Louisiana Longshot (A Miss Fortune Mystery, Book 1) by Jana DeLeon Read Free Book Online Page B

later, I was ready for action.
    “We ask these things in Your name,” the preacher said.
    “Now,” Gertie whispered.
    “A—”
    I was out the door before the “men” even dropped. The door to the Catholic church flew open as I dashed out into the street, and Gertie’s nemesis, Celia, barreled outside. The mid-morning sun hit her straight in the eyes, but she never slowed, running blindly down the sidewalk at a clip much faster than I ever would have imagined.
    But it was nothing compared with me.
    I could hear Gertie cheering behind me as I lifted the skirt of my dress and leapt over a snow cone stand. I slid a foot or so on the dusty sidewalk, then regained my footing just in time to push open the door to Francine’s and bolt inside. Celia huffed in a couple of seconds later and stood there, panting and glaring.  
    A big woman, probably about fifty, with a ton of blond hair piled on top of her head raised one eyebrow. “Looks like somebody done hired a ringer. You ain’t even winded, girl.”
    “Not a bit,” I agreed.
    Celia narrowed her eyes at me as Gertie came trotting into the restaurant, the smile on her face as wide as the Grand Canyon.  
    “Now,” Gertie said to Celia, “don’t you be giving my friend the stink eye just because you spent all that money on those shoes and you still aren’t getting any pudding.” She turned to the woman with the hair. “Francine, we’ll take a table for eighteen.”
    “Right this way, Ms. Gertie,” Francine said and grabbed a stack of menus.  
    I followed Francine and Gertie to a stretch of two long tables placed in front of the plate-glass storefront.  
    “I suppose you’ll all be starting with the pudding?” Francine asked.
    Gertie nodded and Francine walked through double doors at the back of the seating area, presumably to serve up eighteen orders of banana pudding.
    “We’re eating dessert first?” I asked.
    “Of course not. We’re just ordering dessert first so they don’t run out. Francine can only fit about twenty-five in her fridge. Celia’s got fifteen in her crew.”  
    She looked positively giddy delivering that last statement, and I had to wonder what Celia’s crew would have in store for her when they realized the Nikes hadn’t done the job. I was, however, interested in seeing how they determined which crew members got the remaining pudding.
    Gertie insisted I take the seat at the head of the table, as the “guest of honor.”  
    “Are sixteen more people really coming?” I asked. I hadn’t seen Gertie talk to anyone at church.
    She nodded. “All the Sinful Ladies will be here shortly.”
    “Did they skip church?”
    Gertie looked horrified. “You can’t skip church and then eat out. Why, the whole town would talk about you for a month.”
    “Don’t tell me they’re Catholic.”
    “Heavens, no.” Gertie laughed. “The things you come up with. Those of us that don’t sing in the choir have church duties. I was let off duties today as I was bringing a guest.”
    I was just about to ask Gertie about her earlier cryptic comment concerning Marie killing her husband when a shadow fell across the table. I looked up into the frowning face of Deputy LeBlanc. One glance at Gertie told me she wasn’t the least bit happy to see him.  
    “Morning, Ms. Gertie,” he said. “How are you today?”
    “Fine, thanks,” Gertie replied, but she didn’t meet his eyes and her lips were drawn in a taut line.
    He ignored me completely, which was fine by me.
    “You were around when Harvey Chicoron disappeared, right?”
    “You know I was.”
    “They never found any sign of him, right, except for that missing money thing?”
    Gertie pursed her lips. “You’re the police. I imagine the reports have all the information you can find, and I’m certain you can read as I taught you all four years of high school.”
    “I’ve been through the reports, but I wanted to get the local take on the situation.”
    “He’s gone, and no one