Mad Hats & Trouble: Paranormal Cozy Mystery by Claire Robyns

Author:Claire Robyns [Robyns, Claire]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-07-11T16:00:00+00:00

13

Angie was downstairs, but she was so busy taking calls, there was no way I could ask her for ride.

Seemed Saturday mornings were bustling here at The Fade.

“Everyone usually places next week’s announcements on Saturday,” Angie explained between calls. “Today’s worse than usual, of course. They’re not happy about the changes. Mr. Bandleson kept me on the phone for an hour, insisting I was mistaken. Then he tried to place his announcement anyway and threatened to sue us if we didn’t print it.”

“Don’t take any abusive language from anyone, Angie. If they get ugly, put the phone down and if they persist, forward the call to me.” She’d put my cell number in her computer system, so we were all connected. “They can take their business elsewhere.”

“I’m not letting anyone slip away that easily! I can sweet talk my way around any grumpy old man. Mr. Bandleson placed a half page ad for the Elvis Impersonation Contest at the town hall in Moonfade Bay.”

“The town hall? Who is this Mr. Bandleson?”

“He’s an event organizer and mainly works for the IPC,” Angie said. “The contest is an official IPC event, that’s why he assumed he was exempt.” She rolled her eyes and laughed. “I was tempted to double the fee.”

“I don’t know.” I was on the fence. “I don’t want to take money out of the island’s coffers. Who gets the profits from these official IPC events?”

“The IPC,” she stated. “Mostly the funds they raise are used for stupid schemes and implementing new rules that drives everyone crazy. Oh, and for funding the council members’ extravagant lifestyles. If you’re worried about the IPC’s coffers, you should take a ride along Cliffside Road one day.” She reached for the phone as it rang. “That’s where all their mansions are.”

Okay, that was a quick hop off the fence.

I left Angie to her call and headed out for the Hopper bus stop on the beachside of the town square. There was no time schedule. Judging from the holiday makers already gathered there, however, the bus was due soon.

This time I fitted in slightly better, still wearing last night’s shorts but with fresh underwear and a clean t-shirt. A shirtless guy in a party of five sent me flirty look. I returned a brief smile and glanced away.

The brush off didn’t stop him.

He mingled his way closer until he found himself beside me. “Hi there, are you here alone?”

My gaze skimmed his bronzed muscles and okay, nothing there to complain about. He had friendly eyes and so far as pickup lines went, that wasn’t totally obnoxious.

“A working holiday,” I said.

“If you have to work, Fade Island isn’t the worst place to do it.” His grin brought out a cute dimple in his cheek. “I’m Larry.”

“Senna.”

“What do you do?”

“Um, I’m a reporter.”

“With a mainland newspaper?”

“A reporter for The Fade,” I told him. “The island’s newspaper.”

“The island has its own newspaper?”

“A really great one.” I turned up the wattage on my smile. “It’s got all the local news and hot spots.

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