Death by Lime: A Key West Culinary Cozy - Book 5 by Summer Prescott Read Free Book Online Page A

a slice of that amazing Key Lime pie,” he admitted.
    “Coming right up,” Tiara said, heading for the display case. “To go?”
    “Please,” Sam nodded. “I have to get to work, I just wanted to make sure that Kelcie was okay and that the police had arrived in time. They sent me away after they asked me a few questions, so I never got to see her.”
    “Well, we’re all relieved that she’s on the road to recovery and shouldn’t be in danger any longer,” Marilyn said.
    “Exactly. How much do I owe you?” he asked when Tiara handed him the bag with his slice of pie.
    “It’s on the house – yoga student special,” she smiled.
    “Wow, thank you,” he said, surprised.
    “No problem. See you at class,” she replied.
    Sam headed off to work and the two women were silent for a moment after he left.
    “Nice guy,” Marilyn mused, nodding approvingly.
    “Yep, he might be just what Kelcie needs to make her forget all about Thomas and her stalker,” Tiara agreed.
    “Thomas might actually be the stalker,” her mother reminded her.
    “I hope he goes to jail for a very long time if he is,” her daughter snarled. “But it wouldn’t really make sense,” she said thoughtfully.
    “What do you mean?”
    “Well, remember back at the beginning of all of this mess, the reason that Thomas broke up with Kelcie is because he thought that she was having an affair with the stalker?”
    “Oh, that’s right!” Marilyn exclaimed. “I had forgotten about that. Things have been so crazy lately, that I even forgot Thomas had existed in her world. You don’t suppose that he has a multiple personality or something do you?” she asked, wide-eyed.
    “It’s a possibility, but don’t you think that Kelcie would’ve picked up on that somehow?” Tiara asked reasonably.
    “Yeah, I suppose so,” Marilyn pursed her lips in frustration. “But if Thomas isn’t the stalker, that means the stalker is still out there.”
    “I’d bet my last dollar on your creepy neighbor, Tim. He always seems to show up at all the wrong times, looking and acting sketchy,” her daughter pointed out.
    “But when he saw Kelcie’s name on the florist’s box, he asked who she was…” her mother replied, lost in thought.
    “Of course he did, Mom. Did you expect him to just admit in front of all of us that he’d been stalking her, and that the box was from him?” Tiara challenged.
    “Hmmm…I suppose not,” Marilyn agreed, thinking that it was probably about time to have a talk with her odd neighbor.
    “I can see what you’re thinking, dear mother of mine, and you need to stop that thought right now,” her daughter warned. “Let the police take care of this. The last time you took matters into your own hands, you startled an innocent repairman.”
    “Now, Tiara, you know that I…” Marilyn broke off her sentence, staring at the door. “Of all the nerve,” she said, eyes narrowed.
    Following her gaze, Tiara glanced out the front windows to see the object of their discussion, Tim Eckels, shuffling along toward the front door. She beat her mother to the punch as soon as the unsuspecting man opened the door.
    “Just who do you think you are, coming in here after what you’ve been doing?” the young woman marched from behind the counter, invading the awkward man’s space, hands on hips. She towered over him by a good six inches, and peered down at him as though he was a cockroach that had been discovered in the pantry.
    “Did Kelcie like the pie?” he asked, completely ignoring her outburst, and not at all fazed by the intimidating young woman’s stature.
    Marilyn and Tiara exchanged a look that communicated that both of them had forgotten that he’d practically forced a pie upon her. Marilyn made a mental note to check in with Bernard about that later. As usual, he probably wouldn’t tell her anything because he was still investigating, but it was worth a try at least.
    “No, she hated it,” the young woman replied