Tempest in the Tea Leaves by Kari Lee Townsend Read Free Book Online

me.”
    Oh, there was. Like the fact that my father was a world-renowned doctor who had access to digoxin. Now more than ever I needed to find the real killer before Detective Stone locked me up and threw away the key for good.

4

    A knock on my door later that afternoon had me hoping and praying for another customer. Maybe someone hadn’t listened to the rumors and had decided to give me a shot. If people didn’t give me a chance, I was doomed to fail for sure. And the last of my trust fund money was dwindling fast. If that happened, I’d be forced to go homeless or go home. I wasn’t sure which option would be more unpleasant. I took a deep breath and opened the door with a smile.
    My smile vanished like a puff of incense smoke, and I gasped. “Mom? Dad?”
    Vivian and Donald Meadows stood on my doorstep, in the flesh, within touching distance. Something they’d promised would never happen, and I’d prayed they were right. Glancing around to make sure no one was looking, I quickly ushered them inside and closed the door behind them.
    “What are you doing here?” I asked.
    “Nice to see you, too, darling.” My mother air-kissed my cheek as always.
    “Sylvia.” My father nodded and then patted my shoulder.
    “I hope you’re not here to convince me to come home with you,” I said. “Because that’s not going to happen. This is my home now.”
    “Oh, we’re not leaving anytime soon, dear,” Mom clarified. “Of course, we’re not staying in this dreadful place, either. Why, it’s simply spooky is what it is. I don’t know how you sleep at all.” She tsked. “Oh my God, what is that thing?” Mom raised her fingertips to her lips, careful not to touch her cashmere gloves against the perfectly lined mauve lipstick. “An albino rat?”
    Morty turned up his nose and wandered upstairs, not giving my mother the time of day. “That thing is Morty, and he’s not a rat. He’s a cat.” I’d have given anything to turn my back on my parents and follow his lead right about then.
    “You hate cats.”
    “No, Mom, you do.”
    She shuddered. “All the more reason not to stay here. Your father and I both cleared our schedules and will be staying at that charming inn on the edge of town. We’re here to support you one hundred percent, darling. After all, family is family, you know.”
    “So you’ve always said. You can’t choose your family ; you have to make the best of what you’ve got. That works both ways, Mom. Does that mean you’ve finally accepted me for who I am?” I purposely looked at my sanctuary and then back at them. “For what I am?”
    “We’ve accepted you need help, Sylvia,” Dad chimed in, nodding once. “And that is precisely what we are prepared to do. Help you out of this little mess you’ve gotten yourself into before you tarnish all our names.”
    I should have known it was too good to be true. They were worried about their own name. Okay, so maybe they didn’t want to see their only child go to jail, but one thing was certain. If I let them help me, there’d be consequences. They’d insist I go home with them. I’d rot before I’d let that happen. “Hey, wait a minute. I know news travels fast, but come on. How’d you find out about the murder so soon?”
    “Murder?” my mother shrieked, losing her composure, which never happened. “No one said anything about murder. Donald, we have to do something.”
    “Don’t worry, Viv. We’re not leaving until this case is closed. Things are much more serious than I thought. Do you see why we should never have let her leave?” Dad paced my foyer. He only paced when he was really worried. “He said you were in trouble, and he needed to ask us some questions. Nothing about murder.”
    God, when would I learn to keep my big mouth closed? For someone who could read the future, I hadn’t seen that one coming at all. Wait a minute. . . . He? “Um . . . who needs to ask you some questions?” Suspicion clawed at my insides. I