Bizzy opens the book in her hand and flips the pages before sucking in a quick breath.
“Is this even real?” She pulls back, and I quickly peruse the infamous page.
My lips press tight. “I plead the fifth.”
“Lottie!” Macy barks it out like a reprimand. “What are you doing here, wasting time with a bunch of overheated women? We need to get you down to the courthouse.”
“Page thirty-three is at stake.” Carlotta bonks me on the head with the book. “Now get!”
I make a face. I’ll admit, the offer is tempting.
“Maybe.” I squeeze my eyes shut for a moment. “But first, I think we could all use a drink at the bar.”
Lainey squints over at me. “There is no bar at the library. Or in all of Honey Hollow for that matter.”
“Yup.” I take a deep breath as I give Carlotta and Georgie the side-eye. “That’s why we’re headed to Leeds.”
Georgie and Carlotta link arms and spin around, dancing a little jig that looks better fit for Octoberfest.
“A bar?” Macy rolls her eyes. “If I had a shot at meeting up with the hot judge in his chambers, I’d make sure I was one hundred percent sober.”
“Oh, I will be,” I assure her. I plan on being more than lucid when I speak with Ambrosia Whispers’ ex.
Henry Watson, we’re gunning for you.
Chapter 9
Lowlifes is located in a red brick building just down the street from where my sister Meg works, the Red Satin Gentlemen’s Club.
Macy opted out of our little investigative field trip once Alex made her a better offer, or more aptly put, an indecent proposal she couldn’t refuse. She was more than a little heated after reading that expose of Everett’s love life.
Fine, we were all a bit heated.
Lainey actually dumped a cup full of ice over her face.
I’m not going to lie. I’m looking forward to tonight, where I can fully explore the benefits of page thirty-three—for research purposes, of course.
Carlotta barks out a laugh as she points to the chalkboard sign just outside of the establishment.
“Enjoy cheesy nachos with your cheesy date,” Bizzy reads. “At least they’re honest.”
Georgie ticks her head to the side. “I’ve spent decades around lowlifes. And I’m not afraid to say they can be entertaining as long as they’re not trying to use you for their entertainment.”
I open the door to the venue and a blast of cool air hits us, right along with the scent of French fries and cheap beer.
“Let’s hope Henry Watson is in the mood to entertain us,” I say. “With the truth.”
The inside is covered with red brick as well, beat-up wood floors, and small round tables that look as if they were made of slices from a redwood tree. The music is a touch too loud, as expected, and there is more than a fair share of bodies in here for the late afternoon crowd.
I spot a familiar face seated down by the bar surrounded by beautiful young women.
“Hey, that’s my sister,” I say as I head in that direction. “Meg?” I say as I come upon her.
She’s got her black hair pulled back into a long sleek ponytail and enough eyeliner ringed around her eyes to qualify her for the raccoon family, but she’s gorgeous nonetheless. She’s wearing a torn up black tank top and has on a spiked collar, giving her that tough girl appeal she strives for. Meg is a tough girl with or without the spikes, but I think she likes the message they convey.
“Lottie Lemon.” She stands and gives me a quick embrace before waving to Bizzy, Carlotta, and Georgie. “What brings you to my neck of the adultery-riddled woods?”
I give a quick sweep of the vicinity and note a man with a fedora working behind the bar, and I don’t have any doubt that it’s the man I came to see. I recognize his hat from that infamous day at the lake.
I lean in and whisper, “I’m here to talk to the bartender. It’s a part of my investigation.” I pull back. “What are you doing here?” I give a tiny wave to the girls sitting around the table who look somewhat bored while waiting for us to finish up our conversation.
“Red Satin is on a hiring spree, so I’m doing interviews. I don’t like to do them at the club because the men always try to influence my decisions.”
Georgie claps up a storm. “Interviews for the strip club? Count me in.” She pulls up a seat at the table and Carlotta pulls up a seat right next to her.
Carlotta snorts, “If my bestie has a dream, who am I to burst her bubble?”
Meg glances to the bar. “Hey, Henry!”
