Poisoned in Paradise (A Grime Fighter Cozy Mystery Series Book 1) by Sarah Jane Weldon

Author:Sarah Jane Weldon [Weldon, Sarah Jane]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781800670013
Publisher: Isla Britannica Books
Published: 2020-08-28T22:00:00+00:00

It’s early when I wake — my eyes bedazzled by blinding sunlight. I feel myself back on the space station, but the sound of crickets and bird song summons me to the present, to my luxury hotel room in the Caribbean. And then I remember Carena’s visit, plans to run a bath, sitting for a moment to gather my thoughts.

I peel the white cotton cover of my pillow from the thick layer of total sunblock I pasted onto my face when I arrived at the airport. My hair is dog-eared and sweaty, stuck to my skin. I feel like a disaster zone; heck, I look like one too. My clothes reek of the Minister’s flight remedy as memories of yesterday flood back to haunt me. My bed is perfectly made beneath me as I roll onto my side, straightening out the kinks in my spine, slowly working my way up to a sitting position. My phone is where I left it on the corner edge of the bed, my body too tired to move as I slept. I pick it up, keen to check what time it is, but the screen is blank, phone dead. Now I have to remember where I left my charger. Did I even get around to unpacking it before I fell asleep? Apparently not. My charger is right where I packed it, and I stupidly didn’t remember to charge my phone before I went to bed. Still, at least I brought my plug adaptor.

There’s a loud ping: a message. Then another and another as my phone starts to charge and returns to life. Dang! I was supposed to call Robert when I got to the hotel. Some friend I am. Then a call. I hurriedly press the screen. “Robert?” I say. “Everything okay, bud? I’m so sorry, I must have fallen asleep. Forgot to put my phone on charge.”

Robert sounds relieved, but not too worried. “I wondered if it might be something like that,” he says. “That or you got yourself a lady friend and were otherwise engaged,” he says, teasing me.

“Not you too,” I say, recalling Dewain’s matchmaking plans and Carena’s wishful thinking to hook me up with Rynelle.

“Oh yeah?” Robert says with a sense of fun, and I want to tell him everything, though there doesn’t feel like there’s anything to tell. Not really. I don’t even like Rynelle, don’t know her, and I’m far too eager to get on with the underwater mission to be messing around with romance. I can hear Annabel, Robert’s wife, in the background, “Is that Joe?” she says, and now I know that Robert truly was worried about not getting hold of me, even if he doesn’t let it show. “Sure is,” replies Robert to her, “and you’ll never guess what … he’s got himself a woman.”

There’s laughter, and I know that Annabel has snatched the phone from Robert, keen to hear all the juicy details. I’m sorry to disappoint her. “I haven’t,” I say. “Robert’s just winding you up.

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