Pepper Patrick strides by slowly as she waves at the hysterical masses, most of which seem to be middle-aged women all holding a stack of books thirsty for her signature. There are loads of books for purchase inside the library as well. I took a peek at the signing setup, a six-foot table loaded with books and a pitcher of water that I’m guessing is for Pepper. A microphone sits at a nearby podium for a brief reading and a Q and A session to follow. Unfortunately, there was no room for too many folding chairs, so most of the crowd will have to stand, but judging by the enthusiasm that’s taken ahold of the masses, that won’t be a problem. Half of them are floating already.
Pepper heads on into the library, and the crowd vacuums right along with her in her wake.
“That was incredible.” I can’t help but laugh a little at the sight.
Bear turns my way. Bear is your typical sandy-haired stud who happens to own a construction company. He’s just finishing up putting in a conservatory at my mother’s B&B, so I’m all done harboring a grudge against him for demolishing my heart all those years ago.
Bear grunts, “She’s not that hot.”
I can’t help but roll my eyes. I’m about to lay into him for judging a proverbial book by her cover—pun fully intended—when Everett strides up with a horrible sight next to him.
“Lemon.” Everett bows slightly. “This man has been looking everywhere for you.”
A series of choking sounds emit from my throat as I look at the bad judgment call before me. Seeing Curtis Vanderlin in the flesh is like living out a waking nightmare. It’s like seeing the dead walk the planet once again. And this is one potential corpse I might actually prefer in a casket.
“Lottie Lemon!” He holds out a hand awkwardly before diving over me with a hard embrace. “What the heck, right?” He pulls back and slaps his chest silly until he’s a good two feet away, that goofy grin still plastered on his face. “Boy, you are still as stunningly sexy as you’ve ever been.”
On cue, all three men surrounding us puff up their chests as if suddenly on high alert.
Curtis looks about the same as I remember him, a good foot taller than me, but he slouches so it takes that back down by half, dirty blond hair, stone gray eyes, birdlike features, but strikingly handsome in a male underwear model kind of way. He’s bedroom eyeing me—but then, come to find out, that’s his go-to look. Curt has a master’s degree in business, and last I heard, via my internet stalking methods, he works for a hedge fund company and is doing rather nicely for himself.
“Lemon?” Everett’s voice drops several octaves, and I come to.
A heavy sigh expels from me. “Curt, these are my exes, Bear and Noah. Everett is my”—I wince because I’m not sure how to classify him—“gentleman caller.” My God, anything but that. My cheeks heat with a volcanic vengeance.
Curt slaps his chest, and it’s only then I note he’s donned a flannel. Curtis is a preppy through and through, so I’m sure he’s donned the flannel because he feels he’s in flannel territory, sort of the way a tourist might be moved to dress up in western garb when visiting Texas.
“Well, well, it looks like my little Lottie has made the rounds.” Curt belts out a belly laugh, and I want nothing more than to stick my boot in his mouth. He stops cold while eyeing something behind me. “Looks like that battle-ax is at it again.” The veins in his neck bulge. “I’ll be back, and we’ll catch right up.” He looks down at me, almost lovingly, and my stomach takes a dip. I used to melt when he looked at me this way. I thought I was the only girl he could see. Of course, I said yes when he dropped to one knee all those years ago. I was foolish and eager to get my happily ever after. Little did I know it would never arrive. “You are a little vixen.” He lets out something between a howl and a purr before speeding off behind me, and I couldn’t be happier.
I glance back and spot him passing up Felicity and some unkempt looking man whose skin looks tinged with grime, his jeans are filthy and have gaping holes at the knees, the scruff on his cheeks looks scraggly, and the hair peering from under his dirty orange ball cap looks as if it’s been dipped in oil. For a second I wonder if Felicity might need assistance, but she glances my way before pulling the man farther down the hall and out of my line of vision. And no sooner do they disappear than I spot Simon Warwick heading in their direction.
“What was that about?” Bear steps back as if he might chase Curt down and work him over with his nail gun. Not a bad scenario, might I add.
