Heartache Motel: Three Interconnected Mystery Novellas (Henery Press Mystery Novellas)
Page 21
“Graceland owes you one, Miss,” Dale said, nodding at me as the cop led Paul across the lawn. “How anyone could call themselves an American and want to destroy this, I have no idea.”
“Money. It makes people crazy,” I said, reaching a hand toward the belt. “Can I touch it?”
He smiled. “I think you’ve earned that.”
It was heavy. And really, really cool.
ELEVEN
Home for Christmas
I gave the police a statement and all my contact information. Dale loaned me a Blackberry charger, and I put together a last story for Bob before I headed back to the Heartache after Darcy.
Memphis police shattered a theft ring Friday just in time to stop a priceless piece of music history from being sold for scrap.
“We’ve been working with Graceland security on this investigation for months,” MPD Det. Bart Sanders said. “I’m happy to report that while a belt worn by Elvis Presley in several stage performances was the thieves’ latest target, it has been returned safely to its case at Graceland unharmed.”
I filled in the rest of the specifics, including the tension among the locked-in tourists throughout the day and the relief when the thief was caught and the gates opened.
Bob, who was always stingy with compliments, replied with a heartfelt “attagirl” that was up there with the best Christmas gifts ever.
Turned out, the Elvis wannabe in the gift shop was undercover Memphis Detective Bart Sanders, which was why the reports in the police computer were locked. And Dale was very interested in the conversation I’d overheard that morning, because there had also been a rash of thefts from the employee locker room.
“Small potatoes, compared to this,” he waved a hand in the general direction of the trophy room as he walked me to my car, “but I’d sure like to wrap that up before New Year’s.”
“They didn’t use names, and I didn’t see them,” I said apologetically. “But they were both women. And they said it was ‘Christmas money and Christmas is over.’”
“Thanks.” He smiled.
“Thank you. This was a hell of an exclusive.”
I opened the car door and paused.
“Paul doesn’t happen to have a brother who works at the Heartache Motel?” I asked.
“Yep. Twin brother. Drag queen who works in the bar there. The PD has a unit headed over there to bust most of their kitchen staff, from what Bart told me.
“He said the detective you talked to found a whole slew of convicts there. When Paul got out of prison last year and moved here, he hooked up with them because his brother works there, and presto: theft ring.”
“Was Natalie—uh, Paul’s brother—in on it?”
“No criminal record, so no way to know yet,” Dale said.
I smiled. “She was nice.”
“Maybe she was just ignoring it because she didn’t want Paul to go back to prison. It happens.”
I thanked him again and eased into the car. I’d gashed my leg on gas-powered hedge trimmers, and Dale had called a female security guard up to apply antibiotic cream and a dressing.
It didn’t seem to be bleeding anymore, but I didn’t want to irritate it.
“Come back anytime.” Dale smiled as he closed the door.
“But just for the regular tour,” I grinned, waving as I backed out.
I dropped my bags next to the desk and scooped Darcy up, fishing my wallet out of my bag. Man-Margret laughed and shook her head, shooing away my Mastercard with a wave of her scarlet-tipped fingers.
“On the house, sugar. What a day. The cops hauled off half my kitchen staff, and your pooch...she’s my hero. Guess why she was raising hell at that vent? Just guess.”
“Rattly furnace?” I asked, already sure from the look on her face that wasn’t it.
“I sent maintenance up there to take the cover off because it popped back at her when she clawed at it. I saw it.” She shook her head and my stomach lurched.
“No.”
“Oh, yes. That blasted snake was in the heating vent! They took it away about an hour ago. Good riddance. And you and this sweet pup are welcome here any time you’re in Memphis.”
I grinned. “I appreciate that.”
Having seen more of Graceland than I ever intended, I was pretty sure we wouldn’t return anytime soon. I smiled a goodbye in my rearview mirror and squealed when NPR quoted my story on the air ten miles into Arkansas.
“Merry Christmas to me,” I sang, wondering if the politics editor at the Washington Post was on holiday. He was a hard guy to impress, but it would sure be nice for him to see this.
I punched the speed dial for my mom.
“I’m on my way,” I said. “We’re going to need coffee, but just wait ’til you hear this.”
“I’m mixing the cookie dough now,” she said. “Drive safe.”
My mom flew out the front door before I’d even put the car in park, screeching despite the wee-morning hour of my arrival.
“My baby!” She swooped me into a tight hug.
We hurried into the house, swathed in its annual dose of “Christmas threw up,” not a surface visible that wasn’t festooned with holly or pine or some incarnation of Santa. I smelled the cookies before I remembered.
“I forgot your present!” I clapped a hand over my mouth. “I was locked in Graceland for half the day, and I forgot to get you something. I’m sorry, mom.”
She grinned and shook her head, her eyes suspiciously shiny as she watched Darcy settle into the bed she kept next to the fireplace. “You’re all the present I need, baby girl. Merry Christmas. Welcome home.”
