The Future Widows' Club by Russell Rhonda

Author:Russell, Rhonda [Russell, Rhonda]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: amazon
Publisher: Firefly Press
Published: 2014-02-10T23:00:00+00:00

* * *

Jake leaned back in his uncomfortable desk chair, passed a weary hand over his face and futilely wished he hadn’t taken this call. “Look, Andy, I wish I could help you, but I don’t know when or even if you’ll get the body. Once the autopsy is complete, Jolie will have to make those arrangements. I’m just the detective in charge. I’m not making the funeral arrangements.”

“I realize that,” Andy explained with exaggerated patience, “but after calling around all morning, you were the person I was directed to.” He paused. “Has Randy already called you?” he asked with irritated suspicion. “Is that why I’m getting the run around?”

Dubbed “Double Death” by the citizens of Bless Her Heart, Andy and Randy Holbrook were identical twins who’d gone into the funeral profession. Together, to start with, but three years into a prosperous career, they’d had a falling out and had since started individual businesses.

Bless Her Heart could comfortably support one funeral home, but the population simply wasn’t sufficient to support two and, as such, every time somebody died Andy and Randy fought over the body and bereaved like a couple of mongrels over a soup bone. Dean had been called in to intervene countless times, and the issue had even been raised at several town hall meetings. People ought to be able to bury their loved ones in peace, they’d argued, not be harassed and hounded until they wished they were dead as well.

Jake swallowed a beleaguered sigh. “No, I haven’t heard from Randy,” he told him, hoping to end the call.

“Good, because if he tells you that she’s planning on using Eternal Rest as opposed to Heavenly Harvest then he’s lying. She was in here just last week checking out pre-burial plans.” He chuckled grimly. “Bet she wishes she’d gone ahead and purchased one then,” Andy remarked somewhat gleefully. “Now it’s really gonna cost her. Dying isn’t cheap, Jake,” he sighed sagely. “Not cheap at all.”

Jake stilled as every sense went on point. “She was in there last week?”

“Yep, so this fish is dangling on my hook. Randy has no claim.”

“Do you remember what day she came in, Andy?”

“I do. It was Thursday. I know because I always do a follow-up a week after initial contact. I tried to call her yesterday, but she wasn’t available.”

A week to the day then, Jake thought grimly. That wasn’t good.

“She took some pamphlets home, said she wanted to show them to her husband.”

“These plans, were they for her and him?”

“Nope. Just him. But that’s not really uncommon, I’m afraid. Lots of people have a hard time coming to terms with their mortality. To their detriment,” he tutted woefully. “You should really think about having a little look-see yourself, Jake. It’s never too early to make arrangements. Death is certain, you know.”

“I’ll think about it,” Jake told him distractedly. He uttered an abrupt goodbye, then sat back in his chair and rubbed his gritty eyes with the palms of his hands. What the hell had she done? he wondered, absolutely flabbergasted.

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.