Lorna Barrett - Murder On The Half Shelf

Appears to be? Tricia fumed, astounded by Angelica’s assessment. “What has all this got to do with that video?”

“It’s just that…my life was finally straightening out. I was a successful businesswoman. I was going to be the next Paula Deen, and now…now my writing career is over. People will be afraid to eat at Booked for Lunch for fear the place will erupt in flames. And-”

“Calm down. This is not the end of your world.”

“So you say.”

It was definitely time for a change of subject. “Did Bob ever track you down this afternoon?”

“What? No. But he left me plenty of voice mails. He’s absolutely livid that I bought into the Sheer Comfort Inn.”

“Is that why you sounded so chipper when I called earlier?”

That brought half a smile to Angelica’s face. “Maybe. But honestly, between Bob and that video, tomorrow I’m calling my providers to have all my phone numbers changed.”

“Has anyone called to talk about the video?”

“Not yet, but it’s inevitable. I checked my e-mail just before I left, and I’d reached the maximum my inbox could hold. They’ve all got subject lines that say Fire or something similar.”

“Are they all bad?”

“Who knows? I’m going to delete them all-sight unseen.”

Tricia frowned. “Is that wise?”

“It’s self-preservation.”

Angelica pulled into her usual spot in the municipal parking lot and cut the engine.

“Do you want to come up to my place for a glass of wine and unwind before you have to face your computer?” Tricia asked.

Angelica sighed dramatically and shook her head. “Thank you, but no. Miss Marple doesn’t like Sarge, and I don’t want his little ego to be crushed. I’ve suffered enough of that today for both of us.” It was just as well. Tricia had forgotten that she hadn’t replenished her wine cellar.

They got out of the car, with Angelica retrieving her dog from the backseat. She clipped Sarge’s leash onto his collar and set the dog on the ground, and then the three of them headed for the sidewalk along Main Street.

“Shouldn’t you take Sarge to the park before you turn in for the night?” Tricia asked.

“I’ll take him out in the alley after we get inside.”

“Don’t you ever feel vulnerable doing that? It’s not well lit.”

“Vulnerable? Here in Stoneham? Never,” Angelica declared.

The streetlamps shed scant light on this gloomy evening. No moonlight brightened the night sky, which seemed even devoid of stars. Their footsteps echoed faintly as they walked past the Patisserie.

As they approached the Have a Heart bookshop, a figure jumped out of the space between it and the bakery. Startled, Tricia grabbed Angelica’s arm as Sarge exploded into shrieks of frenzied barks, tugging at the leash with the ferocity of a pit bull.

“Call off that animal,” said a male voice they instantly recognized.

Tricia’s anxiety immediately evaporated. “Bob, what do you think you’re doing, trying to scare us like that?”

“I want answers-and not from you, Tricia. Go home.”

“And leave my sister alone with an angry man? No way!” she declared.

“I have Sarge to protect me,” Angelica yelled over Sarge’s barking.

“Shut up!” Bob hollered.

Again Sarge lunged at him, but Angelica held him back. “What is your problem, Bob?” she demanded.

“You! You betrayed me.”

“Oh, and you think sleeping with that little tramp wasn’t a betrayal to me?” she countered.

“I told you, I’m not even sure I did sleep with her. I was drunk.”

“And that’s supposed to reassure me?” Angelica cried.

Tricia wished she were elsewhere-but she wasn’t about to leave her sister alone on a dark street with this nutcase. Besides, Sarge’s barking was beginning to get to her, too.

As though Angelica could read her mind, she tugged on the dog’s leash and said, “Shush.” The barking stopped.

“Just tell me why?” Bob said, and Tricia was sure his voice cracked on the last word.

“I presume you mean about me investing in the inn.”

He nodded.

“Because it seemed like a good venture. Stoneham needs places visitors can stay. You’ve been more concerned with collecting rent on your own properties. That’s good for you, but the booksellers and restaurants need income to survive. Stoneham needs more development-more than you’re willing to promote.”

“But I was in on the deal-until you cut me out.”

Angelica merely shrugged.

Bob scowled. “I suppose next you’ll tell me you’re going to challenge me for president of the Chamber of Commerce.”

“To tell you the truth, I haven’t ruled it out,” Angelica declared.

Bob laughed uproariously, and Tricia fought the urge to kick him.

“There’s no way the booksellers and other merchants would vote you in against me.”

“Oh no?” Angelica asked.

Did Bob hear the menace in her voice? Tricia stifled a laugh. Boy, was he in trouble now.

“I own this village,” Bob continued. “You have as much chance of taking my Chamber job as I have of becoming the next Miss America.”

“Oh, I don’t know, Bob, I think you’d look sweet in a rhinestone tiara,” Tricia said.

He turned an evil glare at her. “Shut up.”

“Don’t you talk to my sister like that,” Angelica cried.

“I’ll do what I please,” Bob asserted, “and you can’t do anything about it.”

“Oh no?” Angelica asked with more than a hint of threat in her voice.

Bob’s chest seemed to puff out. “Yeah.”

Angelica’s mouth twisted into a devilish smile. “Sarge-attack!”

The tiny dog lunged at Bob as Angelica hit the release on his retractable leash, and was instantly attached to Bob’s left pants leg.

“Get him off, get him off me!” he cried, shaking his leg to try to dislodge the dog, but Sarge was a growling ball of fur tugging at the fabric.

Tricia laughed. Of course, she was instantly sorry-but she’d felt the same as Sarge on more than one occasion.

“Bad dog,” Angelica said, jerking the leash back, but there was no remorse in her voice. Sarge would probably get a pâté treat once Angelica got him back home. She hauled in the leash and picked up the still-barking dog.

This time it was Tricia who ordered Bob to “Go home.”

Bob’s lower lip trembled as he rubbed at his calf, but apart from a tear in the fabric, there was no dark bloodstain marring the light-colored material. For a moment, Tricia thought he might burst into tears.

“Please, Bob-just go home,” she said softly.

Without a word, Bob shoved past them and soon disappeared into the gloom between the streetlights.

The sisters looked after him for a long minute. Sarge’s sharp barks winnowed into grunts as Angelica petted him and murmured “Good boy” into his ear. Eventually, she set him back down on the ground. “Well, that was unexpected,” she said.

“Hardly. You had to know Bob would eventually catch up with you. This is a tiny village, after all.”

“Yes, but who knew it would be so satisfying?” Angelica said smugly.

“You’ve just made an enemy of your landlord. Bob isn’t going to let you forget it. He owns the buildings where you live and work.”

“And I’ve got six months left on the lease for the Cookery and eighteen on Booked for Lunch.”

“What if he won’t renew them?”

Angelica shrugged. “I might have to move. I wouldn’t like that,” she admitted. “I like living next door to you, but-I’d adjust.”

Tricia had been appalled when Angelica had bought the Cookery’s assets and signed a three-year lease for the building. Now she couldn’t imagine her sister living even a block away from her. “What about me?” she asked as they paused in front of the Cookery.