Heavenly Honeymoon (Zoe Donovan Mysteries Book 15) by Kathi Daley Read Free Book Online Page B

the novelty will wear off and he’ll want to come home.”
    “Maybe.”
    “Are you back in Ashton Falls?” I asked.
    “I am. I flew home earlier today and Mom picked me up in Bryton Lake. Levi decided to stay for a few more days. He wanted a chance to actually work out with the team to get a feel for how everyone interacted before he officially quit his job at the high school. At first I was really upset that we weren’t going to have this time together, but now I think it might be for the best. I need some time to process everything.”
    “I wish I could be there with you. I hate to think of you all alone. I’d come home early, but I’ve been forbidden to leave the island.”
    “Zoe Donovan, what did you do?”
    “It’s not what I actually did; it’s more what everyone seems to think I did.”
    “Please don’t tell me you’re mixed up in a murder.”
    I remained silent. She’d said not to tell her.
    “You are mixed up in a murder,” Ellie concluded. “How on earth did you manage to do that? You’ve only been on the island for a couple of days.”
    I explained about the events leading up to my arrest and then I explained, in excruciatingly painful detail, about my horrible evening in jail.
    “You used a newspaper as toilet paper?” Ellie laughed.
    “It’s not like I had a choice. I had on a tiny silk dress that barely covered anything, so I had on minimal undergarments, and I couldn’t risk drippage.”
    Ellie laughed even harder. I was glad my horrible night could bring some light into her dark day. I guess, looking back, it was sort of funny, although it most definitely hadn’t been amusing at the time.
    “I should have come with you as planned.” Ellie sighed. “It sounds like your murder investigation is a lot more interesting than my imploding romance.”
    “Maybe you can still come,” I suggested. “If Coop isn’t busy I’m sure Zak will send him to pick you up. You can be here by tomorrow morning. The fourth bedroom is totally empty.”
    “Do you have any idea how much that would cost?”
    “Zak won’t mind. Will you come?”
    Ellie hesitated. I knew she was considering it. “I’ve already arranged for coverage at the restaurant, and I’m sure Tiffany won’t mind if I take Shep back over to your place.”
    My assistant, Tiffany Middleton, was staying at the house to take care of Zak’s dog Bella, as well as my cats, Marlow and Spade. She’d kept Levi’s dog, Karloff, and Shep as well while they were visiting the college.
    “El?” I persuaded.
    “Okay. If Zak really doesn’t mind paying a fortune for me to get there, and if Coop really is available.”
    “I’ll check into it and call you back.”
     
    As expected, Zak was more than happy to send Coop for Ellie, and Coop was fine with fetching her. Although Coop owns a private jet service catering to businessmen on the go and has many clients, I’m pretty sure Zak is his best customer, so I was certain Coop would be willing to do anything within his power to keep him happy. I called Ellie back and informed her that Coop would be waiting for her at the Bryton Falls airport later that evening. It would be good to have her around while we tried to balance fun with investigation.
    Then I called Jeremy Fisher, who had been doing such a fantastic job managing Zoe’s Zoo that he no longer really needed me, though, if I was honest with myself, I still needed to be needed. Does that make any sense?
    “Hey, Jeremy,” I said when he answered the phone.
    “Zoe, how’s the trip?”
    “Eventful.” I filled him in.
    “You need to be careful. Other countries don’t have the same type of justice system we do. Proving guilt isn’t necessarily a requirement for locking someone up.”
    “Trust me, I’ve thought of that. How are things at the Zoo?”
    Jeremy filled me in on the two bear cubs that had been transferred out and the mountain lion that had been transferred in. “I got a call this morning, asking if we could take some