Killer Summer (A Deadline Cozy Mystery Book 16) by Sonia Parin

Author:Sonia Parin [Parin, Sonia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2025-01-30T00:00:00+00:00

A few minutes later…

Back in the car and heading out of town

“First you drag me in there and force me to have a coffee, and now you drag me out. I’m feeling used,” Linette complained.

“Did you finish your coffee?”

“Yes.”

“And your cheesecake?”

“Yes.”

“Going to the café served its purpose. We were seen together and we now know how the news spread to the rest of the island. Unfortunately, we were not seen in the best light, but I can’t take the blame for everything.”

“I hope you’re not going to blame me.”

“No, that would be like pointing out a shortcoming and making fun of it.”

“A shortcoming?”

“Yes, a defect. A flaw or a blemish.” Keeping her eye on the road, Eve leaned in and whispered in a taunting tone, “An imperfection.”

Linette gasped and looked horror-stricken.

That made Eve laugh. Then she realized she couldn’t tell if Linette was seriously offended or pretending to be.

She had never met anyone so enigmatic.

Linette reached for her catalogue and immersed herself in the contents.

Thinking she might need to apologize, Eve tested the waters by asking, “Are you sulking?”

Linette must have counted to ten because that’s how long she seemed to take before responding. “I’m talking myself out of worrying. You’re taking us back the long way around. At least, I think you are. For all I know, you drove us to town and made a point of making sure everyone saw us together, and now you plan on driving me to a quiet spot to kill me.”

Eve blinked. It was her turn to count to ten. “And why would I do that?”

“Because you know you can get away with it, and you’ve been wanting to do it since I first arrived here and set up an inn to compete with yours.” Linette held her gaze for a long moment and then, lowering her voice, said, “You are such a soft target. How on earth have you survived living on this island?”

“Please don’t do that again.”

“Oh, but it’s so much fun.”

“And you were so much nicer when you didn’t speak.”

“I know. I don’t recognize myself. Eve Lloyd, you’re a bad influence.” Linette signaled ahead. “Stop here. It looks pretty.”

Eve pulled up near a fisherman’s shack. When Linette didn’t make a move to get out, Eve sat back and looked around.

Gerry, a local fisherman, stood over an outdoor table just outside the shack, busy gutting a fish. There were a couple of rowboats tied up to the small wooden jetty, gently bobbing in the water. In the distance, a yacht sailed by.

Did the conversations she’d had with Linette reveal anything about her?

“What is this place?” Linette asked.

“It’s the island’s Gentleman’s Club.”

No one could say exactly when the fisherman’s shack and jetty had been erected. However, every man over fifty invariably found his way to the shack to either spend time alone or to meet up with friends and fish.

“Do you think he minds us being here?”

In the time they’d been parked there, Gerry hadn’t once looked up from his work. When he finished gutting his fish, he stood in silence looking out to sea.

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