“That was about you breaking my heart and chasing me out of Honey Hollow. See what you did? You directly caused the New York Disaster.” And that is exactly how I’ve classified Curt all these years, as the New York Disaster.
“Lottie?” Noah takes a step in that direction, his hand feeling for his weapon.
“Easy, Noah. You’ve already lost one job because you blew out the tires of your wife’s side guy’s car. You don’t need to lose this job on account of me.” I avert my eyes at the thought. That was the only truth he ever told me about his wife. Sure, I knew he had a wife while we were dating, but I thought she was an ex. Huge difference in my book, but apparently not Noah’s. Although he did apologize profusely and let me know he was about to fill me in on their complicated and yet impending divorce. It wasn’t happening back then, but it is now. Good for them, I suppose. I’m still licking my wounds from the trauma of inadvertently being the other woman.
Everett shakes his head. “I don’t like the guy.”
“And that makes two of us.” I can’t help but smile at the ornery judge. That’s actually how I met Everett. He was presiding over a court case I was dragged into, and he wisely sided with me. I instantly knew I liked this sexy stack of knowledge.
Just as Noah steps in to pipe up, someone calls his name from the entry, and judging by the high-pitched tone, it’s decidedly a female.
We look over, and I suck in a quick lungful at the sight. Standing tall and stunningly, savagely gorgeous are not one but two beautiful blondes, Mrs. Britney Fox, as in Noah’s other legal half, and Cormack Featherby, the woman who ripped a hole through Everett and Noah’s relationship back in high school. Rumor has it, Everett had her first, and Noah snatched her away. And she happens to be the very reason Noah is convinced that Everett has masterfully snatched me away. As if.
The two leggy blondes trot over like a couple of Clydesdales who command your attention. It’s a boob bouncing shock and awe campaign if ever there was one.
“Noah!” Cormack lunges over him and I’m quick to get out of the way before I’m smothered in the undertow. “My little sister, Landon, is somewhere in this mess. Can you believe it?” She looks to Everett. “And don’t think I’m forgetting about my Essex!”
She pulls him in and makes a move for his lips, but he turns his head and she smacks him on the cheek instead. What did I tell you? The man is wise beyond his years. I can’t help but give a little wink as he looks my way.
Cormack sniffs past the rejection. “I’m in town looking for a place. Landon moved here a few months back and is wild and out of control. She needs someone like me looking after her.” She purrs to both Noah and Everett, and I do not like the way she’s ogling them so freely. My God, she’s like a kid in a candy store. And might I add, both of the aforementioned men are looking mouthwateringly delicious, but that’s not the point. “I’m staying at that cheap little B&B down the road, and that’s where I met this treasure.” She pulls Britney in, and the two of them bray out a laugh in unison. Noah’s soon-to-be ex is a va-va-voom beauty whose hourglass shape knows no human bounds. Her long blonde locks hang heavy over her left eye, and she oozes sex appeal. I’m positive I look like a toad in her presence. I certainly feel it.
“Please stop by, hon.” Britney gives Noah’s tie a tug. “The two of us are dying to dig our claws into you.”
Noah glances my way and presses out a warm smile. “I’m busy, Brit, but thanks for the invite.”
What the heck kind of an invite was that? One that leads to
a threesome no doubt.
The feedback from a microphone goes off in the depth of the library behind us, and the murmuring crowd grows morbidly silent.
I crane my neck and spot Lainey, my sweet older sister by two years, standing before the crowd as she introduces Pepper Patrick to a wild applause. Lainey and I share the same caramel waves and hazel eyes even though we don’t have an ounce of the same DNA. Even though I’ve always known that my birth mother had left me on the floor of the Honey Hollow Fire Department when I was just hours old, I always held out hope that my mother and father would tell me they were just teasing. Lainey and I look so much alike I couldn’t really believe I was adopted. Our sister Meg, on the other hand, was a pretty convincing argument.
