“Kaila and Carol? The redhead and the blonde on the end?” I ask, anxious to see if it’s true.
“Yup. They were both there the night Holly died. I saw the redhead having an argument with her. Then later, I saw the blonde having a stern word with her, too.”
“I saw the same thing. Hey? You didn’t happen to see them head behind the town Christmas tree with Holly around the time of the murder, did you?”
“No, but I saw that redhead weeping on the side of the manor before the murder ever happened. Whatever she and Holly fought about must have really upset her.”
“That’s interesting.” I cock my head toward Kaila and note that Shep keeps shooting me a strange look. My guess is, he’s not too impressed to see his new girlfriend talking to herself. “Did you see anything else with Carol?”
“No, not really. Wait a minute”—Hazel gasps—“I saw her pick up a black cat, Lucky, the one with a missing eye? She was standing across the street, holding him.”
A thought comes to me. “Maybe we should talk to Lucky later? You never know. People say the darnedest things to pets. Maybe Carol saw something incriminating and whispered it to the sweet cat?”
“Sounds good. I’ll go find some books before I head back to the café.”
She zips toward the steamy reads, and I take off myself as I make my way to where throngs of women are all clamoring to get close to my man.
I can’t help but smile at the thought. Shep is basically a rock star to these women, and to the masses at large as well. I get it, though. I was a big reader starting as early as junior high, and while other girls wanted to meet the latest boy band deities, I wanted nothing more than to pick the brain of my favorite authors. And now not only do I get to pick his brain, I get to plant a wet one right over his lips whenever I feel like it.
My body explodes with heat just thinking about it.
“Donut?” Kaila appears next to me, holding up a red and green frosted donut. Her auburn hair catches the light like fire, and she has a glittering brooch of a Christmas tree pinned to her dark cardigan. “They’re right behind you, and they are amazing. I’ll confess, I’m a little addicted.”
A tiny laugh bubbles from me. “I’m more than addicted. Way back when, I used to work in a donut shop. In fact, they wanted to fire me for eating half the inventory. I couldn’t help it, though. It’s almost impossible to pass up a fresh hot cruller.” I pull a jelly-filled donut out of the box and take a hearty bite out of it. “Mmm, this is really good.” I’m not going to fill Kaila in on the fact I was running dirty money through that little old confection shop of horrors, which promptly turned my life into a thing of horrors.
Shep winks over at me from across the room, and I can’t help but swoon.
Okay, so the part about having a hot author slash homicide detective boyfriend isn’t such a horror.
“You’re really lucky, Bowie.” Kaila shakes her head as she looks to Shep. “I’ve never had a boyfriend before, but if I did, I’d want him to look exactly like Shepherd Wexler.” She sighs as she turns my way.
Kaila looks to be about my age, about late twenties, so I’d say that whole never been tangled up with a man thing is sort of a surprise, especially since Beauford insists they’re dating. I distinctly remember her telling me she was between men the last time we spoke.
“You’ve never had a boyfriend?” I shrug over at her. “Maybe you’re the lucky one. My ex turned me off to new relationships, but then, I met Shep and he changed my mind.” I examine her for a trace of anything that might indicate she’s lying.
“Until I meet Mr. Right, I’m fine on my own. Besides, I’ve got my menagerie to keep me plenty busy. And the love that animals give—well, there’s something pure about it. Not only that, but anyone who comes into my life would have to accept my animals. Once you’re an animal lover, there’s no going back.”
So she’s not seeing Ford? Sounds like Ford was engaging in some serious wishful thinking.
“I agree about the pets,” I say. “And depending on how a person treats animals says a lot about them. I’d swear on all that is holy, my sweet cat is a person trapped in a cute furry body.”
She bucks with a laugh. “You really get me. Now to find a man who feels the same.” She takes another bite of her donut, and I follow her scrumptious lead. “Any news on the case? I was hoping to ask Detective Wexler, but I suppose he’ll be swamped for the rest of the afternoon. He’s got quite the fanbase.”
“Nothing new that I know of. Although we ran into Beauford Wright yesterday while he was delivering firewood.” I let the words dangle between us a moment to see if she’ll bite, but Kaila has the perfect poker face. Go figure. “Anyway, he mentioned that Holly owed him money. Did she ever bring that up to you? I mean, you spent so much time together here at the library.”
“Nope.” Her eyes enlarge a moment. “Holly and I weren’t close by any definition, with the exception of physical proximity. Her office was down the hall to the left of the reception area. And believe it or not, she spent most of her time hiding out in there. The rest of us don’t really get offices. We have cubicles in the breakroom. But as soon as the city supervisor gives me the all clear, I’ll get to move into that space and make it my own.”
“So you’re the head librarian now? Congratulations.”
“Thank you. The funny thing is, nothing has changed.
