Summer Reading is Killing Me (Phee Jefferson Book 2) (12 page)

Chapter Twenty FiVE

The next morning when my alarm went off, I cursed
the extra glass of wine I drank with dinner. Exhausted and cranky from so
little sleep, I showered and dragged my sad sack self to the library. Charlie
waited outside for me. Today was the day he took the garbage out and helped
clean.

“Hey there, pretty lady. Don’t take this wrong,
but you look like something not even my cat would bother dragging in,” Charlie
said. He followed behind me as I unlocked the doors. He grabbed the garbage
pail nearest the front door and took it with him to empty into the large can.

“I feel even worse,” I grumbled. “I ate dinner
with Senator Campbell last night. My one glass of wine turned into three. I’m
not equipped to handle a good time.”

“Senator Campbell, huh? He’s here because of his
daughter’s murder, isn’t he? I’ve never seen so many dang reporters in my life.
You’d think we lived in the big city between the murder and the press. Darn
ridiculous!” Charlie shook his head. “I can’t wait until things get back to
normal.”

There was a light tapping on the front door of the
library. I hurried to the front thinking Wade forgot his keys. It was Clint.
Next to him was the short blonde from yesterday. I unlocked the doors to let
him in.

“Good morning, babe. I brought you coffee. You
look tired. Are you feeling okay?” He leaned in and kissed me. “I also brought
Lu by to meet you before we have our cookout tonight.”

The blonde woman stepped forward and held out her
hand. “Lucinda Gifford, but my friends call me Lu. I’m Clint’s new partner,”
she said. I took her outreached hand and gave her a quick once-over. Lu had
blonde hair and dark brown eyes. Up close, I could see freckles sprinkled
across her golden-colored skin. A snub nose and too wide mouth made her appear
cute and perky rather than pretty. Despite her short stature, she had the stance
of a fighter that could wrestle an unruly drunk to the ground with no problem.
I couldn’t decide if I should be jealous or scared of her.

“Nice to meet you, Lucinda,” I said. I took the
coffee from Clint’s outstretched hand and sipped it gratefully.

“Please call me Lu. I feel like I’ve known you
forever since Clint’s talked nonstop about you since we met,” Lu said with an
accent I couldn’t quite pinpoint.

“Where are you from originally, Lu?” I asked.

“Queens. You couldn’t tell from my accent? Born
and raised in the big city. This is my first trip to someplace without a subway
and a taxi on every corner. I’m in culture shock.”

“I’ve lived here with my family my entire life. In
fact, Clint spent more time at my house then he did at his own. We’ll help you
navigate small town life,” I offered. I couldn’t help but let my guard down now
that I’d met her. Something about Lu told me she was an ally rather than a
rival. Despite coming from the big city, her smile held small town charm. It
made me glad I hadn’t made a scene and embarrassed myself yesterday. “What made
you move here?”

“I’m hiding from a mob boss who wants to take me
out,” Lu said grimly. When she saw the shock on my face, she burst into
laughter. “I’m yanking your chain,
Phee
. My dad’s a
cop and my three brothers are cops. I wanted to forge my own path without the
men in my family hovering over me. Three generations of Irish-American cops. If
that
ain’t
a stereotype, I don’t know what is.”

“It sounds like police work is in your blood,” I
smiled at her.

“Yep. Stopping crime is what the Gifford family
lives, breathes and bleeds. My dad met my mom when he slapped cuffs on her one
day,” Lu said.

“What did she do?” I asked, scared to hear the
answer as various scenarios flitted through my mind.

“She was working a street corner…” Lu said. “Just
kidding. You’re right, Clint. She’s an easy one to get going. Nah, she was
protesting a business in the city that discriminated against Hispanics. Mom’s
Puerto Rican. She’s a labor law attorney, a hippie and an activist. My dad’s a
die-hard cop who walks the straight and narrow. How my parents married is
beyond me. As you can see, I got my looks from my dad, but my sense of humor is
all from my mom.”

Clint wrapped an arm around my shoulder. “
Phee
, Lu’s driving me nuts. I’ll need your help to keep up
with all of her practical jokes.”

“Oh, I’ll be helping her, not you. Someone needs
to keep you on your toes,” I joked. “Lu, come meet Charlie. He is a town icon.
Knows everything about everything. He’s a huge Cincinnati Reds fan, too.”

“I’ll enlighten him to the error of his ways. New
York Yankees all the way.” Lu followed me to the office. I introduced her to
Charlie and left them bickering over team stats.

“Time for a proper hello,” Clint whispered
huskily. He leaned down and gave me a deep kiss. “I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you, too,” I whispered and rested my
head on his chest. “It’s been a rough few days.”

