“Knowing how crazy Suzanne is, I immediately called nine-one-one before trying to be a hero,” Jeffery added.
“Smart.” Maybe I should try that sometime? I looked down at my swollen arm. It was a total puffy mess.
I glanced over to see that Mayor Potts had arrived on the scene. He was practically jumping in front of Detective Roxy, trying to get a word in, while she handcuffed Suzanne. Apparently, the mad woman hadn’t made it very far. “Please listen. Listen! I don’t understand. This doesn’t make any sense. Suzanne, tell them you didn’t do this!” he pleaded with them. The mayor obviously hadn’t been in on it. You couldn’t fake that level of desperation. He looked to be another one of Suzanne’s victims. Ah, the power of a woman. I’m betting he was so enthralled with her wanting him that he turned a blind eye to her wrongdoings. I had a feeling their relationship was a recent affair for him to be that enamored.
Suzanne, however, was ignoring Humphrey, instead shouting for Jeffery like usual. “JEFFERY! Where is he? This is all his fault!” She even stomped her foot. “I’m not going anywhere! Find that fool!”
“She murders someone and it’s my fault. Ridiculous,” Jeffery said to us. Suzanne still had no idea where he was and continued to yell and curse his name.
“What does she mean?” I asked Jeffery.
“She made toxic honey, right? And then, instead of getting rid of it, stored it with our specialty blends. So, next to the gallberry and clover honeys, she puts something that can kill a person.”
“That was dumb,” I said. And she thought Jeffery was the thick one.
“Exactly, so of course I don’t know that, and end up packaging it as gallberry. It looks the same. I even put it on our own kitchen table.”
“Which, I’m guessing is how the mayor got poisoned?”
“Most likely.”
“Did you know they were a thing?”
“Oh yeah.”
“Why do you think she did it?”
“To get rid of Paulette. She knew Humphrey was cheating on her, but she still wouldn’t leave him; their relationship was more for show, so you know Humphrey wasn’t about to break up with her either. Guess Suzanne got tired of playing second fiddle.”
I looked over at Mayor Potts. All this, over him? Really? Baby blue suits and polka dot bow ties just didn’t do it for me. Not to mention, he lacked common sense. Why anyone would murder a friend over a man was beyond me.
“So yeah, none of this is my fault. I’m just thankful that none of the bottles I packaged killed anyone,” Jeffery added. Nope, just knocked me on my butt for a couple hours.
I had to do a bit of a double take when the goofy guy with the fedora and trench coat showed up on the scene. He was videoing Suzanne being arrested. The bright light from his phone shone right in her eyes.
“You put that phone down right this second, Kevin. Do you hear me? I do NOT want you filming this!” Kevin wasn’t listening. “Kevin! You and your brother, I swear!”
I looked at Jeffery. “Your brother?”
Jeffery shook his head like he couldn’t believe it. “Suzanne hired him to dig up dirt on Whip, but I think he took it too far. He’s a little different.” Kevin filmed the entire scene until Detective Roxy put an end to the matter and took away his phone. I thought I heard Kevin say something like “shucks” and that he was going to get his backup camera.
I lay my head back and closed my eyes. I couldn’t wait to tell all this to Finn. Was it Saturday yet?
23
I drove down to the courthouse to pick up Mrs. J. With the case now solved, she was free to go. Last night had been eventful in more ways than one. It was the middle of the night by the time I got home from the hospital. Thankfully, I hadn’t had a secondary reaction and was released after a short observation. With a filled Epi-pen prescription and a couple bottles of Benadryl, I was ready for Aria’s wedding, wherever it was going to be. I still had three hours until my driver was scheduled to pick me up, plenty of time to grab Mrs. J. and get home to finish packing.
The front of the courthouse was packed with reporters and television crews huddled around a podium. Detective Roxy was in the middle of them. She sported a pair of jeans with a brown suede jacket over a white shirt. Her makeup looked completely natural. If she was a knock out before, then she was drop dead gorgeous now. I’d like to think that it had been courtesy of my beauty catalogs.
“Is this about Suzanne?” I asked when I got out. Kevin had gone public with all the extra footage he had, documenting Suzanne and Humphrey’s affair. The scandal was all over the news. I figured with Paulette’s murder being such a high-profile case now, it warranted a news conference.
I was wrong.
“Ha, not hardly,” Detective Roxy said.
“What’s going on then?”
“You’re going to have to ask Mrs. J. when she comes out.”
“She called this event?” Oh boy. This ought to be good. I wasn’t sure if I should go inside and get her, and figure out what this was all about, or just wait for her to come out. After five minutes, I decided to fetch her when she made her entrance. Mrs. J. walked out of the court house dressed head to toe in peach. Satin peach hat, peach chiffon dress, and peach heels. The only thing on her that wasn’t peach were her pearls.
