Cross Your Heart, Hope to Die by Eileen Goudge

Author:Eileen Goudge
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Open Road Media
Published: 2023-11-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 10

OPENING REAL SOON. WE CAN HARDLY WAIT. HOPE YOU CAN’T EITHER. Lacey read the notice spotlighted in the shop window. A slew of carpenters, electricians, and painters were working overtime to get the new store ready for business. Paradiso would soon have its first exclusive women’s boutique.

Lacey and Penny sat on the grass at the edge of the town green sipping sodas and trying to find the brightest star in the sky. At least Penny was trying. Lacey was more interested in the handsome sign painter across the street. In the light of a street lamp she watched him put the finishing touches on a fancy wooden plaque that was hanging outside the store.

“The Virginia Shop of Beverly Hills,” she read out loud. “Can you believe it, Penny? Little ole Paradiso’s hitting the big time. Pretty stupid idea, don’t you think?”

Penny came back to earth. “How come, Lacey? It looks cool.”

“Yeah, but who’s kidding who? Daddy’s mall project is only a matter of time. Why would anybody start a business downtown when it’s gonna become a ghost town?”

“Yeah, you’re probably right, Lacey,” Penny agreed.

“The next sign he’ll be painting will be ‘Going Out of Business Sale.’ Well, at least he’s cute. I wouldn’t mind watching him paint signs forever.” Lacey laughed as she looked around at the other businesses that were also on their last leg. Huck Spector’s barbershop for one, which stuck out like a sore thumb, a little brick box sandwiched in between Paradiso’s two giants, the Pinkerton Building and Vaughn Cutter’s father’s bank, Cutter Savings and Loan.

She spotted Lars Cutter outside his bank with some maintenance workers. The bank, a huge, white, window-less structure, was a prime target for graffiti. She watched the workers scrubbing away the day’s comments on April’s murder, all lit up by the flood of night lights that bathed the walls of the building.

She read the words out loud, dramatizing them as if she were a TV soap opera actress. “‘Who killed April? Was it May, or June? Or could it be you? Poor Peggy Sue.’”

Lacey laughed, but Penny was silent. “Hey, come on, Penny, I’m just kidding around. Besides, look at that picture underneath. It’s a riot.”

Underneath the lettering was a picture of a girl wearing a diamond-studded crown. In one hand she held a rope and in the other a paintbrush. There was a caption scribbled next to it that read Queen for a day.

“Whoever did that picture must have some sick sense of humor,” Penny said, making a gagging motion with her tongue for emphasis. “It’s gross!”

“I’ll bet it was Eddie Hagenspitzel,” Lacey said. “That’s his line. Definitely.”

Lacey took a big gulp of her soda and sighed. “I’ll tell you one thing. It’ll be a lot easier to find the graffiti artist than the murderer.”

“Maybe, but it looks like they’re getting close,” Penny said.

Lacey let out a raw laugh. “What? You mean that stuff about Jess?” But she felt her heart skip a beat.

“Well …” Penny said coyly.

Lacey rolled her eyes.

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