Murder, Malice and Mischief Read online

  Miss Carol whispered loudly enough to Evie that Dora overheard. “What’s with your friend’s choice of footwear?”

  Dora hoisted herself up to the first branch of the tree, already regretting that she didn’t make Evie do the climbing. She ground her teeth in anger at Miss Carol’s judgment before she spat out, “Ingrown toenail. Okay?”

  “She’s a bit touchy, isn’t she?” Miss Carol said, this time not bothering to whisper.

  Before Dora could hop back out of the tree and tell Miss Carol to call the fire department, Evie answered. “She’s saving your cat, Miss Carol. A little respect.”

  It was hard to stay mad at a friend who had her back, and Dora continued to climb up the tree to lure Mr. Whiskers from his perch. She had a great deal of respect for felines. It was hard not to appreciate a species that could wrap humans around their furry tails with a purr, yet only give affection when the mood struck. Truthfully, Dora wished she could be more like them. Especially when it came to men.

  Dora chipped a nail on the rough bark of the tree and huffed in annoyance as she got closer to the cat. She thought about how cagey Brian had been on the phone call, and while she’d need to talk it over with Evie, she had the gut instinct her neighbor was just like most men in her life… not to be trusted.

  Dora had been burned by more than one man in her lifetime. She knew better than to trust them any further than her wimpy arms could throw one, and she was seriously starting to regret placing her life in Brian’s hands.

  “Meow!” Mr. Whiskers cried as Dora got close enough to reach for him. The cat didn’t let her lift him from his perch though. Instead he hopped onto Dora’s shoulder and dug his claws in.

  “Ouch!” she cried out, sure the tabby had drawn blood.

  “Don’t you hurt him!” Miss Carol called from below.

  Dora had a fleeting desire to fling the cat off her back and let him prove he could land on his feet while using up one of his lives. But she knew her anger wasn’t for the cat. It was about the frustration she had over trusting another man who’d let her down.

  When she got to the bottom of the tree and Mr. Whiskers dug into her flesh one more time to launch himself into his owner’s arms, Dora’s anger faded. The tears of joy on Miss Carol’s face was reward enough for the good deed she done.

  “Thank you for saving my baby!” Miss Carol cried. “I don’t know how I’ll ever thank you.”

  “You do make a mean shortbread cookie,” Evie said. “Dora loves sweets.”

  “Then I’ll be by later with a double batch.” Miss Carol said before she snuggled into her cat and smothered him with kisses. And despite the bleeding welts on her shoulder, Dora smiled, satisfied with the job she’d done.

  Dora’s joy was short lived, though. The moment the two of them got back to the truck, where they found Sunshine sitting in the driver’s seat keeping watch over the mail, Dora knew she had to tell Evie her suspicions about Brian. “We have to talk.”

  Dora started up the truck. As she began to drive, Sunshine jumped into her lap with a rubber-banded stack of mail in her mouth. Dora pushed at the dog with the back of her hand. “Evie, control your little beast. I’m trying to drive.”

  “Dora! Sunshine is telling you we need to deliver the mail.”

  “What?” She looked over at her friend. “Of all the—” Dora sighed, noting Evie was giving her that look again. “No. No. No. No,” she chanted, aware it was a useless plea.

  “You heard the man,” Evie said. “Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat—”

  “Or kidnapping. I get it.” Dora shook her head as she pulled in close to a mailbox. She checked the address. Miraculously it was the correct one, and the mailbox door creaked as she tugged it open to deposit the bundle of mail Sunshine had dropped in her lap.

  They drove slowly down the street with Sunshine scampering back to the pile of mail that had fallen off the shelves, magically retrieving the right bundle for each house.

  “That dog is kind of freaking me out right now,” Dora said as she double checked the bundle Evie had just given her.

  “Right?” Evie said with a lilt at the end as if it was a question. “So, what did Brian say?”

