“I don’t think that was him, I think it was Davenport trying to actually kill Chester. Sarah and the dogs were just going to be collateral damage. You’ll have to see what detective Capri finds out to be sure, but nothing else makes sense.”
“As if any of this makes sense,” Leo grumbled. Sarah tried to get me to lie down, but I’d had enough lying down to last awhile.
Instead asked Neil to take me home.
“Why’d you come back?” I asked him on the way. “Did you forget something?” “You mean other than my wife?” His hands tightened on the steering wheel. “Yeah, we both did. My dad’s retirement party.”
I blew out a breath. “Oh boy. What’s that going to cost us?”
“You let me worry about that,” Neil said as he made a left.
I frowned. “I thought we were going home?”
He cast me a sidelong glance but didn’t say anything. He didn’t have to, we’d been married long enough.
“Oh no,” I informed him. “No hospitals and I’ve had more than enough doctors for one night.”
As I expected he ignored me and pulled into the hospital parking lot.
“You,” I ground out “Are a high-handed, stubborn pain in my ass. Haven’t I been through enough for one night?”
He looked over at me. “You said they injected you with something. At least get a blood test. For me.”
Damn it all. “Fine, but you owe me.”
He kissed my hand. “Everything.”
It wasn’t just a blood test of course. Nothing is ever so simple, at least when I seek medical treatment. I was admitted to be treated for dehydration. Hooked up to an I.V. in a semiprivate room I contented myself with giving Neil dirty looks and withholding the decision I’d come to while in my premature grave. He’d find out soon enough.
Despite the nurse’s insistence that visiting hours were long over, Neil refused to leave. The woman in the bed on the other side of the curtain thrashed in her sleep, making her bed rattle. Between that and a nurse coming by every hour I was more exhausted in the morning than I had been the night before.
My doctor wasn’t due in for rounds until after scheduled surgeries and I was denied a solid breakfast.
“You’ll pay for this,” I told my husband.
He kissed my hand. “I know.”
The last people I’d expected to see showed up soon after what passed for breakfast. “Ralph? Laura?”
“Maggie dear, how are you?”
“Peachy keen,” I said with a forced smile. “Sorry, we missed your shindig.”
Ralph waved it off. “Don’t give it another thought.”
I opened my mouth to say I wouldn’t when there was a knock on the door. “Is this a bad time?” Detective Capri asked.
“Anytime I’m hospitalized is a bad time,” I told her. “So you might as well come in.”
“I just wanted to let you know Chester Dale and Harland Davenport have been arrested. Murder, multiple attempted murders, fraud. Davenport’s medical license will be revoked and it’s a good bet they’ll both spend the rest of their lives doing hard time.”
“What about the attempted kidnapping?” Neil asked.
But Capri shook her head. “It wasn’t them. Based on the information we got from Ms. Taylor, we tracked down your would-be kidnappers. You think you could pick them out of a photo line up?”
I nodded and she spread several photos out on the rolling tray table. I studied each one carefully, not wanting to make any mistakes and then picked up the two I recognized. “This one and this one.”
Capri wrote something down and tucked the photos away. “They work for Victor Sullivan, Ever hear of him?”
“No,” I murmured. What had I done to irritate a man I’d never met?
“I have,” Ralph said, shocking us all. My father-in-law’s skin tone had gone gray. “He was a client. A former client anyway.”
Capri didn’t so much as twitch and I gathered she’d had an inkling about this relationship. “Any reason he’d want to grab Maggie?”
“Blackmail,” Ralph said. “To ensure I stayed on his case. He’s done it before, abducted a family member knowing client confidentiality would apply.”
“Can I see those photos again?” I asked. Capri handed over the file.
“Neil, do you remember this guy? The night we went to the hotel, he was at the bar, staring at me. ”
“Son of a bitch,” Neil breathed. “I’d forgotten about that.”
“It’s probably a good thing you didn’t show up last night,” Laura mused. “Victor was there, he might have tried again.”
