Green Velvet Murder: A Donut Hole Cozy Mystery - Book 16 by Susan Gillard Read Free Book Online Page B

Why did you spike your sister’s
coffee at Donut Delights on the morning of her murder?”
    Karly paled. “Excuse me?”
    “You heard me,” Heather replied, and
placed light pressure on Miss Belushi’s front door.
    They’d lucked out on this lead. She
had to follow through.
    “How dare you accuse me of –”
    “I have the surveillance recordings to
prove it,” Heather replied. “I’m forwarding them to the police. Start talking.”
    Amy appeared in her peripheral vision,
shaking her head on repeat. “Heather,” she groaned.
    “Oh, you want me to start talking,”
Karly said, her tone deepening.
    “That’s right,” Heather replied, and
dropped her arm to her side.
    “Then read my lips. Get off my
property!” Karly slammed the door shut in her face.
    Heather flinched back and rubbed her
nose. “Hey, she got me.”
    “Of course, she got you. She’s a
psycho,” Amy whispered.
    “I dare you to knock and tell her
that.”
    “Sure, just let me call my lawyer to
draw up my last will and testament, real quick.” Amy jerked her thumb toward
the street. “Please, please can we go now? I hate this place. I bet she’s got a
shotgun in there.”
    Heather hooked her arm through Amy’s
and led her back down the stairs. “All right, we’ll go. I’ve got to talk to
Ryan, anyway, and –”
    Heather cut off and narrowed her eyes
at a bush nearby. The branches cracked and waved in the purple dusk light.
    Amy dug her fingernails into Heather’s
arm. “What is that?”
    “If it’s rats, I’m done.”

Chapter 13
    “Shoot,” Heather said. “I left my
Taser in the car.”
    The bush wiggled, waggled, then went
still. Heavy breathing emanated from between the branches.
    Adrenaline rushed through Heather’s
veins. Someone was in that bush, and she’d bet her last Green Velvet donut that
they had a stake in Bernie Belushi’s murder case.
    “What are you waiting for?” Amy asked,
tremoring from head to toe. “Go get it.”
    “I can’t Taser a bush, Ames. And I’m
not going near it until whoever’s in there comes out.” Heather narrowed her eyes.
She glanced up at Karly’s house.
    Amy’s shotgun insinuation had sunk in.
What if Karly charged out of there, fully loaded and ready to go?
    “Uh, something’s happening,” Amy said,
in a squeak to rival a rat. Ew, rats. Blegh.
    Heather focused on the bush again. The
top of a head appeared. Two bright eyes stared at them.
    “Come out of there,” Heather said. “If
you don’t, I’m going to get my Taser out.”
    The eyes blinked.
    “This is creepier than the rats,” Amy
whispered.
    “Nothing is creepier than a hundred
pet rats. You’re mistaken.” Heather raised her voice. “You’re not coming out?
Fine. The Taser it is, then, and after that, I’ll be calling my husband. He's a
detective at the local PD.”
    The bush shivered.
    Heather made for the car door.
    “Wait,” the bush grumbled. “Wait, I’m
stuck. I mean no harm.”
    “That voice,” Amy said. “Is that?”
    “Geoff.” Heather turned back to the
bush, then walked up to it. She stopped in front of its quaking leaves. “What
on earth are you doing, Lawless? You scared the lactic acid outta me.”
    “Lactic acid?” He grumbled, and those
bright eyes glared up at her.
    “Never mind. Give me your hand. I
doubt I can pull you out, but you can use the leverage.”
    Geoff’s massive hand scraped between
the leaves. Heather took it, then backed off and gave a test tug.
    “Ouch,” Geoff said. The lampposts
clicked on alongside the street and his baldpate glinted by their light.
    “Don’t be such a baby,” Heather said.
“Okay, on the count of three.”
    Amy’s hands grasped Heather’s waist.
“I’ll help. We ready?”
    “Ready,” Heather replied.
    Geoff grunted instead of speaking.
    “One. Two. Three!”
    Amy tugged on Heather’s waist. Heather
pulled at Geoff’s sausage fingers and ham palm. Lawless growled and popped free
of the bush, showering leaves to the