The Trailer Park Princess 01 The Middle Finger of Fate by Kim Hunt Harris

Author:Kim Hunt Harris [Harris, Kim Hunt]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: UNKNOWN
Published: 2013-11-07T06:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TEN

Viv drove her expensive sedan behind Patrice’s expensive sedan to an Italian place down the road from the station. Apparently Patrice Watson was a regular there, because they sat her at her “usual” table near the back of the room.

I perused the menu, wondering if I could get away with ordering a bowl of soup or a salad or something. Payday was still two days away and I had less than ten bucks in my purse. The cheapest entrée was eight-fifty, and with tax and tip that would be…

“What can I get you?”

Patrice ordered a fancy fish dish with cream sauce. Viv ordered linguine with clam sauce. I closed my menu. “You know, I’m really not very hungry. I think I’ll just have a glass of iced tea.” My stomach growled.

“The station is paying,” Patrice said curtly.

“I’ll have fettuccini alfredo,” I said.

“And bring us a bottle of that Merlot I had last week. Three glasses.”

The waitress walked away, and I could feel Viv looking at me. She wondered if I’d told Patrice I wasn’t drinking. She didn’t want to out me if I didn’t want to be,

but Patrice knew. I’d told her three days ago when I saw her. And from the smirk on her face, she was enjoying this little test.

I took a deep breath. “That’s very generous, but Viv and I don’t drink. Thanks anyway.”

“Oh, come on. One glass isn’t going to hurt you. We need to loosen things up in here.”

“She said we don’t drink –”

I put my hand on Viv’s. “It’s okay. Don’t worry about it. Let’s go ahead and get started, shall we?”

Patrice had thrown down a gauntlet, and thankfully her manipulation was enough to get me focused on winning this contest instead of on how much I really wanted a glass of that wine – just one glass – because everything had been so crappy lately. One glass because I’d been so good and deserved a reward. One glass because I was trying so hard and nothing – abso-freaking-lutely nothing had gone my way in a very long time. Just one glass because right at the moment I felt like I’d been a sold a bill of goods with the whole sobriety and Christianity thing. None of it was what it was cracked up to be, and none of it was as great as Les and everyone else kept promising me it was. I wanted just one glass.

I focused on what information we had. “We’ve been able to get a brief glimpse at the initial crime report and just saw a few things; blunt force trauma, and something about St. Christopher. We also know that Lucinda had bruises or something around her neck – the funeral parlor guy called them strangulation marks.”

The waitress dropped a basket of breadsticks on the table and Patrice and I knocked our knuckles reaching for carb heaven. Now this, I could indulge in. To hell with the skinny jeans in the closet.

“That’s all pretty much public knowledge, Salem.

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