Digging Up Trouble by Heather Webber Read Free Book Online Page B

have to talk."
    It seemed to me all Meredith wanted was a little prodding. "Well, no. They didn't get along. They hated each other."
    "Why?"
    "It's complicated. The Hathaways live there," she said, pointing right next door to the house with the wrought-iron fence and fountain grasses. "There's always been animosity between them. The Hathaways wanted to move about two years ago and quickly found out that not only had their house depreciated in value because of the Grabinskys' yard, but also no one would buy it because of the eyesore. It was on the market for almost ten months. Finally they gave up and formed the homeowners' association."
    Ah. To get the Grabinskys to comply.
    "Russ was mad that Greta had joined the association, but I think she really wanted the yard done and thought that would spur him to do it."
    "Why didn't Russ just fix the yard?" I asked.
    Meredith shrugged. "He was a jerk. I don't even know why Greta stayed with him. Anyway, Russ refused to fix the yard or pay the association dues."
    "What'd the association do?" Kevin asked.
    "Started fining him. Two hundred dollars a day. Plus legal fees."
    Two hundred dollars a day? My mouth dropped open.
    "The association gave them two months to fix the yard and pay the back dues."
    I couldn't believe the power a homeowners' association, essentially a group of neighbors, had. "Or?"
    "A lien would be taken on the house. It would be foreclosed upon after that and sold at auction to pay off debts."
    No wonder Russ was under some stress. I'd be stressed out too.
    Kevin shifted from foot to foot. "Where's all this stand now?"
    "Well," Meredith said, "the lawsuits have been filed. The lien was placed on the house July first. It's foreclosed upon the thirty-first unless the yard is done and the fees are paid."
    Unbelievable. "So Greta could lose the house?"
    Meredith nodded.
    "How much?" Kevin asked. "What are the fees totaling now?"
    "With the legal fees? About thirty grand. That's including the daily fees of the yard not being done for the rest of this month."
    Kevin whistled.
    My cell phone vibrated on my hip. I looked at the readout and recognized the number immediately since I'd been calling it every hour on the hour since five o'clock yesterday.
    "Tam?" I said, answering it. I backed away from Kevin and Meredith.
    "I heard you killed somebody! Is it true?"
    I gasped. "I didn't kill him!"
    "But someone is dead?"
    "Well, yeah."
    "And you were involved?"
    "Not technically. He had a heart attack."
    "What? Hold on, Nina." She covered the phone with her hand and murmured something to someone. "Oh, all right," I heard her say. "Nina?"
    "Yeah?"
    "Someone wants to talk to you."
    "Me?"
    "Nina Ceceri?"
    I sucked in a breath. "Mrs. Krauss? What are you doing there?"
    "Keeping Miss Tamara company. Since you're too busy."
    I think my stress level had maxed out since her jibe didn't even bother me all that much. "Did you want something?"
    "Who died? Was it that awful broom lady?"
    Broom lady? "Who?"
    She clucked. "The trollop with my Donatelli yesterday."
    Boom-Boom. Ah. "No."
    "Oh." She sounded sad about it.
    I couldn't help but smile. It was wrong, I know. But seeing Mrs. Krauss miserable and jealous did my heart good.
    Next thing I knew Tam was back on the line, her voice muffled as she murmured something again, presumably to Mrs. Krauss.
    "What was that?" I asked.
    "I asked Ursula to turn the TV down." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "She snores too."
    I rubbed my temple with my free hand. "How do you know that?"
    "We're sharing a room."
    "What!"
    "She's really kind of nice."
    Nice? "What kind of drugs are they giving you?"
    She laughed.
    "Really," I said. "How on earth did she end up in the maternity ward? Isn't she contagious?"
    "Actually, I'm in the main ward. The beds were full in maternity. And the doctors said she wasn't contagious. I wouldn't risk the baby's life like that. Oh! Ana just walked in!"
    "Don't tell her about the body! Don't tell—"
    I heard her say, "We've got