Cormack links arms with Jessica Rabbit, aka Noah’s other half. “We’d better head inside and join the party.” And they make a mad dash to do just that.
“Where’s Rhonda?” I panic for a moment. “She said she’s waited her entire life for this moment.” I press my way toward the gaping doors that lead to the entrance of the library and spot Rigby and Felicity pushing their way deeper into the crowd. I spot Willow, Rhonda’s assistant, near the front, and she looks as if she’s searching for Rhonda herself.
A small crowd pushes between Everett and my tribe of exes and me—and soon I find myself speeding toward the back to the employee lounge where I last saw Rhonda.
The oversized macaw screeches as it flies my way, and I duck in fear I might actually get tangled in its ghostly talons. It could happen. My powers seem to be growing, and as they increase so do the abilities of those ghostly visitors. Not only can I now see them, I can hear them, and the last few poltergeists have had the unnerving ability to move things in the natural world. It’s terrifying to think what might happen next.
“Rhonda, where are you?” I say mostly to myself as I thread my way through the crowd. She can’t miss this. She was born for this.
I make my way to the lounge and give a quick look around the vicinity, but I don’t see a single soul. I take step back, and I’m just about to leave when I spot what looks to be red glitter and I freeze. Peering out from underneath the table is one lonely ruby slipper.
My feet carry me deeper into the employee lounge, and I can hear the crowd cheering in the distance.
I take a careful step around the oversized table, and a scream gets trapped in my throat.
Lying on the floor with a slice of my cheesecake upturned next to her is a woman with a white plastic bag over her head. There’s a bright yellow smiley face emblazoned over the front of it as it gives an eerie grimace my way. The poor woman’s neck is as ruby red as those slippers she’s wearing, and it just so happens to be twisted in an unnatural position. But it’s that whimsically embellished bright blue cardigan that tips me off. This is indeed my dear friend Rhonda, and a scream dislodges from me at the thought.
Rhonda Gilbert isn’t going to see Pepper Patrick after all.
She is undeniably, unquestionably, most certainly dead.
Chapter 3
It takes less than three seconds for Noah and Everett to flood the room.
Noah hits the floor, takes the bag off her head, and quickly checks poor Rhonda’s inert vitals. That overgrown bird is perched over her chest, overseeing the events unfolding while making sounds that eerily resemble a sobbing human.
“I don’t get it.” Noah shakes his head as if he’s stymied. “She has no pulse, she’s not breathing, and yet her chest is moving.”
I kick my leg out just enough to send that bird flapping to the ceiling. And it parrots back, “I don’t get it! I don’t get it!”
“It can talk.” I look to Everett, and a small breath of relief strums from me. “Hey? Maybe it will be able to tell us who the killer is?”
Noah cocks his head as he studies the two of us. “Everett, call the police.” He stands and walks me to the side. “Who can talk, Lottie? Did you see who did this to her?”
“No. I just—I stepped into the room. I found her here like this.” A wave of emotion bucks through me as tears begin to stream down my cheeks. “All she wanted in the whole world was to see this author. I can’t believe someone would do this to her. Noah, this is terrible.”
“I know.” He pulls me in and wraps his arms around me a moment.
Everett steps in. “The police are already here.” He looks to Noah’s arm around my waist and frowns. “I’ll alert the author’s security team inside.”
No sooner does Everett leave than an entire brigade of uniformed sheriffs fills the tiny room to capacity with Ivy leading the pack. She makes her way over and doesn’t bother to hide the fact she’s frowning my way. Detective Ivy Fairbanks is Noah’s partner in homicidal crime if you will. She’s a tall, unfairly gorgeous redhead who I’m pretty sure has the hots for my boyfriend. Ex. Ex-boyfriend.
“You got here fast,” I pant as I rub my arms in an attempt to keep from shivering. All I want is to wake up and have this all be a very bad dream. It must be. Who in the world would want to kill Rhonda Gilbert of all people? They don’t make them any nicer than her. They just don’t.
