A Festival of Murder by Tricia Hendricks Read Free Book Online Page B

who hoped proximity to him would ensure his or her
eventual abduction, it would be too soon.
    “You’ve
been facing bad PR lately.” Emma stabbed the duster at him again. “The locals
didn’t forget that you refused to appear at your statue’s unveiling at the
festival last year.”
    “I
refuse to endorse hideous statues carved out of butter. Besides, it didn’t even
look like me.”
    “It
had a hint of Adam Sandler in it,” Bea offered.
    “That’s
even worse!”
    “You
also aren’t their favorite person after you showed up at the closing ceremonies
drunk, and then claimed you were kidnapped by an alien who was wearing the face
of your ex-girlfriend.” Emma clucked her tongue. “Oh, and then you said you
were pretty sure she was an alien back when you were dating her because she
was, and I quote, ‘Out of this world in the sack.’”
    “You
have no proof that I said such a thing.” Nicholas thought about it, winced. “I
only said that just the once, right?”
    “You
shouted it twice,” Bea informed him cheerfully. “And offered to show us photos.”
    “If
you want Hightop to succeed, you’ve gotta get along with your neighbors,” Emma
said.
    “And
a public appearance here and there wouldn’t hurt,” Bea added, smiling.
    “But
you have to make an effort, Nicholas! None of that sourpuss face you’ve got
going on right now. Your fans didn’t come here to get snarled at.”
    “Yes,
you can be very charming when you want to be.”
    Nicholas
grumbled beneath his breath about needing to do layoffs. The twins were yet
another reason to become an e-merchant, though he likely wouldn’t be able to
escape them there either. They’d probably become cyberbullies.
    To
put their meddling out of mind, he picked up his old mail, which filled a
plastic grocery bag. He let it build up because whatever people had to send him
was rarely good. He shuffled disinterestedly through the bag’s contents. It was
all garbage: bills, credit card offers, fan letters whose envelopes were
covered with alien stickers, more bills. A large manila envelope caught his eye
until he noticed the return address:
      
    Cryptozoo ConWest
    Freeland,
Washington
     
    “Con”
probably was short for “convention,” and he knew better than to steer anywhere
near one. He was on the verge of tossing the envelope over his shoulder in the
general vicinity of the trash can when Emma all but flew across the shop and
plucked it from his fingers. She squinted at the return address from behind her
glasses. Bea hovered behind her right shoulder like a vestigial wing.
    “I
was wondering when you’d begin receiving these.” Emma tore open the envelope
and dumped its contents into her palm.
    “You’ve
just committed a federal crime.” Nicholas crossed his arms, smug. “Now, I can
fire you.”
    “As
soon as you begin paying me.” She scanned the first sheet of paper. Her
eyebrows climbed into her hair. “Aha!” She showed it to Bea, whose eyes grew as
round as magnifying lenses.
    Nicholas
eyed them warily. “What?”
    “They
want you to be a speaker at one of their panels.”
    A
feeling of flattery was immediately eclipsed by suspicion. “What’s the subject
of the panel?”
    “‘Brushes
with the Unknown: Encounters with Extraterrestrial and Cryptozoological
Species.’“
    “Crypto-what?”
    Bea
smiled. “I think that means Bigfoot.”
    Nicholas
jolted. “Oh, no. Absolutely not. The last thing I want to do is to share a
table with Loch Ness monster hunters and Bigfoot groupies and invite people to
ask me stupid questions.”
    “They’ll
pay for your travel and hotel expenses.” Emma looked up at him with a leer
which was disturbing on a woman her age. “For you and a guest.” She elbowed
Bea.
    He
hesitated and then snatched the paperwork from her hands. “I’ll think about it.”
He stuffed everything back into the envelope and shoved it into the closest
drawer to prevent her from showing it around town.
    “I
bet Phoebe