He turns this way and I cringe.
Perhaps telling Meg about my true intentions wasn’t the best idea. In my defense, my brain is still sexually scrambled after cherry picking my way through In the Judge’s Chamber. It turns out, my husband has a lot to answer to. Or in the least demonstrate.
Husband.
I swoon for a moment at the thought.
Meg lifts a finger. “Free drinks for my sister and her friend. They’re on me.” She turns my way. “Good luck to you, Lot. Hope you nail whoever you’re looking to pin to a wall.” She plunks back into her seat and carries on with her own interrogation methods.
Bizzy and I shuffle our way to the bar, where we meet up with the fedora wearing man with a red beard and affable smile.
“So which one of you is Meg’s sister?” he asks with a laugh caught in his throat.
“That would be me,” I say as Bizzy and I take a seat at the end of the bar. “And this is my good friend, Bizzy Baker. She’s here from out of town and I’m trying to show her a good time.”
He glides an amber-colored drink over to a customer. “You came to the right place,” he says as he makes his way closer to us. “So you’re really Meg’s sister?” He laughs to himself. “She’s a good friend of mine. She’s been coming to the bar for the past year just shooting the breeze. Too bad she’s not single or I would have scooped her up.”
It’s true. Meg has been seeing Hook Redwood for about a year now. He’s a decent guy. Smart. In fact, he owns a finance business with Alex.
“Well, Meg is quite the catch, so I couldn’t blame you there.” A tight smile pins to my cheeks.
“How about you?” He gives a playful wink.
“I’m married and she’s engaged.” I quickly fill our bartender friend in on the status of our love lives before this takes a turn for the desperate. Although, I’m not really getting a desperate vibe from him—more like a playful energy.
A burst of hot pink light claps to my left as Bingo suddenly appears standing on her hind legs and belly to the bar.
“What did I miss, Lottie?”
I shake my head as if answering her question. I touch my bare leg to Bizzy’s bare leg in hopes the connection to the other side will be the same as it would be if we were holding hands.
Bingo lets out an egregious oink that goes on forever, causing Bizzy to jump as she looks that way. It seems the connection is strong after all.
Henry gives an adorable frown. “Well, that’s too bad. I like to score at least one date per shift and now my quota is off-kilter.”
Bizzy gives a gentle laugh. “Well, the day is young yet. Hey, I think I recognize you. Weren’t you down at Honey Lake on the Fourth? I was burning up and saw your hat. I remember thinking, now there’s a smart man, wearing a cool hat. My dad used to wear fedoras all the time while I was growing up, so it caught my eye.”
I have no clue if any of it was factual. I vaguely remember Bizzy wearing a hat, but that may not be factual either. Regardless, she’s great at transitioning subject matters with suspects. I can definitely learn a thing or two from her.
His playful demeanor quickly evaporates as she gives a shifty glance to the left and right.
“That was me.” He shrugs as if coming to terms with his honesty. “A few friends invited me to their cookout, and I was in charge of bringing the hot dogs.” His eyebrows give an unenthused bounce.
“I was there, too,�
� I offer. “Actually, I bumped into Bizzy there. There was a tent set out for a bunch of local authors and we were both huge fans of Mirandy Lemonade. She writes romance.” Shoot. Should I have mentioned Ambrosia instead?
Bizzy shakes her head my way discreetly.
Bingo snorts once again. “I’m sensing he’s hiding something. Why don’t you ask him if he likes to read books? My mother always said not to trust humans who didn’t read books.”
Good thinking. And it sounds like she had a good mama, too.
“Are you a big reader?” I post the question his way.
“I am. Thrillers mostly. My ex was a writer. Maybe you’ve heard of her. Ambrosia Whispers?”
Both Bizzy and I feign surprise.
She leans in. “How can we not have heard of her. I guess you know what happened to her that night.”
He gives a slow blink.
“I sure do.” He stares off at the wall a moment and Bizzy gasps as if she just pulled a juicy tidbit right out of his brain.
Ha!
I hope we got ’em.
