One for the Road by Mary Ellis

Author:Mary Ellis [Ellis, Mary]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781448304486
Publisher: Severn House Publishers
Published: 2020-07-22T23:00:00+00:00

TEN

Monday evening

Jill had spent the day sticking close to Sweet Dreams Bed & Breakfast, on the off-chance Aunt Dot needed her help. However, between Mr Trehanny’s expertise with tasteful funerals, the ladies’ guild of the Roseville Episcopal Church, and Dot’s wide circle of friends, the house was spotless and the food prepared. Everything was ready for tonight’s wake and tomorrow’s funeral. Uncle Roger would get a proper, southern-style send-off.

Instead she had typed, edited and proofread the first two installments of the Kentucky Bourbon Tours. Then she helped Michael edit the video footage which would bring her clever narrative to life. With little else to do, Jill put on her new black dress and black high-heeled sandals and nursed a cup of tea in the kitchen until it was time to leave.

‘Good evening, Jill,’ Nick said as he rounded the corner from the stairwell. ‘I didn’t know anyone was still home.’

‘Why wouldn’t we be, Mr Harris?’ She leveled an icy glare. ‘The funeral home is only five minutes away. We don’t need to be early to get a good seat.’

Nick paused in the middle of adjusting his tie, as though her flip comment caught him by surprise. ‘I thought we’d gotten along well last night. In fact, I’d describe our pizza party as rather splendid. Yet this evening I seem to have fallen from favor, despite the fact we haven’t seen each other all day.’ With the crooked tie forgotten, Nick sat down beside her, his spicy aftershave assaulting her senses.

‘Today I realized I’m still one of your suspects, if not your primary suspect.’ Jill walked her cup to the sink to put some distance between them. ‘What were you playing at last night? Were you hoping I’d drink too much and let some crucial detail slip that you could hang me with, literally and figuratively?’ She dropped her voice to a whisper. ‘Dot said you asked her about the relative we allegedly have in common. Sounds like you don’t trust me. What’s next? Are you going to call my Granny Emma?’

Nick’s gray eyes locked with hers. ‘I already did. Mrs Vanderpool confirmed you were her granddaughter and that she had a cousin who lived in Spencer County she hadn’t seen in decades.’

Jill’s mouth fell open wide enough to catch flies. ‘How could you, Nick? You act like we’re friends, then you sneak around behind my back. Some things are none of your business.’

A tic appeared in Nick’s right cheek, but his voice remained soft and in control. ‘This is a murder investigation. It’s my job to verify every detail in this case. It was the only way I can rule you out as a suspect.’

She shrugged. ‘You should be able to tell by my character that I’m no killer.’

‘If only it were that easy,’ he said. ‘Beautiful women can be killers. Nice girls who take their aunts to church on Sunday can be killers. I can’t rule someone out just because they charmed me one night in the moonlight.’

Jill braced her hands on the table.

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