“I still can’t believe Marty was stupid enough to keep the baseball bat he used on Reggie Campbell in the trunk of his car,” Jack said, shaking his head.
“It wasn’t stupidity,” Wanda Nell said. “Just plain arrogance. He never thought anything could happen to him because his daddy would take care of it.”
“Do you think they’ll ever be prosecuted for rape?” Jack asked.
“I doubt it,” Wanda Nell said. “Veenie Golliday is in no condition to go through all that.” She sighed. “I talked to Lily last night, and it sounds like Veenie is in real bad shape. There’s something bad wrong with her liver, and Lily says the doctor thinks it’s cancer.”
“What a horrible life that woman’s had,” Jack said. “I can’t even imagine what it’s like, all that she’s been through.”
“I know,” Wanda Nell said. “And every time I think about it, I get mad all over again. I’d still like to string up those jerks and beat the tar out of them.”
“I don’t blame you,” Jack said, “but I think they’re getting pretty badly beat up as it is.”
“Yeah, and they’re just lucky they’re not sitting in a cell with Marty,” Wanda Nell said. “I think Bert’s about lost all his business. He had to let Karen Marter, his secretary, go. Karen’s daughter Marijane and Juliet are friends, and I talked to Karen a few days ago. She said people were calling up right and left canceling their insurance. I know I sure did.”
“Was he the one who was following you around?” “Yeah, he finally admitted to that. He borrowed a truck from one of his buddies,” Wanda Nell said. “And he was the one that spray-painted the trailer and slashed my tires, too. Marty put him up to that.”
Jack had a few choice words for Bert and Marty, and Wanda Nell just grinned.
“Tony Campbell at least had one shred of decency left, I guess,” Jack said, cooling down a little. “I figured none of them would ever admit to being Lily’s father, but he acknowledged her when the test results were in. And didn’t you tell me he even paid a lot of money to get them to rush the tests?”
“Yeah, he did. He’s not as big a jerk as the other two, though he’s still a pretty sorry excuse for a man,” Wanda Nell said. “I hear his young wife isn’t too happy with him, but she’s at least sticking by him, unlike Miss Tiffany with Marty.”
“The whole thing’s a big mess,” Jack said.
“The only good thing to come out of it,” Wanda Nell said, “is Lily finally getting some medical help. She was telling me last night that Tony is willing to donate a kidney if everything goes well.”
“I sure hope it does,” Jack said. “She deserves some good luck in her life.”
“Amen to that,” Wanda Nell said. “You know, looking at Lily and all that has sure made me stop and think. I get tired of having to work so much, and sometimes my kids drive me crazy, but I feel incredibly lucky. I can’t complain about anything.”
“I think the rest of us are the lucky ones,” Jack said. “I can’t imagine what it would be like not knowing you and having you in my life.”
“Probably a lot quieter, and no dead bodies popping up all over the place,” Wanda Nell said wryly.
Jack threw back his head and laughed. “It’s never boring with you, love, that’s for sure.”
Wanda Nell grinned. “I don’t know. Sometimes boring sounds pretty dang good.”
A knock sounded at the front door, and Wanda Nell got up from the chair.
“Come on,” she said. “I think it’s time to have a birthday party.”
Recipes from the Kountry Kitchen
Country-fried Steak with Gravy
1tenderized round steak (per person, or cut into smaller portions if desired)
2 beaten eggs
1/4 cup milk (2 tablespoons)
flour
salt
pepper
garlic powder
Gravy:
3 tablespoons flour
milk
Season meat and cut into serving sizes. Place a cup or so of flour into one shallow bowl and mix in salt, garlic, and pepper to taste. (Note: for a spicier taste, use a touch of cayenne.) In a second bowl, beat the 2 eggs and add milk. Mix together. Dip meat in flour, then in egg mixture, then in flour a second time. Shake off any excess flour. Fry in cast iron pan with about 14 to 18 inch heated oil. (Note: make sure the pan is hot enough to fry but not too hot to burn the oil.) Cook until meat is done and coating is a deep golden brown.