“I’m sorry, sweetheart. I wish I’d been here to
help.” He stroked my curls and pulled me tighter to him. I leaned back and
looked up at his face. He smiled and his eyes crinkled in the corners. “What?
Have I got mud on my face and no one’s told me?”

Juliet’s words from the other day echoed in my
head, but I shoved them away. Clint didn’t do over-the-top romantic gestures or
behave like a storybook prince, but I knew he loved me. “Nothing. I’m tired is
all. Late night eating dinner with Senator Campbell, then when his aide,
Anthony, dropped me off at my house, we found a reporter lurking in my back yard.
Tessa Brewer tried to sneak up to my windows to take pictures of me. Someone
let it slip I was the one who found the body.”

“Damn it,
Phee
, you
should’ve called me. I don’t want to depend on the senator’s lapdog to keep you
safe, but I’m glad you’re okay. I’m sure more nuts will drop from the trees
before we solve this case. If she shows up again, call me. How else am I going
to play macho boyfriend and save the day?” He smiled at me. “The sheriff
discovered that a tech at the crime lab in Burlington owed the wrong person
money and leaked information to anyone with a fat wallet. That’s probably where
Tessa found out about you. The lab fired him.”

“Good. The Senator said he learned information by
greasing someone’s palm with cash. It’s a shame so many people’s lives are
motivated by money,” I sighed. “Clearly I am not driven by cash since I work at
a library. My love of books is what I live on.”

“We can’t all live off love, great movies, and
books,” Clint admonished with a playful chuck under my chin.

“I like money just as much as the next person, but
I also realize it isn’t everything,” I grumbled. “It sickens me when people
trade away their values and damage other people’s lives for it.”

“I agree with you one hundred percent. I promise
to never tell any reporter you wear skunk slippers and sheep pajamas to bed. I
find them incredibly arousing, but others might be appalled at your skunk
slaying ways,” Clint joked. “I’d hate for some skunk activist to stalk you if
your dirty secret was splashed across the front pages of the newspaper.”

“Ha
ha
. You deserve Lu
and her practical jokes, you brat!” I gave him a playful push. “I need to get
ready to open the doors. You need to skedaddle out of here and go catch a
murderer.”

“You’re right. The sheriff is getting pressure
from all sides to arrest someone for
Elody’s
murder.
Signs are pointing to Jay Burns, but with no hard evidence against him, we
can’t do it. It’s not a crime to be slime. I’ll check out this Tessa Brewer
character. I don’t like her lurking around in the bushes. Paparazzi or not, it
sounds suspicious.”

“Check out her rap sheet in Arkansas. I found out
she was the getaway driver for her dad in a string of robberies. It looks like
she straightened out her life since her release from juvie, but maybe she
hasn’t given up all her criminal antics. I’m sure they come in handy when
stalking a star,” I informed him. “I better get busy. I’ll see you and Lu
tonight. Okay if Wade and Juliet come?”

“Great idea. See you at six. I’ll bring my grill
apron and charm,” Clint said. He gave me another quick, hard kiss and walked
away. Lu pried herself away from her heated conversation about baseball with
Charlie and followed behind him.

Charlie and I finished cleaning the library. Wade
arrived fifteen minutes before we opened and helped to shelve the books left in
the book drop. At ten o’clock, we opened the doors. Between summer readers and
our usual patrons, I didn’t have time to worry about anything but books, crafts
and reading logs.

In the afternoon, Juliet popped her head around
the shelf where I was straightening books. “Hey there,
PheePhee
.
Time for lunch and investigating lies and alibis.”

“Oh! You scared me!” I squeaked. I glanced at my
watch. “You’re right. I promised to meet Shawna for lunch. Are you coming with
me?”

“I planned to go with you. My interrogation
techniques need honing. Each
perp
sharpens my skills
and hardens my heart. If Clint would let me slap cuffs on some scumbag, my life
would be complete.”

“Instead of a ‘Y’ on your mask, perhaps you should
bedazzle it with an ‘F’,” I suggested.

“What for?” Juliet wrinkled her forehead in
confusion.

“For Super Freak,” I laughed and pushed her
towards the door.

Chapter Twenty Six

Juliet took pity upon my exhaustion and drove me
to the Quickie Cow. On the way, I told her about the events of the night
before. When we arrived, I saw Shawna sitting at one of the tables with a large
umbrella. She already had her lunch in front of her.

“I hope you don’t mind. I got here early. I
couldn’t take the smell of French fries a second longer, so I went ahead and
ordered,” Shawna apologized. She swirled her fries in a glob of catsup and
stuffed them in her mouth.

“I understand. Their fries are the best,” I agreed.
Juliet and I both ordered a jalapeño burger with fries and a peach shake. Good
thing I promised to go to yoga and take up jogging. My calorie count from the
past few days was through the roof. I liked my curves, but didn’t want to split
another pair of yoga pants. After our order came up, we carried our burger
baskets and shakes to Shawna’s table.

