Nose Dives by Benning Patti

Author:Benning, Patti
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Summer Prescott Books
Published: 2024-10-16T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER NINE

When Tiana pulled up to a little square home a few blocks away from the small downtown area, Eve knew that even if she had driven by this place a hundred times, she wouldn’t have thought there was a store inside. It looked for all the world like someone’s house, except for the easy-to-miss, hand-painted wooden sign out front that read, Angel’s Gaze Novelties.

“I always wonder how places like this stay in business,” she said as her friend parked on the concrete slab that worked as a minuscule parking lot. “I’ve been here for almost a year, and I’ve never even heard of this place.”

“I think she ran into some licensing troubles last year and had to close the store for a while,” Tiana said. “I don’t know Charlotte well, but we chatted during a dental cleaning a couple months ago, and she told me all about it. She’s a nice girl, and as much as I liked Jade, I don’t think Charlotte deserved to have her book torn apart on the internet. I haven’t read it yet, but even if it was terribly written, that was a cruel thing for Jade to do.”

Tiana had the enviable ability to understand what patients were saying even if their mouths were full of dental tools during a deep cleaning. Eve had seen her friend’s skill firsthand multiple times, and was always impressed by it. The garbled words always sounded like unintelligible gibberish to her.

“I don’t want to think Jade was killed over a bad book review,” Eve said. “But I guess that’s what we’re here to find out. Let’s go in, I want to see what this novelty store is all about.”

They went inside, the electronic doorbell playing a cheery little song that lasted a few seconds too long not to be annoying. The novelty store was overcrowded and stuffed full to the brim of just about everything she could imagine. She thought the general store that doubled as the town’s grocery store was bad, but this was in a different category altogether. The most organized section was the books – there were a few shelves with used books organized by author, and an endcap that featured books written by local authors. Charlotte’s book was front and center on this display, one of the very first things her eye was drawn to when she went in.

The rest of the store held various knickknacks, from old, creepy ceramic dolls to dream catchers and crystals, to handmade clothing, to an entire wall dedicated to hand-carved wooden figurines. The novelty store felt like a tourist trap and a pawn shop had collided, and this was the result. The heavy scent of incense tied everything together. Eve spent a moment just taking everything in before Tiana nudged her and nodded down one of the crowded aisles.

“The counter is that way. It sounds like Charlotte’s already chatting with another customer, so we might want to look around a little first.”

“We should probably find something to buy. It seems kind of rude to come in here and start questioning her without even making a purchase.

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