A horrific howl comes from the back as if Georgie was affirming this.
Stormy giggles. “He’ll go easy on her.” She begins to trace out a pattern over the top of my hands with the deft and speed of a NASCAR driver. “Sometimes I stop by to catch a little afternoon delight, but he’s fine with me turning a few bucks while I wait. Now, don’t worry. All of my dyes are nontoxic and should wear off after about two weeks.”
Camila glowers my way. You’re here because you suspect her of killing Wyatt, aren’t you? She tosses an irritated glance out the window. Stormy didn’t do it. Her mouth falls open. Wait a minute. Do you think her boyfriend did it? I’ll tell you right now that’s doubtful. He’s got a lot going on for himself. Besides, according to Stormy, he’s only visited Killer Books a time or two. So you see, Dizzy Bizzy, I’m afraid all homicidal roads still lead back to you.
I try my best not to acknowledge the fact I can read her mind. She might know I’m well capable of it, but it doesn’t mean I have to play along.
“Sorry about the afternoon delight not working out for you. I’m engaged myself and I know how exciting it can be to steal a moment with your man.” A vindictive smile glides up my cheeks as I glance to Camila.
I don’t mind rubbing my relationship with Jasper in her face one bit, especially not considering the fact she’s been working overtime to cast her net over him once again.
Camila grunts, “That’s right. So when’s the wedding, Biz?”
“Wait a minute.” Stormy pauses from applying a series of tangerine-colored dots along my wrist. “Are you the one that stole Camila’s fiancé away from her?”
“What?” Now it’s my turn to scoff at the lying vixen to my right. “Camila and Jasper weren’t engaged, at least not when I met Jasper. He was a free agent. I don’t go around snatching men out of perfectly good relationships.”
Stormy snarls right at me. Judgmental much?
I turn to Stormy and gasp. “What? No. I wasn’t judging you at all.”
Stormy blinks my way. Did I say that out loud?
Shoot. I tap my hands to the table in frustration. Camila is completely throwing me off my investigative game. I’m sure there’s a rule about not insulting the suspect you’re trying to get a confession out of. I would never have said something so judgmental, although totally correct, had not the queen of mean been seated beside me.
“I mean”—I clear my throat—“if you were seeing a man who was seemingly taken, I wouldn’t care. It’s not my business. I guess it’s not like he was married.”
“Right?” She leans in and gives an aggressive nod. “Who the heck cares? It was just a few kisses and some heavy petting. It’s not like I showed up naked at his front door at midnight.” Although that was definitely on the list.
I make a face at her without meaning to.
“Anyway”—I take a moment to shoot Camila the stink eye for interrupting my investigation whether she meant to or not—“Stormy, what kind of a relationship did you have with Wyatt Sanders?”
“He was my boss.” She gives an indifferent shrug. “Okay, fine. So we smooched a time or two. Who could blame us? That bookstore was killer boring. It’s not like we had anything else to do.”
“Do you think his girlfriend found out?”
Stormy’s cheeks heat a bright shade of pink. “She did.” A laugh that sounds like a train pulling out of the station sputters from her. “Let’s just say Molly wasn’t at all mollified by the sight. But that’s in the past. If you ask me, she’s got bigger problems to deal with.”
An ear-piercing howl erupts from the back, and I half-expect to see Georgie running out the door with her tiny hiney exposed.
I lean in as Stormy spastically dots my left hand. I’ll admit, it’s already looking like a work of art.
“Stormy, what kind of problems does Molly have?”
She shoots a quick glance to Camila. “The woman is a train wreck. She was obsessed with Wyatt. Like psycho obsessed.” She looks to Camila and snorts. “Remember Earl Frye? He was totally obsessed with you. I thought he was going to follow you home and hack you to pieces.”
Camila twitches. “Precisely why I moved.”
“I thought you just renovated your kitchen?” At least that was the lie she spewed to me in order to get closer to Jasper while shacking up at my inn. Thank God she’s moved to whatever hole she’s hiding in. There are plenty of things I don’t want to know about Camila, and that’s one of them. “On second thought, don’t answer that.”
Camila scowls before her affect changes on a dime as she reverts her attention to Stormy. “I haven’t heard from Earl lately.”
Stormy shrugs. “Rumor has it, he’s in prison. He probably hacked someone else up instead.”
“Don’t worry, Camila,” I say. “There’s still hope for a hacking spree in your future.”
Stormy belts out a laugh. “Hey, you’re funny!”
“Thanks, it comes easy when I’m around Ms. Ryder.” I take a deep breath. “So that’s it regarding Molly? Her obsession?”
“Well, yeah, she’ll have to find someone else to terrorize. I’m sure all that pent-up frustration is killing her. But she’s not grieving Wyatt. She didn’t love the guy. He was more or less an object to her. A possession.”
“Who do you think had a motive to kill Wyatt then? I mean, Molly would have been obvious. She was a scorned woman.”
Stormy shrugs. “Then why not kill me?” She shivers. “I can’t believe I said those words.” She pulls a small dried sprig from underneath the table and begins to wave it through the air. “Sage. It cleanses the bad juju.” She tosses it over her shoulder before getting back to work. “Anyway, Thomas had some beef with Wyatt. Things were getting heated.”
That’s exactly what Molly said.
Huh. Things aren’t looking so good for
