by Marie Celine
Kitty slowly shook her head.
Velma’s voice took on a hard edge. “Come on, Kitty. Drink the soup. Believe me, it’s easier this way. You wouldn’t rather have the knife, would you?”
Velma grabbed Kitty’s arm and twisted it roughly behind her back. Kitty howled. Velma pushed the soup to her mouth. Hot, poisonous soup splashed over Kitty’s face and scalded her tongue. She gagged. Velma was pushing her to the floor.
The door flew open. Jack burst in. “Kitty, are you okay?”
Velma screamed in frustration and tossed the bowl at the detective. He dodged to one side. The bowl missed him, but not the knife that Gil had thrown. Jack hadn’t seen it coming. It struck him in the thigh and he went down.
“Jack!” Kitty shouted in horror. Velma had released her grip on Kitty and she scrambled to Jack’s aid. Gil lunged at the fallen detective, grabbed the knife and was about to hit him with it again when Jack managed to pull out his revolver. He shot once and Gil went down on top of him.
The explosion shattered Kitty’s ears. And the air was filled with dancing stars. She heard moaning and didn’t know if it was Jack or Gil or both of them.
Kitty struggled to her feet and turned toward the sound of footsteps. “Velma!”
A long deboning knife glistening in Velma’s fist. Kitty was going to be sliced to ribbons. She grabbed a cushion and threw. Foam peanuts exploded all around as Velma’s knife slashed through the material.
“Velma, please,” begged Kitty. “It doesn’t have to be like this.”
“You are such a pain,” hissed Velma. “Look at the trouble you’ve caused.” She dove.
Kitty snatched a lamp off the table and wrapped her hands around it. She closed her eyes. If she was going to die, she was going to go down swinging.
Her hands shook and the lamp fell from her grasp. She’d hit something! Kitty opened her eyes. Velma looked dazed. But she was still coming, blood oozing from her temple.
Kitty reached for the broken lamp. Velma’s knife dug into her arm and she recoiled. Burning pain shot through her arm and raced all the way to her shoulder. She kicked.
Velma kicked back and she was bigger and stronger. “Stop struggling, bitch!”
Velma flipped Kitty over on her back. She straddled Kitty with her big legs on each side, effectively anchoring her victim down. Kitty was going to be pinned to the floor! Blindly, Kitty lashed out with her arms. Her hand found the lamp and she slammed it against Velma’s ear.
Velma squealed with rage. She grabbed her ear and bounced up and down on Kitty a couple of times. Kitty could barely breathe. And she’d dropped her weapon.
The deboning knife was only inches from her eyes and coming fast. Kitty squeezed her eyes shut. Her mind went blank. This was it. This was Death. Hardly the way she’d pictured it.
A large boom shook the room. Kitty opened her eyes. Velma was falling off to one side. Her other side was covered with blood. The deboning knife fell harmlessly to the carpet. Kitty pulled herself out from under Velma’s weight.
“Jack! Are you okay?”
The detective laid his revolver on the ground. Gil was still clinging to him, even in death. “So,” said Jack, “some third date, eh?”
33
Jack limped into the kitchen. Libby was trailing along behind, wagging her tail.
“How’s your leg?” Kitty asked.
“I won’t be doing any dancing for a couple of months, but otherwise it’s not so bad. How’s your arm?”
Kitty involuntarily winced, remembering the way Velma had stabbed her in the upper arm—the same arm that now brandished a cheap plastic spatula she’d found in one of his kitchen drawers. “Better. Where’d you get this thing, anyway?” She waved the white spatula in front of his nose. “One of those dollar stores?”
He grinned and helped himself to a glass of water. “Better still. The bargain bin at the dollar store. Three for a dollar. I got a can opener and a pizza cutter, too.” He started rummaging around in the drawer. “They’re in here somewhere.”
Kitty rolled her eyes.
“Hey, they work great.”
“So what happened?” Kitty broke open a half dozen eggs and dropped them into a large glass bowl. Libby’s tail went crazy.
“Not much. Velma won’t stop talking. In fact, she’s rather proud of herself.”
“The poor girl. She must be insane. I hope she gets help.”
“She tried to kill you, Kitty!”
Kitty shrugged. “I can’t help it. She was my friend.”
“You’re a little crazy yourself. You know that?” Jack sat at the small kitchen table and looked out the back window. “The funny thing is, it looks like Velma Humphries is going to end up spending the rest of her days at the Hollywood Hills Psychiatric Hospital once she recuperates.”
“Like her grandfather?”
“Just like her grandfather. Weird, isn’t it?”
Kitty nodded. It was too weird. There was something very strange about the Wright house and she was very glad to have no reason to ever return there.
“Oh, I don’t think you’ll be delivering meals to Richard Couric and Timothy Toms for a while.”
“What’s happened?”
“They’ve flown the coop, as the saying goes. Put the house up on the market. Looks like they’ll be setting up shop elsewhere. They must have been feeling too much heat.”