“It’s terrible what happened.” He sags a moment as if he were genuinely grieving. “What can I get you ladies to drink?”
We both quickly order tonic water with a twist of lime and he gets right to work.
“So what do you think happened?” I ask. “I mean, the sheriff’s department hasn’t made any big announcements. I guess that means the killer is still out there roaming free.”
Henry nods as he glides the drinks our way.
“Valerie—that was her real name—she was a hothead, that’s for sure,” he says. “Not that I didn’t give her anything to be hotheaded about, but she had a strange way of bringing misery upon herself no matter how terribly she was wronged.”
Bingo grunts, “Is he blaming my Val for the way he cheated on her? Is this a man or a pig? Don’t answer that. Some of my best friends are pigs.”
Bizzy sits up. “You were in a relationship with Ambrosia Whispers?” She pretends to be starstruck, and for a second, even I believe it.
“Yup.” Our bearded friend is right back to grinning. “It was bliss in the beginning. In fact, the first four books in the Destined to Sin series she said were about me. Those were the good old days.” He gives a wishful shake of the head. “But Val had a dark side. She liked things to go her way, and when they didn’t, she made sure you knew about it. She was a bit anal about keeping her place tidy. Everything in its place and a place for everything kind of stuff. I guess you could say I’m quite the opposite.”
I nod his way. “So the two of you clashed over the little stuff. I get it.”
I don’t, but I can see it happening.
“You could say that.” His eyes widen a moment. “I tried to stomach it at first.” He winces as he leans our way. “If I tell you the truth, do you promise not to hold it against me?”
He’s so friendly and likable I don’t see how we can. Except if he confesses to actually doing the deadly deed. No pass on murder one, my friend.
“You bet.” Bizzy toasts him with her drink, and I do the same.
He shrugs again. “To be honest, I probably should have left the relationship long before it ended. But I’ll admit, I liked having a famous girlfriend. Heck, my own mother was a huge fan of Val’s work. Anyway, after weeks of being subjected to far more verbal abuse than any man should have to deal with, I started talking to a girl here at the bar. One thing led to the next, and let’s just say things got wildly out of control.”
My lips part at the revelation. “Did Ambrosia find out about the other woman?”
He makes a face. “In grand fashion.” He lands his elbows on the bar and leans in as far as he can. “Mel, the new girl, started sending me pictures of herself partially clothed, and nude”—he shrugs again—“she left them on my phone, and it turns out my phone is linked to my tablet. Val never checked my phone for spying purposes. She couldn’t. I have a password on it. But my tablet, well, I guess you could say that’s where I dropped the ball. When the entire nightmare shook out, Val told me she was reading next to my tablet and a racy picture popped up on the screen. And, seeing that merely breaking up with me would have been too much of an easy option for her, she went low. She took screenshots of every single exchange Mel and I had. I won’t lie, we said some pretty raunchy things to one another and made good on those promises later. Valerie somehow managed to keep quiet about her newfound knowledge for about two weeks, silently collecting more screenshots for her big reveal. It was my father’s eightieth birthday, and all of my siblings and their spouses got together at my parents’ place out in Fallbrook for the big celebration. Val waited until most of the relatives went home, but my siblings were still present before she sent each one of my brothers and sister, including my parents, every single screenshot. My poor dad almost had a heart attack. My mother gave me a good beating with a broom right in front of Val. I suppose that made Val feel good. My mom also made me apologize to her, which I did. My siblings weren’t so amused. My sister hated my actions but disliked Val’s timing even more. One of my brothers called her a tacky witch for pulling that off at my father’s birthday party.”
“Were you angry?” Bizzy asks with a touch of innocence to her question. No judgment in her tone whatsoever.
Henry closes his eyes a moment. “What she did to me was unforgiveable. My dad died last year and my mother a few weeks back. All I ever was to them after the incident was the loser son with the crazy ex-girlfriend. I won’t lie. I haven’t exactly shed a tear now that Val herself is gone. She had a special way of infuriating people. I guess you could say she liked to get creative.”
