A Tangle in the Vines by Anna Celeste Burke

Author:Anna Celeste Burke [Burke, Anna Celeste]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-09-09T16:00:00+00:00

12 Countdown to Murder

When I reached for the doorknob, it turned at once. I wished that I’d locked it before fleeing. I opened the door cautiously. “Maybe we should wait for the rest to catch up with us,” I muttered.

“Why? If there’s anyone inside who shouldn’t be in there, Marlowe will tell us, won’t he?”

“Yes. You’re so smart, aren’t you?” I asked as I opened the door a little more and Marlowe dashed into the kitchen.

“Mostly, I’m just in a hurry to get to the restroom. Excuse me,” Billie said and ran for it.

My brain was still overflowing with a jumble of questions. Was the Sitter the one who’d conjured up the story about needing to sit beside the graves to keep the bodies from rising from the grave? Had he set the fire that destroyed to Dustin’s home and killed his parents? How had Dustin’s sister died, and why was she buried in the woods? How was any of what’s happened my fault?

I peeked into the dining room. Dahlia and Rikki had left things behind. I got a box to load their items. At Dahlia’s seat, a folder was open, and I glimpsed a printed copy of an email from Ben. I scanned it quickly, trying to commit the information to memory while puzzling about it. Then, I sucked in a big breath when I read the last item.

When my phone rang, I darted into the kitchen, leaving the box on the dining room table. I grabbed my cellphone from the kitchen counter as the room exploded into a riot of noise and activity. As my friends burst into the room, all talking at once, Darjeeling took off after Marlowe, yipping happily. She ran in circles around Billie’s feet until he picked her up.

“Hello,” I said amid the raucous outburst.

“Lily, is everything all right? I got cc’d on a text from Rikki that we now have an updated description and a first name for an intruder at the Calla Lily Vineyards after he broke into the theater building. He’s wanted for questioning about a series of murders that occurred in the area over several decades. Is Billie, okay?”

“It’s good to hear no one’s issued a ‘shoot to kill order,’” I groused. “Austin, we’re all fine,” I said loud enough for Judy to hear me.

I left the kitchen, hoping to find a quieter spot and the doorbell rang. That had to be Rikki and Dahlia coming to pick up their files since they weren’t in the kitchen with everyone else.

“I’ll get it!” I shouted and ran to the door. Much to my surprise, it was an old family friend. “One more minute, Austin, please.”

“Dr. Kennedy, how are you?” I said, hugging the man who’d been my physician for a decade before I moved to LA.

“I’m as good as a man can be who’s pushing eighty. Judy said you need me to examine a boy who’s staying with you and injured himself on your fence. Are you doing okay?”

“If you’re asking about losing Aunt Lettie, I miss her every day.

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