Kitty nodded. It was probably for the best. “And I had a call from Tracy. She was so excited. She’s gotten a six-week engagement opening for a magic act in Vegas.”
“I guess all the publicity did her more good than bad.”
“That’s what she said. I’m happy for her.” Kitty unwrapped a hunk of meat wrapped in foil. “The odd thing is that Fang Danson and Angela Evan still want me to cook meals for Benny and Little Rich.”
“Go figure.” Jack tilted his glass and watched Kitty grating some sort of cheese. “You going to do it?”
“Of course. I have a business to run.”
“You could run it from here.” In response to Kitty’s puzzled look, Jack added, “From my house.”
“We are not married, Jack.”
He rose and looked over her shoulder. “It’s only a matter of time. Right, Lib?”
The Labrador barked once.
“See? Lib knows.” He sniffed. “What’s that you’re cooking? Some sort of an omelet?”
Kitty gave Jack her best smile. “Oh, not just an omelet. I’ve named this recipe especially for you.”
“Really?” Jack sounded pleased.
“Yep, I call this the My True Jack Omelet.”
Jack wrapped a hand around Kitty’s waist for support. His leg was throbbing. “With cheese?”
“Yes,” Kitty quipped, pointing to the saucer of grated cheese, “a little jack,” she lifted the meat from the cutting board, “and a lot of ham.”
Also available from Beachfront Entertainment
IT’S A YOUNG, YOUNG WORLD
by Glenn Meganck
“It's A Young, Young World by Glenn Meganck is the story of an aging American senator and his compatriots who are mysteriously drawn by a scientist's dying words about the secret of eternal youth and the ability to live forever. Struggling to keep up in a youthful world, retiring Senator Chauncy and his 20-something bride purse an opportunity to recapture the power and excitement of youth in this fast-paced, wryly told, deftly written adventure laced with a very special insight into today's youth-centric culture. Highly recommended.” Midwest Book Review
It’s a young world and Senator Robert Chauncy is old and getting older. Soon to be retired, the senator and his young bride are off to Florida for a little honeymoon. But his wife, Sheila, has a wandering eye and Fate has other surprises for them as well. On their way down the eastern seaboard, Sen. Chauncy finds himself trying to rescue a drowning man. The stranger dies, but before passing away, he baffles the senator and the gathered spectators with a mad tale of living forever. At first, his words are taken f
or those of a man in caught in delirium. But it is soon discovered that the seemingly middle-aged dead man was in reality an eccentric and elderly foreign scientist named Titus Olshenski. Sen. Chauncy and the others begin to wonder if Olshenski’s dying words carry some hidden meaning. Did Olshenski have the key to the Fountain of Youth? Can the scientist’s riddle be unlocked? Can they find the Fountain of Youth? Fate only knows, and before long, the race is on to see who will live forever and who is doomed to die.
“Exceptional!!!’” Today’s Books
Join Sen. Chauncy, who longs to be virile enough to satisfy his young wife; an aging hippy named Rocky and his own wife, Laura, with disabling multiple sclerosis; a puzzling and disturbing old man whose motives are unknown; a young lifeguard with the hots for the senator’s wife; an old woman and her cat, Lester; a vain former teen idol who craves a return to his glory days and the rest of the zany cast as they race to be the first to the Fountain of Youth in Glenn Meganck’s fast, fun and furious adventure, IT’S A YOUNG, YOUNG WORLD, a story that explores the power and allure of youth in today’s culture and the extreme effort some will exert to maintain or regain their own youthfulness in the face of growing old.
www.GLENNMEGANCK.com
Also available from Beachfront
MURDER IN ST. BARTS and DEATH OF A CHEAT
Gendarme Charles Trenet novels by J.R. Ripley
Available in hardcover, trade paperback and economical ($2.99) Ebook editions
An exciting new series by the critically acclaimed author of the Tony Kozol mysteries. Murder and romance fill the air on the exotic island of St. Barts in the French West Indies...
“It would be hard not to like Murder In St. Barts. The dialogue, the humor, and the sarcasm give us all something to enjoy.” I Love A Mystery
“Trenet is a well developed, likable character, and the novel offers an absorbing mystery set in the exotic playground of the rich and famous. An entertaining new series...” Booklist
“Funomenal!”