“Thanks for inviting me to lunch,” Shawna said.
She slurped her soda and emitted a small burp. “Sorry. Carbonation kills me
every single time. I’m at a loss since
Elody’s
death.
I want to stick around to help catch the killer, but the artsy crowd is
plucking at my last nerve. Give me a microscope and I’m in heaven. A paintbrush
gives me the willies.”

“But you liked
Elody’s
art, didn’t you?” Juliet asked.

“Yes, but she was my friend. Otherwise, I wouldn’t
have wasted my time on it,” Shawna admitted. “She had talent, but as far as
knowing style and technique, I’m at a loss. I cared because she cared. With
Elody
gone, if I don’t go to another art gallery, I’d
survive.”

Her blunt honesty reinforced my original
assessment that she cared about
Elody
. Even so, I
wanted to pry deeper into their relationship and the fight the neighbor
overheard. “Shawna, a neighbor said you and
Elody
argued before she died. What did you guys fight about?” I asked.

Shawna stuffed a few more fries into her mouth.
Not waiting to swallow, she talked around the mush of fries, “We fought over
Jay. The scumbag slapped her after she confronted him about using her to make
money. I wanted her to press charges, but she didn’t want to ruin his life when
he was trying to go legit.”

“How was Jay using her to make money?” I asked. I
took a bite of my burger. A jalapeño set my mouth on fire. I grabbed my shake
and took a quick sip. Gasping, I said, “Didn’t he make money off the sales of
his art?”

“I’m not sure. I heard her arguing with him on the
phone one day. She said he wouldn’t be where he was with his career if not for
her. She called him a two-bit hack and threatened to tell all the newspapers
about him. I asked her about it, but she brushed me off. I demanded she tell
me. It went downhill from there,” Shawna. “I feel like crap for pushing the
issue.”

“Have the police made any progress figuring out
who broke into your cabin?” Juliet asked.

“No. A few stolen paintings don’t compare to
solving the mystery of who killed the artist. They didn’t take anything else.
My computer was on the table and
Elody
had some
expensive pieces of jewelry, but the robber didn’t touch either,” Shawna said.
She heaved a sigh and her eyes glistened with tears. “Everything is falling
apart. I fought with
Elody
and never made up with
her. I wished that I had handled it better. I’m like the bull in the china
shop. I break things, then can’t glue them back together.”

 “We all have moments like that. Things we
wish we could undo or words we could take back,” Juliet reassured her. “I’m
sure
Elody
knew you cared about her.”

“I really did. She made me take a break from books
and beakers. If not for her, I wouldn’t have gone to a frat party or learned to
skateboard.
Elody
was a blast as a friend. Now that
she’s gone, I’ll be plain old boring Shawna, the science geek,” Shawna sighed
and took another loud slurp of her soda. She sat glumly staring at her empty
basket.

“You can come visit us,” Juliet offered. “We’re a
hoot,
Phee
and I.”

“We are?” Juliet might be a hoot, but I was more
of a small chirp. “I mean, yes, we’d love to have you visit. I’ve got a spare
room. You’re welcome anytime.”

“Really? You’re not saying that because you feel
sorry for me?” Shawna looked like a puppy waiting to receive a treat for going
potty outside. If she had a tail, she would have wagged it.

“Sure. You can join us on girls’ night out this
Thursday. I invited Willow, so we need a fourth to balance us out. Besides,
Phee’s
a book nerd and needs someone like her to keep her
company. It’ll be fun, you’ll see,” Juliet promised.

“Cool. Thanks a lot. I better get back to the
cabin. I’m writing up my notes from last semester and working on my paper. It’s
a beast, so a break later this week would be awesome!” Shawna stood up and
dumped her napkins and empty drink into the nearby trash. She set the empty
basket on the counter and walked away with a little skip to her step. Making
new friends seemed to have added spark to Shawna’s personality.

Juliet leaned forward and said in a low voice, “We
need to find out how Jay was making money off of
Elody
.
It had to be through her art. She didn’t have any money since Daddy Dearest cut
her off.”

“We should talk to Nicolette over at Stone Street
Gallery on our way back. She might have insight into the wheeling and dealing
of Jay Burns. Forewarning, she thinks we should leave investigating crime to
the cops, so tread lightly,” I warned.

“I’ll be undercover. I’ll be so deep into my role,
she won’t even recognize me.”

“Just act calm, cool and collected and let me do
most of the talking. Somehow we need to see the paintings
Elody
left at the gallery for
Nic
to sell. I think they’re
the key to breaking this whole case wide open,” I predicted. I sipped my peach
shake still trying to ease the heat of the burger’s jalapenos.