Next, make the milk gravy by using 3 tablespoons of the grease used to fry the steak and add 3 tablespoons flour, mix well, and add milk to the consistency of gravy you like.
Add some homemade biscuits, green beans, and iced tea.
Belle Meriwether’s Lemon Icebox Pie
1 can Eagle brand condensed milk
l/2 cup lemon juice
2 eggs, beaten
Mix the beaten eggs with the condensed milk, then add the lemon juice and mix well. (If you want to be completely certain the eggs are cooked, pop the mixture into the oven for a few minutes at 350 degrees.) Then pour the mixture into the graham cracker crust. Set into the icebox until firm.
If you’d like to make the mixture fluffier, add either cream cheese (2 to 4 ounces) or whipped cream (up to 10 ounces).
Graham Cracker Crust Recipe
1 package graham crackers (makes about 12 cups crumbs)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup melted butter
Crumble graham crackers. Combine crumbs and sugar first, then add melted butter. Press crumb mixture inside 9-inch pie plate and spread evenly over bottom and sides. (Note: Belle Meriwether always makes her own pie crust, but if you don’t want to go to the trouble, well, Belle says you can find some decent, ready-made pie crust at the grocery store, though she really doesn’t know why someone would go to all the trouble of making a pie and then use a pie crust made by somebody you don’t even know.
Discover More by this Author
Cat in the Stacks Series, writing as Miranda James
MURDER PAST DUE
CLASSIFIED AS MURDER
FILE M FOR MURDER
OUT OF CIRCULATION
THE SILENCE OF THE LIBRARY
ARSENIC AND OLD BOOKS
NO CATS ALLOWED
TWELVE ANGRY LIBRARIANS
CLAWS FOR CONCERN
Southern Ladies Series, writing as Miranda James
BLESS HER DEAD LITTLE HEART
DEAD WITH THE WIND
DIGGING UP THE DIRT
FIXING TO DIE
Simon Kirby-Jones Mysteries, writing as Dean James
POSTED TO DEATH
FAKED TO DEATH
DECORATED TO DEATH
BAKED TO DEATH
Trailer Park Mysteries, writing as Jimmie Ruth Evans
FLAMINGO FATALE
MURDER OVER EASY
BEST SERVED COLD
BRING YOUR OWN POISON
LEFTOVER DEAD
Bridge Club Mysteries, writing as Honor Hartman
ON THE SLAM
THE UNKINDEST CUT
Deep South Mysteries, writing as Dean James
CRUEL AS THE GRAVE
CLOSER THAN THE BONES
DEATH BY DISSERTATION
About the Author
Miranda James is the pseudonym of Dean James, a seventh-generation Mississippian recently returned home after over thirty years in Texas. A mystery fan since the age of ten, he wrote his first novel at the ripe old age of twelve. The only copy of The Mystery of the Willow Key vanished years ago, but since it was highly derivative of the Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden mystery series, that’s probably a good thing.
Currently a librarian, Dean has published articles on topics in library science, the history of science/medicine, and mystery fiction. His first book, with fellow librarian Jean Swanson, was By a Woman’s Hand and won an Agatha Award. Dean and Jean collaborated on Killer Books and The Dick Francis Companion. In all he has co-authored or co-edited six works of mystery refe
rence and one short story anthology.
He has published more than eighteen novels, writing under his own name, Jimmie Ruth Evans, and as Honor Hartman. He’s best known as Miranda James, for his New York Times bestselling Cat in the Stacks series, which features a librarian, Charlie Harris and his charming, partner-in-crime solving cat, Diesel. The books include Murder Past Due, Classified as Murder, File M for Murder, Out of Circulation, The Silence of the Library, Arsenic and Old Books, No Cats Allowed, Twelve Angry Librarians and the upcoming Claws for Concern.
Dean lives with two young cats, thousands of books, and thinks frequently about killing people – but only in the pages of fiction.
See www.catinthestacks.com to discover even more!
Best Served Cold (A Trailer Park Mystery Book 3) Page 26