I hugged her again. It was good to be home. Happy and uncomplicated.
“You got a gift, though.” She straightened when I let her go and pointed to the tree before she turned for the kitchen at the ding of the oven timer.
I pulled a red-foil wrapped box from beneath the branches, checking the tag. “Miss Clarke,” it read.
My pulse fluttered. Or more complicated. It was too big to be a lock picking kit, though I wouldn’t have put it past him if he’d had a way to get it there in the ten hours since I got off the phone with him.
“FedEx brought it, signature required and insured, with a return address in Maryland.” Mom scooped cookies onto a cooling rack, and I burned my mouth when I bit into one. She stared at me with raised eyebrows. “Who’s in Maryland?”
“A friend,” I said around a searing mouthful of cookie. I poured a glass of milk and perched on a barstool, setting the box on the counter.
“Aren’t you going to open it?” she asked.
“I’m pretty sure you know what’s in there as well as I do,” I said. There was no mistaking the size or weight.
“I want to see them.” She reached for the box and I swatted her hand away, pulling the paper back carefully. My breath caught just a little when I saw the spiky Louboutin logo, all the same.
“A friend, huh?” Mom poked me and I rolled my eyes and shook my head.
“It’s complicated,” I said.
“Because of Kyle?” she asked.
“Sort of.” No way I was telling her any more. “I’m supposed to go over there tomorrow, don’t forget.”
I flipped the lid open and a tiny scream escaped before I could stop it, Kyle forgotten for the moment.
“Is that newsprint?” My mom breathed as I lifted the most perfect, beautiful shoes I’d ever seen from a careful bed of tissue.
“These were a limited edition,” I said. “I’ve never seen one single pair on eBay.” I slipped my right foot into a shoe, the delicious feel of never-worn artwork on my feet making my stomach flip. “Perfect.”
She pulled a heavy linen card from the box.
“I tried to find something as beautif
ul as you,” she read. “This was the closest I could get.”
I snatched the card, trying to keep my breath even as I studied every line of the heavy, slanting black script.
“Who is J?” Mom’s voice sounded far away. “Spill it.”
“I wish I knew how to answer that.” I popped the rest of the cookie into my mouth and stared at the shoes.
Crooks and murderers are far less complicated than men.
About the Authors
As a girl, Terri L. Austin thought she’d outgrow dreaming up stories and creating imaginary friends. Instead, she’s made a career of it. She met her own Prince Charming and together they live in Missouri. She loves to hear from readers!
After seeing Paper Moon as a child, Larissa Reinhart fell in love with stories about confidence capers. QUICK SKETCH is the Cherry Tucker prequel to PORTRAIT in the mystery anthology THE HEARTACHE MOTEL. HIJACK IN ABSTRACT is the third in the Cherry Tucker Mystery Series from Henery Press, following STILL LIFE IN BRUNSWICK STEW (#2) and PORTRAIT OF A DEAD GUY (#1), a 2012 Daphne du Maurier finalist. She lives near Atlanta with her minions and Cairn Terrier, Biscuit. Visit her website larissareinhart.com or find her on Facebook.
LynDee Walker grew up in the land of stifling heat and amazing food most people call Texas, and wanted to be Lois Lane from the time she could say the words “press conference.” An award-winning journalist, she traded cops and deadlines for burp cloths and onesies when her oldest child was born. Writing the Headlines in High Heels mysteries gives her the best of both worlds. LynDee adores her family, her readers, and enchiladas. She often works out tricky plot points while walking off the enchiladas. She lives in Richmond, Virginia, where she is working on her next novel. Find her at www.lyndeewalker.com.
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Henery Press Mystery Books
And finally, before you go...
Here are a few other mysteries
you might enjoy:
If you enjoy mystery novella collections,
be sure to check out Elliott’s prequel novella
OTHER PEOPLE’S BAGGAGE
Kendel Lynn, Gigi Pandian, Diane Vallere
Baggage claim can be terminal. These are the stories of what hap-pened after three women with a knack for solving mysteries each grabbed the wrong bag.
MIDNIGHT ICE by Diane Vallere: When interior decorator Madison Night crosses the country to distance herself from a recent breakup, she learns it’s harder to escape her past than she thought, and diamonds are rarely a girl’s best friend.
SWITCH BACK by Kendel Lynn: Ballantyne Foundation director Elliott Lisbon travels to Texas after inheriting an entire town, but when she learns the benefactor was murdered, she must unlock the small town’s big secrets or she’ll never get out alive.
FOOL’S GOLD by Gigi Pandian: When a world-famous chess set is stolen from a locked room during the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, historian Jaya Jones and her magician best friend must outwit actresses and alchemists to solve the baffling crime.
