Murder at the Ladies Club: A Violet Carlyle Cozy Historical Mystery (The Violet Carlyle Mysteries Book 9) by Beth Byers

Author:Beth Byers [Byers, Beth]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Published: 2019-04-07T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

“I promise I will do all I can,” Violet told Rita as they left the ladies club. They were going to share a cab, and as they approached it, there was a loud crack. After the space of a heartbeat, Violet reacted instinctively, grabbing Miss Russell and throwing them both to the ground, and also tried to find the car that was backfiring.

There was, however, another loud crack and the glass on the black cab exploded, raining down over the two women. Rita was screaming, but Violet had gone into a sort of tunnel vision and automatic reaction, sliding closer to the shadow of the auto, hauling Rita with her to hide behind the metal. The glass had sprayed over them, Violet reasoned, so the bullets were coming from the other side.

People were screaming, but Violet cared for nothing but the safety of the auto protecting her. Rita had gone nearly as quiet as Violet. The two of them were clutching each other as if the other was a life raft and they were at sea.

The shooting stopped. Rita’s gaze focused on Violet’s

“Someone was shooting at us.” Rita said what Violet was thinking. Someone had been shooting at them. Outside of the ladies club. A ladies club! In London! Why?

A few minutes later, a local constable knelt in front of them. “The shooter is gone, ladies. You’re all right now. Let’s get inside, shall we?” His voice was low and gentle, and his eyes were wide with concern. Violet could see that he was a good man just by the expression on his face.

Violet shook her head over and over again, and she glanced up as she heard a man shouting, “Out of the way.” She knew that voice, though she had never heard such a bellow from it.

People stumbled to the side from the force of something behind them, and then Jack burst through the edge of the onlookers.

He reached down, ignoring Rita, and hauled Violet into his arms and carried her up the steps of the ladies club. When they reached the inside, Jack brushed the glass off of Violet. They were, the both of them, shaking.

“How did you know?” Violet asked, as he picked the glass off of her. She cared nothing for the crowd of onlookers. She wrapped her arms around his waist, pressed her face into his chest and breathed slowly in and out. It wasn’t enough. She tried to listen to him, but really all she wanted was the surety that she was alive.

“I talked to the waiter from the club again this morning. I wanted a moment by moment detail of what he’d been told, how he got the adjusted drinks, all of it.”

“What was he told?” Rita had arrived, although Violet hadn’t noticed. She cracked her eyes open and looked at the woman, who had her arms wrapped around herself. Her aunt had left before Violet and Rita, and she seemed to be alone in the horror of what she was experiencing.

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.