“I’ll say.” I shudder. “I’m sorry. I mean, I get why she did it. You were cheating on her. But dragging your parents into it was pretty low.”
Bingo moans. “I don’t blame her. She was caught up in the moment. I’ve been so angry I could charge a crowd. But I’ve learned to count to ten and find something good to eat before reacting, and it’s saved dozens of people from being maimed.” Her nose ticks up and down. “Do I smell sweet cherries?” She walks right through the bar and begins munching on the tiny red globes in the bin behind Henry.
Bizzy’s eyes grow large as she watches the condiments slowly disappear.
“I’m sorry about that mess,” I say to him. “We really didn’t know too much about her.”
Bizzy nods. “Except that weird rumor we heard. Something about her stealing the plotline from another author.”
Henry pinches his brows together. “Jackie Hart. Her good friend. And the rumors are true. Believe me, I was there the day she came home from having coffee with the woman. Val had a vindictive gleam in her eye that couldn’t be denied. She said Jackie just gave her the best idea yet and she was running with it. Apparently, Jackie made a quip about her writing style not being consistent. Val’s output was noteworthy. She put out several books at once and it aroused Jackie’s suspicion. She had the nerve to ask if Val hired a ghostwriter. Jackie didn’t think something was right, and Val didn’t take too kindly to the accusations. Stealing that plotline was her way of telling Jackie to back off.”
Bizzy and I exchange a glance.
Bizzy hooks her gaze to his. “Henry, do you think Jackie could have done this to Val?”
He cringes. “I don’t think so. Jackie Leoni, that’s her real name, she’s more of a lover than a fighter.”
I’ll say. Page thirty-three corroborates his claim.
He shakes his head. “I’m shocked the sheriff’s department hasn’t arrested Tallulah yet.”
I blink back. “Tallulah Velvet?”
He nods. “That woman has a temper ten times the one Val had.” He flicks his wrist as if to annunciate the fact.
“What kind of beef did Tallulah have with Val?”
Henry’s lips twitch. “Let’s just say earlier that night, on the Fourth, Tallulah’s ex, Ronald Stigman, proposed to his new girlfriend, and she said yes.” He ticks his head to the side. “I d
on’t remember the details, but it was Val who cost Tallulah that relationship and they drew enemy lines shortly thereafter. Tallulah vowed revenge. Val said to me one day that Tallulah Velvet was the only person she regretted messing with. She thought about getting a restraining order because the harassment was so bad at one point. But things simmered. And Val waited for Tallulah’s next move. A part of me wonders if that knife in the back was it. That was Tallulah’s go-to phrase. She always did say that Val stuck a knife in her back. Maybe this was her way of repaying the favor?”
A couple of customers at the other end of the bar garner his attention and he nods before taking off.
“Bizzy”—I whisper—“he certainly gave us a lot to think about. Was there anything noteworthy going on in his mind?”
“Not really. He was pretty forthright.”
Bingo turns around, her nose pink from her cherry binge.
“I think he could have been moved to kill her. But I don’t think he did it.” The surly swine lets out a belch. “But this Tallulah person, she might be the killer indeed.”
Bizzy and I nod to one another.
And as soon as we track down Tallulah, we’ll try to determine just that.
Chapter 10
After a long day Bizzy, Carlotta, Georgie, and I head back to Honey Hollow. Jasper picks Bizzy up and they take off for a romantic dinner at one of the lakeside restaurants. Carlotta takes Georgie out to dinner with her and Mayor Nash. It’s nice to see he’s still in the picture. I’m not hung up on that whole they’re-my-biological-parents-I-want-them-together thing, but I think they’re a decent pairing. Evie is off to a movie with friends, and just as I’m about to entertain the idea of slinking off to Everett’s hot tub to sneak in some R&R, Noah sends a group message to both Everett and me, inviting us to Mangias for dinner to discuss the case.
Everett responds that he’ll meet us there if I’m up for it and I quickly agree as well. It looks as if my nice night of R&R has quickly morphed into playing the part of referee between the two great loves of my life.
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