Read all about it and/or grab the book from Amazon
CLICK FOR OTHER PEOPLE’S BAGGAGE
In Case You Missed the 1st Book in the Series
DINERS, DIVES & DEAD ENDS
Terri L. Austin
A Rose Strickland Mystery (#1)
As a struggling waitress and part-time college student, Rose Strickland’s life is stalled in the slow lane. But when her close friend, Axton, disappears, Rose suddenly finds herself serving up more than hot coffee and flapjacks. Now she’s hashing it out with sexy bad guys and scrambling to find clues in a race to save Axton before his time runs out.
With her anime-loving bestie, her septuagenarian boss, and a pair of IT wise men along for the ride, Rose discovers political corrup-tion, illegal gambling, and shady corporations. She’s gone from zero to sixty and quickly learns when you’re speeding down the fast lane, it’s easy to crash and burn.
Read all about it and/or grab the book from Amazon
CLICK FOR DINERS, DIVES & DEAD ENDS
In Case You Missed the 1st Book in the Series
PORTRAIT OF A DEAD GUY
Larissa Reinhart
A Cherry Tucker Mystery (#1)
In Halo, Georgia, folks know Cherry Tucker as big in mouth, small in stature, and able to sketch a portrait faster than buck-shot rips from a ten gauge -- but commissions are scarce. So when the well-heeled Branson family wants to memorialize their murdered son in a coffin portrait, Cherry scrambles to win their patronage from her small town rival.
As the clock ticks toward the deadline, Cherry faces more trouble than just a controversial subject. Between ex-boyfriends, her flaky family, an illegal gambling ring, and outwitting a killer on a spree, Cherry finds herself painted into a corner she’ll be lucky to survive.
Read all about it and/or grab the book from Amazon
CLICK FOR PORTRAIT OF A DEAD GUY
In Case You Missed the 1st Book in the Series
FRONT PAGE FATALITY
LynDee Walker
A Headlines in High Heels Mystery (#1)
Crime reporter Nichelle Clarke’s days can flip from macabre to comical with a beep of her police scanner. Then an ordinary accident story turns extraordinary when evidence goes missing, a prosecutor vanishes, and a sexy Mafia boss shows up with the headline tip of a lifetime.
As Nichelle gets closer to the truth, her story gets more dangerous. Armed with a notebook, a hunch, and her favorite stilettos, Nichelle races to splash these shady dealings across the front page before this deadline becomes her last.
Read all about it and/or grab the book from Amazon
CLICK FOR FRONT PAGE FATALITY
LOWCOUNTRY BOIL
Susan M. Boyer
A Liz Talbot Mystery (#1)
Private Investigator Liz Talbot is a modern Southern belle: she blesses hearts and takes names. She carries her Sig 9 in her Kate Spade handbag, and her golden retriever, Rhett, rides shotgun in her hybrid Escape. When her grandmother is murdered, Liz high-tails it back to her South Carolina island home to find the killer.
She’s fit to be tied when her police-chief brother shuts her out of the investigation, so she opens her own. Then her long-dead best friend pops in and things really get complicated. When more folks start turning up dead in this small seaside town, Liz must use more than just her wits and charm to keep her family safe, chase down clues from the hereafter, and catch a psychopath before he catches her.
Read all about it and/or grab the book from Amazon
CLICK FOR LOWCOUNTRY BOIL
DOUBLE WHAMMY
Gretchen Archer
A Davis Way Crime Caper (#1)
Davis Way thinks she’s hit the jackpot when she lands a job as the fifth wheel on an elite security team at the fabulous Bellissimo Resort and Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi. But once there, she runs straight into her ex-ex husband, a rigged slot machine, her evil twin, and a trail of dead bodies. Davis learns the truth and it does not set her free—in fact, it lands her in the pokey.
Buried under a mistaken identity, unable to seek help from her family, her hot streak runs cold until her landlord Bradley Cole steps in. Make that her landlord, lawyer, and love interest. With his help, Davis must win this high stakes game before her luck runs out.
Read all about it and/or grab the book from Amazon
CLICK FOR DOUBLE WHAMMY
BOARD STIFF
Kendel Lynn
An Elliott Lisbon Mystery (#1)
As director of the Ballantyne Foundation on Sea Pine Island, SC, Elliott Lisbon scratches her detective itch by performing discreet inquiries for Foundation donors. Usually nothing more serious than retrieving a pilfered Pomeranian. Until Jane Hatting, Ballantyne board chair, is accused of murder. The Ballantyne’s reputation tanks, Jane’s headed to a jail cell, and Elliott’s sexy ex is the new lieutenant in town.
Armed with moxie and her Mini Coop, Elliott uncovers a trail of blackmail schemes, gambling debts, illicit affairs, and investment scams. But the deeper she digs to clear Jane’s name, the guiltier Jane looks. The closer she gets to the truth, the more treacherous her investigation becomes. With victims piling up faster than shells at a clambake, Elliott realizes she’s next on the killer’s list.