Cheri on Top by Susan Donovan Read Free Book Online

shudder.
    “I’m not asking you to,” Cheri said, her voice growing snippy. “I’m asking you to make the most of the facts we do have.”
    “Uh-huh.”
    “It’s Barbara Jean Smoot’s car, right? So that’s fact number one.” Cheri said this with authority.
    “Okay,” J.J. allowed.
    “Is Barbara Jean Smoot still officially missing?”
    “Uh, yes.”
    “Is Barbara Jean Smoot the woman behind the ‘Lady of the Lake’ legend?
    “Well, if you believe that stuff, yeah.”
    “Then that’s fact number two,” Cheri continued. “And from that flows some logical possibilities that we can use to attract readers. The body in Miss Smoot’s car is probably Miss Smoot, so we’ll just get the sheriff to say that. And she was probably the victim of foul play, because how else does a woman end up at the bottom of a lake, trapped in her car, forced to haunt the site of her hideous murder until justice is done?”
    J.J. bit down on his bottom lip so it wouldn’t land on the floor with a thud.
    Taggert cleared his throat. “She coulda gotten lost and driven into the water.”
    “Maybe she was under the influence and thought the dock was a road,” Mimi suggested.
    Cheri frowned. “Who wants to read that? We need something juicier, something that will make people gasp and gossip to their neighbor and not be able to fall asleep at night!” She gestured toward her grandfather, her golden eyes shining with excitement. “Am I right, or what?”
    J.J. squinted at Cheri, deciding that her enthusiasm greatly outweighed her grasp of reality. This imbalance might allow her to pass for the redheaded love child of Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck, but it had no place at a principled little Southern news outlet like the Bugle .
    Someone knocked on the conference room door, putting an end to Cheri’s fevered sales pitch. Whoever it was, J.J. wanted to hug and kiss them for their timing.
    “Am I interrupting?” The perpetually pickled Purnell Lawson headed toward Cheri before anyone could answer, his arms outstretched and his smile wide. The finance and advertising director’s belly pushed against his shirt buttons with such force that J.J. feared his red suspenders would snap off, poking somebody’s eye out.
    “The prodigal daughter has returned! Give ole Uncle Purnell a hug!”
    J.J. watched Cheri stand politely and tap the old guy on the back as he embraced her.
    “How are you, Purnell?” Cheri asked.
    “Busier than a cat covering crap on a marble floor!” Purnell kissed her cheek. “How’s my sweet Cheri?”
    Garland looked embarrassed and cleared his throat. “There’ll be plenty of time for a nice visit over at the house, Purnell,” he said. “Right now we’re in the middle of an editorial meeting.”
    “Getting her feet wet already?” Purnell laughed loudly, sending a breeze of Beefeater through the enclosed room. “Something big, I hope. We need a spike in street sales to stimulate advertising. What y’all got?” Purnell looked to Garland with his reddened eyes wide.
    “Well, seems Barbara Jean Smoot’s car was just pulled out from Paw Paw Lake.”
    Purnell sucked in air like he wanted his Beefeater fumes back. The old man’s bloated face paled and his body stilled.
    “You don’t say?” Purnell asked, still smiling.
    “Wim Wimbley drained the lake so he could start construction and they found the car this morning,” Mimi said. “They got a winch and a crane out there right away.”
    Purnell nodded. “Well now, that is a good story.” He chuckled. “I’ll leave y’all to your business.”
    Suddenly, he was gone.

Chapter 6

    Once Aunt Viv and Granddaddy were in their rooms for the night, Cherise pulled the short cord of the pink Princess phone from its hallway stand and into the bathroom. She shut and locked the bathroom door. She sat on the fluffy pink bath rug, pressed her back against the claw-foot tub and stretched her legs out under the pedestal sink.
    Here she was, thirty years old and