“Being buried alive helped protect me from a possible abduction?” I asked, quirking an eyebrow.
“Don’t be glib,” Laura snapped, though it was without her usual heat.
“From what I’m hearing, we have more than enough to go after Sullivan and his goons. Would you be willing to testify?”
Both Laura and Ralph agreed and all three departed soon afterward.
“See, it isn’t always my fault,” I told Neil.
He let out a long string of curses and ran a hand through his hair.
“Have you checked on the boys?” I asked to take his mind off of my latest near misses.
“They’re fine, hanging with Marty and Penny.” He nodded
“And Atlas?”
“Quit worrying, Uncle Scrooge. Marty’s got it all under control.”
He made a face and I laughed. “I bet that’s a phrase you never thought you’d say.”
“Or think,” He nodded, his gaze softening. “You raised him right.”
Though the timing couldn’t have been more terrible, the setting more inappropriate, I decided to just say it. “Neil, I was thinking—”
My doctor took that as an opening to barge right in. “Maggie, how are you
feeling?”
“I want to go home,” I grumbled.
“Understood. Well, everything looks good. All your labs are clean and I think we’ve got enough fluid in you for now. I’m writing you a prescription for prenatal vitamins and you’ll need to make a follow up in a few weeks for—”
“Wait, did you just say prenatal?” I asked, my tongue dry as dust.
My doctor looked from me, to Neil who was frozen at my side, then back again. “Didn’t you know? You’re six weeks pregnant.”
~The End~
What comes next?
It’s not my words that count, it’s yours! Please consider leaving a review for this book. Reviews help readers like you find stories they will enjoy and keep authors like me writing.
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Book 5: The Misadventures of the Laundry Hag: Bun in the Oven
Baby on Board!
Maggie Phillips is beyond ready to have her new baby so life can get back to normal. Unfortunately, “normal” for the laundry hag is a relative term. When a neighbor goes missing, Neil begs his wife to stay out of it and focus on the upcoming labor and delivery, but Maggie can’t help but poke around into the man’s life out of habit and curiosity. But when the neighbor’s body is discovered stuffed into his own freezer and his wife and new baby also go missing, it’s up to the very pregnant laundry hag to clean house and get to the bottom of yet another misadventure, even if the killer is closer to home than she ever imagined.
Murder, scandal and industrial strength juicers. What more could a mom-to-be need?
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Now available on Audiobook Narrated by Suzanne Cerreta
Free Holiday story!
You’re still here? It’s over. Go home.
But don’t go empty-handed.
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What are you waiting for? Go now.
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What comes next? I’m glad you asked.
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Book 4.5 The Laundry Hag’s Christmas Rental
There's more Maggie to love as pregnancy expands
her waistline and shortens her temper. And now the hag has to deal with the holidays too? If this is the most wonderful time of the year, somebody goofed.
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Jackie Parker's marriage is on the rocks, and we're not talking ice here. ‘Tis the season for a happy family, but Jackie just wants to ride this Christmas out alone with her dog, her monkey and her remote control. Unfortunately, the Dark Prince has other plans.
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Miami is a hotbed of criminal activity, but no one expects to be robbed by Santa himself! With the big jolly man in the bright red suit doing a few B&E's in the neighborhood, Maggie's vacation is soon swapped out for a criminal investigation. And she's teaming up with a new neurotic partner. Holiday hilarity ensues when Damaged Goods and the Laundry Hag join forces for a takedown you won't want to miss!
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Now available on Audiobook Narrated by Suzanne Cerreta
About the Author
Putting the fun in dysfunctional....
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Born and bred in upstate New York, USA Today bestselling author Jennifer L. Hart now lives in North Carolina with her three Hart men, two spoiled canines and a host of imaginary friends. She is the author of several romances and mystery series including The Misadventures of the Laundry Hag and the Damaged Goods series. Follow her online with the hashtag #mysterieswithhart
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Hung Out to Dry: The Misadventures of the Laundry Hag, #4 Page 19
