Final Check Out (An Oceanside Mystery Book 3) by CeeCee James

Author:CeeCee James [James, CeeCee]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2017-07-18T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

“After all,” Mrs. Deft continued as she shut the bedroom door behind us, “the police can’t even seem to locate Ronnie’s missing wallet.”

I’d forgotten that he hadn’t had it on him. “Did he normally carry it?”

“Always. It just disappeared.”

Her statement made me think of something else. The locket. “Was everything else on his person accounted for? Any missing jewelry?”

She shook her head, causing her short hair to shimmy. “No. He wasn’t one for jewelry.

“Margie? Is someone with you out there?” the man’s voice called again behind the door I was standing in front of. I jumped and then felt my face heat with embarrassment.

“What are you doing out there? You let in the police? Who’s out there?” the man yelled.

The door handle slowly turned. Fascinated, I stared at it.

“Jerry! Jerry! Just stop right there.” Mrs. Deft grabbed the knob to keep it from turning. “What’s going on with you? You okay?” Her brow creased as she listened.

“Who’s here? It’s that Jezebel from the circus, isn’t it?”

Mrs. Deft cast a nervous look at me. “I’ll be back in just one second,” she said, holding up her index finger.

“Of course,” I answered, moving away and, at the same time, attempting to appear intensely interested in the wood paneling.

“I’m coming in, Jerry. You dressed?” she hollered, her mouth pressed against the door.

“You come in here and I’ll show you how dressed I am!”

Mrs. Deft groaned and opened the door a smidgen. Quickly, she slipped inside.

From inside the room came a torrent of fierce whispering. I held my breath, trying to listen.

“You will not….” Mrs. Deft’s voice lowered into a range I couldn’t hear.

“You know she shouldn’t be here! She’ll find out and ruin everything!”

“Shut up!” Mrs. Deft’s voice rose over his and cut him off.

“Let me take care of it. You know I can,” he grumbled.

“You will not move a muscle, or so help me—” More mumbling, and then, “Will you tie your bathrobe shut? Stop that! Not now!” The last line was filled with anger and then the bedroom door swung open. I jumped back and examined my cuticles. But not before I’d caught a glimpse of a man in his fifties wearing a ratty bathrobe. He scowled at me as Mrs. Deft slammed the door closed.

“Okay,” she said, trying to compose herself. “That’s taken care of. That poor man is delusional and needs a firm hand.”

“That seems hard. Did Ronald normally handle him?” I asked as we continued down the hallway. I peeked behind me, half-afraid he’d run out of the room in a manic craze and attack me.

“Absolutely not,” Mrs. Deft replied. “If anything, Ronnie egged him on.”

“Oh, wow. That must have been really intense.” I couldn’t even imagine living in the same house as someone as loud and unpredictable as that man. I looked at her with sympathy. I didn’t know how she did it.

She tipped her head back as if to stretch her neck and let out a long exhale. “You have no idea. It felt like a looney bin half the time around here.

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.