Organized for Homicide (Organized Mysteries Book 2) by Ritter Ames Read Free Book Online

girls off to bake cookies with his mom. That's why they haven't been in here already telling me they're hungry again. Until you came, I was almost to the point of calling time and temperature so I could pretend someone was talking to me."
    Meg took a final swallow before rinsing her cup under the faucet. "I must have been driving by the Colliers' when Keith and the girls left. But I know what you mean. It does get quiet pretty quickly, doesn't it?" She jingled her key ring. "My car is in our driveway."
    A couple of jackets and sweaters hung on hooks in the mud room, and Kate grabbed her favorite cotton candy pink hoodie.
    "It's not like a front is moving in," Meg said, holding open the back door. "The temps only dropped a little."
    " Just call me 'thin-blooded Katie.'"
    The car was still warm, and Kate snuggled into the heated passenger seat. Daylight savings time meant it wasn 't quite dark yet but getting shadowy, and Meg switched on the lights.
    " The girls must really like having a grandmother nearby," Meg said as she turned east toward the Colliers' neighborhood.
    " Yes, having Jane and George close fills a void we always experienced in the past."
    Kate 's own parents had died together in a car accident her second year of college. The depression had almost been too much, feeling she'd let them down somehow by leaving to go away to school. She had always felt responsible for her parents, who would get so wrapped up in the latest passions they'd take chances and cut corners. This made the small family grow apart during her teen years, when she felt their environmental activities and the constant moves took precedence over the family's and her needs. Keith's parents had always been such polar opposites of hers, Kate hadn't put up any argument when he left pro hockey and took the job as an on-air personality in his hometown of Hazelton. "It's really been a great transition, but who knew things would go so smoothly when we moved here last fall. Well, if you discount the fact that between Keith's and my new careers we had to contend with a couple of murders in the last month."
    " Have to say, you were pretty good at solving the murders, Kate."
    " Only because I stumbled into the murderer and almost got myself kidnapped, and likely worse." Kate crossed her arms. "I am so out of the murder solving business. From now on the only crime solving I'm going to tackle are crimes against organization."
    They rounded the turn into the development, and Kate glanced up to the master balcony, loving the way the solar lights set along the perimeter of the house lit the back with a soft glow. She was surprised to suddenly realize someone was leaning over the balcony. The illumination wasn't strong enough for her to tell who it was exactly, but with knowing the family was out and seeing all the inside lights were off, she got an uneasy feeling. She pulled out her phone and dialed 9-1-1.
    Just as the operator answered, a second person, this one wearing a hoodie, stepped onto the balcony. The 9-1-1 operator answered, but before Kate could get any words out, the shadowy figure on the balcony snuck up on the person leaning on the railing from behind, grabbed the person by the hair, pulled, and ran a hand under the face of the person at the railing. The one in the hoodie then grabbed the torso of the first person and pushed the body over the side, where it landed on the stone patio and didn't move.

CHAPTER FIVE
     
    Check Every Nook and Cranny
    Whether cleaning, moving, or just organizing, try to group rooms together, then move through systematically. When boxing up items don't forget to check out the tops of closets and pantry and the seldom used drawers and cabinets in the kitchen, like the ones under the stove. Also, scan past the floor of the attic and garage; check the rafters for infrequently used or seasonal items to take with you, like skis and fishing poles.
     
    * * *
     
    Meg and Kate screamed simultaneously. The person in the hoodie