1Reviews for FIVE MINUTES, by Nick Lucas
“Debut novelist Lucas joins the growing list of Florida crime writers (Carl Hiaasen, Laurence Shames, Tim Dorsey) who mix capers with comedy. This lightweight romp stars unscrupulous real-estate salesman Todd Jones, whose wheelings and dealings have landed him a hot Ft. Lauderdale condo and an even hotter girlfriend but who seems to have run out of luck. The story opens with Todd being threatened at gunpoint by his best friend, Dr. Doug Freeman, who is miffed that Todd slept with his wife, Caroline. When Doug is killed in a boating accident, and Caroline is found dead soon after, things don’t look good for Todd. To make matters worse, he has sold a bum property to a mobster and unwittingly involved himself in a drug deal with a surfer dude. Then his mother comes to visit. Readers will fall hard for this lovable loser as he struggles to stay alive while keeping his girlfriend from finding out what he is doing and his mom’s pet pig from eating his stuff. Further adventures would be most welcome.” BOOKLIST
“This is the 1st novel written by Nick Lucas. It’s a comic thriller with a wacky plot. Todd Jones is a hotshot realtor in Fort Lauderdale, Florida with a hot girlfriend. The story begins with Todd getting a routine physical from his doctor and friend Doug Freeman. After the physical Todd asks Doug how healthy he is, Dr. Doug tells him he has five minutes to live. Todd laughs and says no, really is there a problem? Dr. Doug repeats that Todd has Five minutes to live. The doctor goes to a cabinet and pulls out a gun and points it at Todd and tells him he has five minutes to live because he slept with his wife. As Todd is trying to deny everything and stop the madness the doctor is counting down. He does get away and is constantly followed by the obsessed Dr. Doug who continues to try to kill him. Lots of great characters, A homicide detective, a Greek investor who Todd sold 4 building lots to which are underwater, a wealthy gun dealer who lives across the road from the submerged building lots with a surfer son who is a recreational drug user, who is always getting Todd in trouble, Todd’s mother who burned down her condo and moves in with Todd and almost burns down his condo and a pot-bellied pig. The gun dealer of course doesn’t want the lots to be developed. All kinds of bad stuff happens to Todd, he tries to have Dr. Doug killed, he continues his affair with the Docs wife, loses his girlfriend and a bunch of other stuff. But in the end everything seems to work out. The last sentence in the book is extremely clever. The book is only 245 pages and is a quick read. I liked it.” JUST PLUM CRAZY
“Five Minutes: A Comic Thriller is a darkly funny, rip-roaring novel about a fast-talking realtor who is quite possibly the world's worst judge of character. Hunted down by drug dealers, irate customers, a betrayed girlfriend and the husband of a married woman he had an affair with, he has five minutes to live at the opening of the story - perhaps more if he can persuade the angry husband not to point the gun at his head. Then again, perhaps not. Oh, and his mother has come to live with him and won't take no for an answer. A wildly frantic novel about a ne'er do well whose bad deeds have caught up with him, and his wacky struggle to stay just one step ahead of the trigger, suspenseful to the very last word.” MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW
About FIVE MINUTES:
Todd Jones is a hotshot realtor in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He’s got a hot girlfriend, too. The trouble is that Todd is a real bad judge of character, especially his own. Todd’s got himself tangled up worse than an old fishing line balled up in that long forgotten tackle box in the garage. Let’s enumerate.
One of Todd’s biggest clients is mad because the property Todd talked him into buying is underwater—literally. A screwy surfer dude with a recreational drug habit and a millionaire gun manufacturer for a father has got some not-so-friendly dealers on his tail. Todd’s mother has shown up and wants to live with him. And she’s brought her pet pig. And, oh, yeah, there’s this little problem Todd is having with one of his best friends, Dr. Doug Freeman. Todd has been sleeping with Doug’s wife. Okay, so maybe he shouldn’t have. He’d be the first to admit that it may have been an error in judgment on his part. He is a bad judge of character, remember?
And that leads us to Todd Jones’ biggest problem. Dr. Doug has found out about Todd’s philandering and is aiming a pistol at Todd’s forehead even as we speak. Todd has five minutes to live. Maybe less if his girlfriend finds out about his cheating ways.
Nick Lucas’ FIVE MINUTES starts at a brisk boil and never lets up until the last sentence is laid down in this gripping comic thriller about a man whose life has taken a quick and nasty turn for the worse. And goes downhill from there. . .
"George and the Angels" is intriguing, funny, and plays with notions of reality in ways that bend your mind. It's both a romp and a quest through a world that may or may not be real, with a quirky protagonist who may or may not be crazy. So pull up a chair and get lost for an afternoon! T.J. MacGregor, 2003 Edgar Award Winning Author of TOTAL SILENCE
ISBN: 1-892339-59-1/$25 US Hardcover
Also Available In Trade Paperback ($15) and
Ebook ($2.99) Versions
“Glenn Meganck's George And The Angels is an outstanding novel about George Richard's terribly mundane, tedious, and seemingly aimless existence. As George progressively becomes disappointed in his life, the gray surrounding him becomes ever more appropriate, and the calling of what seems to be angels brings him briefly to his wife's decision to commit him to a hospital. Readers follow the voices of angels as they beckon him irresistibly to a small boat in the middle of an ocean, which soon becomes his greatest challenge. A truly timeless and well-crafted story of one man's decision to create his own fate in life and pursue even the most disillusioned dreams, George And The Angels is very strongly recommended and entertaining reading.” Midwest Book Review
“A very good read.” Janwillem Van de Wetering
“Novels that actually defy description in many ways...If the metaphysical interests you, this story will too.” Bookviews