$1.99
Charlie Bannerman's week started by catching her Malamute, Duke, who had treed a neighbor's cat. Then her car wouldn't start. Everything seems to go downhill from there. She has to deal with a crazy ex-boyfriend, who still has the hots for her, his current girlfriend who is a bit unhinged, and a neighbor who is at war with the neighborhood teenagers. Then things get deadly: her car is blown up (with a body in it) and someone drives a truck into her house. With the body count rising, Charlie must figure out who is stalking her before they permanently turn the lights out.
Excerpt:
Despite
the dark purple bruise on my knee Wednesday morning, I decided to get
out of the house for a while. Duke had plenty of food, but I felt
like Old Mother Hubbard’s dog looking for something in the
cupboards. I let him out back to take care of his business, and
brought him back inside. I had a feeling Blinky was nearby, and I
didn’t want Duke to hurt her in case she got too close.
Mr.
Crubbs was checking the oil in his Cadillac when I came out the front
door. I don’t know why he bothered to keep it running; he had his
license revoked last year after he had a few near misses, including a
fainting spell in the grocery store parking lot.
His yard looked pretty good, considering all the work that had been
done yesterday. I was impressed by how fast they had finished, and I
was still certainly that Keaton had something to do with it. But I
knew if I asked Mr. Crubbs, he wouldn’t tell me a thing, so I let
it go.
My
Beetle started with no problem, and I headed first for the newspaper
office. The editor of the Daily Sun, Ralph Moxley, gave me feature
stories to do once a week and I had yet to pick up this week’s
assignment. This was not a good thing, as Ralph usually wanted the
story by Friday afternoon.
“About
time you came in,” he growled when I walked into his office.
“I’m
sorry, Ralph. I had a couple of things come up at home.”
“I
heard about one of those ‘things’. Heard you broke Cash
Christian’s nose in three places and knocked a couple of teeth out,
too.”
“I
hadn’t heard about the teeth. Where did you get that?”
“Doc
Mendelson told me last night at Rachel’s. Cash came to see him in
the afternoon, missing his two front teeth.”
I
would have to ask Bernie about that. “Sorry, Ralph, I can only
claim the nose.”
“I’ll
have Sarah write ‘the assailant says she broke her victim’s nose,
but not his teeth during an exclusive interview with this newspaper’s
editor on Wednesday morning’.”
I
gasped. “Oh please, Ralph, don’t do that! My mother would be
mortified! Anything I say about the incident is strictly off the
record.”
Ralph
waved his hand at me. “Don’t give me that ‘off the record’
crap. Besides, I know what happened. I got the story from Bernie.”
He grew serious. “Are you ok?”
“A
few bruises, that’s all.”
“Off
the record, I’m proud of you for fighting back. Cash deserves much
worse than what you gave me, let me tell you. He’s been a terror in
this town for years. It’s about time he got back a little of what
he has dished out.”
I
raised my eyebrows in surprise. I had never heard Ralph talk about
Cash like this before. He never said anything when we were dating,
wisely kept his own counsel, and throwing work at me to keep me busy
after we broke up. I had to admit, Ralph may be a grump and a sour
puss at times, but deep down, he was a big softie.
“Here,”
he said, shoving a folder at me. “This week’s feature. Isabella
Tracy is hosting a charity event at the country club next week and
wants a big write up for Sunday’s edition.”
I
rolled my eyes. The one thing I didn’t want to do was interview
Isabella, especially considering the problems between her and my
mother. “Can’t you put someone else on this? What about Sarah?
She’s wanted to do a feature piece for a while now.”
“Yes,
but she’s not best friends with Isabella Tracy’s oldest daughter,
now is she?” Ralph countered. “You are. What’s the problem?”
“She
had a minor disagreement with Mother, and they aren’t on speaking
terms. I’m not sure Isabella will even speak to me.”
“So
don’t talk to her about the argument, talk to her about the charity
event! Make sure Sydney is there with you. She can act as a buffer
between you and her mother. Just get me that story by Friday
afternoon.”
I
turned to leave. “Charlie.” I looked back. “Be careful. Cash
has a mean streak a mile long, and Deja is just as nasty as he is.
Watch your back.”
“You
know something I don’t, Ralph?”
“Just
be careful, that’s all I’m saying. Now get out of here. I’ve
got work to do.”
I
stopped by Sarah’s desk. “You didn’t write an article about an
attack on Cash Christian, did you?”
“Oh,
you mean about you breaking his nose in three places, knocking out
two of his teeth, and breaking his jaw?” Sarah said.
“Breaking
his jaw?” This story gets bigger and bigger. “Who told you that?”
“Deja
Taylor. She said his mouth hurts so bad, he can’t kiss her.”
I
bit back a retort. “I didn’t break his jaw, nor did I knock out
two of his teeth. I merely broke his nose.”
“I
heard he wanted you arrested.”
“And
I want a million dollars. Neither one of those things is happening.”
“Don’t
worry, there is nothing in the paper about his broken nose or his
assault on you, I promise. Ralph threatened to fire all of us if we
even thought about writing something about it.”
I
felt some tension ease that I had not realized I had been feeling.
“Thanks, Sarah.”
“Are
you ok?”
Assuring
her I was fine, I said goodbye, walked out the front door and headed
for the parking lot located on the left side of the building. I
looked in my purse, located the keys and pulled them out. When I
raised my head, I saw someone sitting in the passenger’s seat of my
car.
Right before it blew up.
No comments:
Post a Comment