Adorably Dead by Lindsay Maracotta

Author:Lindsay Maracotta [Maracotta, Lindsay]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: amateur sleuth, American humor & satire, cozy mystery, cozy mystery series, Crime, crime fiction, detective & mystery, female sleuth, funny, general humor, humor, humor & satire, light mystery, Literature & Fiction, Mystery, mystery & suspense, romance, satire, series, thriller & suspense, Women Sleuths, women sleuths series, women's fiction
ISBN: 9780340748916
Google: a81LnwEACAAJ
Amazon: 0708944221
Publisher: NYLA
Published: 2015-05-18T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

“Guess what, Mom,” squealed Chloe on the phone, “I skied moguls today and I didn’t fall down even once! Debby, that’s my ski instructor, says I’ll be ready for Ajax by next year.”

‘‘That’s wonderful, sweetie!” I exclaimed. “I wish I was there to watch you.” There was the thump, thump of a Latin beat in the background and a peal of laughter. “Where are you, back at the condo?”

“No, we’re over at Annie’s. She’s got this really cool house, the window comes to a big point and you can see out all the way to the mountains. We’ve brought all our stuff here and I’m going to stay in Belle’s room. Guess what, there’s two canopy beds!”

“Who’s Annie?”

“Belle’s mom. We were all on the jet together and Belle’s now my best friend. She gave me this awesome silver charm for my bracelet and I gave her my panda bear necklace. When we get back home we’re going to have sleep-overs.”

The background beat got louder.

“Annie’s teaching Daddy how to cha-cha-cha,” Chloe added.

This took me momentarily aback. Here was a guy whose idea of dancing had been to flail about in place to vintage R.E.M. “That’s nice,” I said, in a somewhat faint voice.

“So did they catch the guys yet?”

“What guys, sweetie?”

“The ones who shot Brandon.”

“Not yet. They’re still looking for them. But don’t worry, I’m sure they’ll be caught.” Even to myself, I sounded unconvinced. I added quickly, “Let me talk to Dad a minute, okay?”

“Yeah, okay. Dad-dy!” she yelled. “It’s Mom.”

I heard the sound of footsteps retreating, then others approaching, and then Tom was on.

“What’s going on?” I said. “Chloe says you’ve packed up and moved to some stranger’s place. Why didn’t you tell me?”

“It was a spur-of-the-moment decision. Annie’s got this fantastic huge place and Chloe’s become joined at the hip with Belle, so it made sense.”

“Just who is this Annie?” I heard a shrill Suspicious Wife note seep into my voice and struggled to eliminate it.

“Annie Manzano. You know, Charlie Manzano’s wife. He’s that bankruptcy lawyer, the friend of the Steinmans...”

I could readily picture Charlie Manzano for the simple reason I had once surreptitiously used him as a model for a character in my Amerinda series—a back-thumping, stogie-gesturing ferret named Franklin. His wife was less distinct in my memory: I vaguely recalled a small, skinny person with spiky dark hair and a penchant for revealing what she had paid for her clothes. “So is Charlie there too?” I asked.

“They divorced over a year ago, don't you remember?” He lowered his voice to a confidential whisper. “She really took him to the cleaners, too. You ought to see this house. It’s amazing.”

“Are there any other guests?”

“Some English writer and his girlfriend, but they’re leaving in the morning. Thank god. The guy’s got permanent postnasal drip.”

“Let me get this straight.” I reprised the Suspicious Wife Shrill. “You’re going to be staying alone in a house with a divorcee who I scarcely know.”

“We re not exactly alone. We’ve got two extremely attention-demanding ten-year-olds, not to mention a staff of three or four.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.