“I’m here with my niece.” Ivy ticks her head to the side while looking to Noah. “Take Lemon’s statement. I’m having everyone in the building detained and questioned.”
“That will take days,” I blurt the words out without meaning to. “I mean, there must be at least a thousand people crammed into the facility.”
Ivy lifts her chin. “Then we’ll get everyone’s names and not a person can leave the state of Vermont until we’ve cleared them.” She takes off, and I turn to Noah.
“I spoke with poor Rhonda just a few minutes ago.” My voice breaks as I force myself to look back at her body. “How could they—” I can’t bring myself to finish the sentence. Her neck is prickled, and there’s a fresh red mark across it. “Her neck.” I shake my head at the hideous thought.
“I know.” Noah pulls me in tight by the waist as we stare down at the poor thing. “I can’t be sure, but it looks as if she was strangled.”
“I was just admiring her—” A breath hitches in my throat when I note the exact thing I was admiring is missing. “Her necklace, it’s gone.”
Noah steps over to her as a group of firemen and EMTs storm the room. “I don’t see a necklace, but it looks as if it might have been used to strangle her, at least in part.”
Captain Jack Turner, Keelie’s father, steps over with a disapproving look on his face. I’ve known Jack all my life, and in some ways he’s been my second father ever since my own passed away.
“Lottie, did you find another one?”
I cringe as a couple of sheriffs turn to look my way.
“Actually—I—okay, fine, I did. But only because I knew Rhonda wanted to see Pepper Patrick live and in person.” I press my lips together hard to keep from bawling. “She was her number one fan. She had this ruby heart-shaped pendant, and now the necklace is missing and—”
He holds up a hand my way as he looks to Noah. “Get her statement. Listen carefully and do whatever it is she tells you to do.” Jack shakes his head at me. “Only because I know and trust you, Lottie. You’ve taken crime to task these past few months, and, I’ll be honest, I need to shut this one down quickly. I’m up for reelection come June. I’ll welcome all the help I can get.” He takes off to speak with the firemen congregating around poor Rhonda.
Noah leads me near the door where Everett is standing.
“Everett.” I lunge over him with a hard embrace. “This is never going to stop, is it?”
His body tightens around mine like a shield, and it feels safe like this with Everett, like home—and sadly, that’s exactly how Noah has always made me feel as well.
“I don’t know, Lemon. I have no good answers for you. But I think maybe you might be called to do this.”
I pull back and look up at this beautiful man with tears in my eyes.
“And those are the scariest words I have ever heard.”
Noah steps in and clears his throat. The hurt look on his face says it all. “Lottie, tell me everything you saw and heard from the beginning.”
And I do. I tell him everything from the moment I arrived until the moment I found her.
“Okay.” Noah studies his notes. “So you saw the deceased, you spoke with her. And you physically saw her with Felicity Gilbert, her niece Rigby—whom you also pointed out might be the girlfriend of your ex.”
“And I saw him head in their direction, too,” I’m quick to implicate Curtis. “And don’t forget, I saw Felicity talking to some raggedy looking man, and I saw her ex-boyfriend Simon Warwick head in their direction. Plus, there was Willow. I mean, I didn’t see her with Rhonda, but she’s her assistant down at the flower shop, along with my mother.” Dear Lord, I think I just implicated Carlotta, too. “And that necklace. It was beautiful. She won it from Pepper Patrick herself, and it was engraved with the character’s initials on the back, A.M. If you find it, I know I can identify it.”
I visually scan the area near Rhonda’s body. Thankfully, her face is turned the other way and all I see is her chest, but there doesn’t seem to be any sign of that necklace.
“Do you think this was a theft gone horribly wrong?”
Noah glances back a moment. “I guess right about now anything is possible.” He looks to Everett. “Why don’t you get Lottie home and rested?” His sad evergreen eyes meet with mine. “You heard the captain. I guess we’ll be working together on this one, too. On the record this time.” His dimples dig in deep as he flashes a momentary smile.
New York Cheesecake Chaos (MURDER IN THE MIX Book 8) Page 3