and urban fantasy novels, visit Rae’s other persona, Lori Devoti.
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Books by Rae Davies
Mysteries
Loose Screw
Cut Loose
Loosey Goosey
Let Loose
Lucy and the Valentine Verdict (a Dusty Deals Novella)
Loose Lips
Box Sets
Loose & Lethal: Box Set of Books 1 – 3 Dusty Deals Mystery Series
Romances
Love is All Around
Love is All You Need
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