“New jail house digs?” I joked with Roxy.
“Heck no. One of her lady friends came by and helped her get ready. She was released two hours ago.”
Mrs. J. approached the podium and eyed the microphones, apparently pleased by the number of attendees. “You guys filming?” she asked, pointing to the cameramen. They nodded that they were. “Good, good.” She then cleared her throat and proceeded to say, “I just wanted to thank y’all for coming down here today. This is a big day, especially after my recent hardships.” Mrs. J. looked at the courthouse behind her. She had spent less than two full days in jail, but she wasn’t going to let anyone forget that anytime soon. “Being falsely imprisoned has taught me something: you have to fight for what you love. And I love this town,” she said, hammering on the podium. A couple of older ladies in the background clapped on cue. “Port Haven has seen a lot of change. A lot of change, folks, and it hasn’t been good. No, it hasn’t. It’s a darn disgrace the scandal our current mayor’s in, not to mention the joke of a candidate running against him. Did y’all see him without his drawers? We can’t have that. Port Haven deserves better. I’ve decided that there needs to be new management in this town, which is why I would like to take this opportunity to formally announce my candidacy for mayor!” Mrs. J. gave a winning smile. Detective Roxy and I couldn’t help but clap. I think everyone else was speechless. I had no doubt Mrs. J. would make one heck of a mayor. With the dirt she had on people, I was sure she’d be able to get things done. She had my vote. Now she just needed to get in the car. I had a wedding to get ready for.
I was finally there, in my paradise. One would’ve thought the wedding would’ve taken place on Vince’s private Caribbean island, but that wasn’t original enough. No, we were in the southern heart of the Pacific Ocean on a small island off the coast of New Caledonia. Aria and Vince had chosen a sunrise wedding (I know, don’t get me started!). I may have been half asleep, but even I could see that Aria looked stunning in her gown. The rose gold dress, coupled with the pinks and oranges in the sunrise, made for a beyond-beautiful portrait. Vince had completed the brunch reception with plenty of champagne, exotic fresh fruits, savory crepes, and my favorite—chocolate-filled croissants. The morning had been a whirlwind, but by eleven AM, the festivities were complete and I was officially off maid-of-honor duty.
Shades on, toes in the sand, drink by my side … this was the life. Finally, I was ready to relax. They were going to have to pry me from those white sand beaches when it was time to go. I seriously would’ve loved to extend my vacation, if only I could’ve afforded it. Who knew, maybe my business would take off and I could relocate to someplace more tropical like this. Heck, maybe Finn would even be down
for it. Just looking at the water I thought the fishing had to be phenomenal. Hello, it was the South Pacific. I’m sure he would jump at a chance to run a fishing charter down here. I smiled. Look at me, planning a future with a man. Okay, so it was all in my head right now, but it was a start.
“What are you smiling about?” said a familiar voice that made my heart do a little flip flop. I opened my eyes to see my beau standing above me. Bare chested, board shorts on, a can of Coke in his hand. Mmm, he was a sight.
“Finn!” I jumped up and into his arms, wrapping my legs around his waist and almost knocking him over. I kissed him as if he had been out to sea for a year, not a week. His can of Coke lay forgotten in the sand.
“And I thought you didn’t like surprises,” he said, a little breathless. I jumped down. “Not that I’m complaining. We can do that again.”
I kissed him again.
“That just made that ridiculously long flight worth it,” he said.
“If you thought that made it worth it, just wait until later,” I teased.
“Long week?”
“Very.” Finn had no idea. It was going to take more than a minute to get him caught up to speed, but truthfully, that wasn’t a priority. I had something else I wanted to discuss with him.
“So, I did a lot of thinking this week, and here’s the thing. I really missed you. Like hardcore. More than I thought I would.”
“Good, because I missed you too.” Finn took my hand.
“You did?”
“I didn’t just fly around the world for some girl. I did it for my girl.”
“Aww, I’m your girl?”
“For as long you want to be.”
“I like that.” Because right then, I wanted to be his girl for a very long time.
Eyeliner & Alibis
Beauty Secrets Series Book 3
Available August 29th, 2017
A Ring to Die For
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Ziva's bestie has been framed for robbing a jewelry store and it's up to her to crack the case. The situation quickly turns deadly and suddenly a robbery is small potatoes compared to what Ziva uncovers.
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About the Author
I'm a mystery author with a soft spot for romance and humor, too. I love all things girlie with a dollop of danger, have a strong affinity for the color pink (especially in diamonds and champagne), and, not to brag, but chocolate and I are in a pretty serious relationship. My books feature fearless females, a little bit of love, a few laughs, and a whole lot of whodunit. I hope my stories keep you guessing and laughing all the way until the end.
www.stephaniedamore.com
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Kiss & Makeup: Beauty Secrets Mystery Book 2 Page 16