  “It’s what he didn’t say that has me worried, Evie.” Dora pulled outgoing mail from a mailbox and handed the shoebox-size package to her friend before lowering the red flag. She snapped the door shut and turned to stare intently at Evie. “He was super cagey about the whole thing. He actually seemed happy the package was stolen. And—” She let out a sigh as the pain of yet another man betraying her made her heart ache. “He said I might not have anything to worry about. How much sense does that make? I killed a man!”

  “It was self-defense!” Evie cried out, quick to defend her best friend.

  “True,” Dora agreed. “But there’s no way Marco is going to let me off easily.”

  “You’re right. So what do we do?”

  Sunshine let out a yap and scampered back to the pile of mail. She grabbed a manila bubble mailer and brought it to Dora. Taking the package without inspecting it, Dora said, “This is going to sound crazy, but I’m afraid saving Billy is up to us.”

  “Oh boy. You really think we need to free him from the kidnappers?” Evie asked.

  Sunshine scrambled into Dora’s lap and pawed at her arm for attention. Dora ruffled the dog’s head to satisfy her. “Do you trust Brian to do it after what I just told you?”

  Sunshine barked and pawed at Dora again with more force. “Jeez,” she said as she held the package in her hand out of the way and glared at the dog. “What is it with you tiny animals maiming me?”

  “Dora!” Evie grabbed the package out of her hand. “Oh my god. Look!” She held it up so Dora could see who it was addressed to.

  Dora recognized the neat script right away and gasped as she grabbed the envelope back out of Evie’s hand. “The flash drive!”

  “The robbers didn’t get it! You know what this means?” Evie asked.

  Dora nodded as she moved to tear the envelope open.

  Evie snatched it back. “Don’t you dare! That’s addressed to me. Don’t you know it’s illegal to tamper with the mail?”

  Dora glanced around the mail truck, looking at the piles of letters and packages strewn about before raising her eyebrows at her friend. They’d already crossed the line when it came to breaking postal laws.

  Evie gave her a smirk and tore the package open. Then she let out a squeal as she unfolded the tissue paper and held up the purple-and-turquoise silk scarf Dora had gotten her. “I love it!” She draped it around her neck as Dora reached for the flash drive that had fallen into Evie’s lap and gripped it tightly in her palm. Evie leaned over and embraced Dora. “You’re the best friend ever. I don’t know how I’d ever live without you. Thank you.”

  Dora patted her friend on the back, but she didn’t feel an ounce of the same joy Evie did. Not only was she in grave danger, she’d also managed to pull her best friend and an innocent mailman into the fray. The summer heat that had made her skin damp with sweat as they delivered the mail couldn’t warm up her heart because the chill of the danger she and Evie faced was too cold to ignore.

  Chapter 8

  Evie’s concern over Dora’s state of mind was multiplied when she noticed how pale her friend was, and she wondered if the beads of sweat on her brow were actually from the Pensacola heat. She supposed it was a natural reaction to the last forty-eight hours. Not only were they in danger from Marco Franklin and whoever he was involved with, but they now had to figure out how to save an innocent man. Tempted as she was to call the police and let them handle it, she was afraid Dora was right. Brian and other members of the police force were likely corrupt, and they had no idea who they could trust.

  Evie reached for her friend’s clenched hand to find her fingers were ice cold. “Honey.” She tried to loosen the death grip Dora had on the flash drive. “I don’t think it’s safe to keep this on us. Do you?”

  Dora shook her h
ead. “Nothing is safe, Evie.” She swallowed hard. “Marco and his goons are going to kill me. You. And Billy—”

  Dora’s phone vibrated in her pocket with a call, and she pulled out her cell to see who it was. The moment she looked at it she let out a little scream and dropped her phone.

  It clattered on the floor before Evie snatched it up. “Marco Franklin? Are you freaking kidding me? Does that lowlife think you’re actually going to answer?”

  “Maybe I should.” Dora whined. “Maybe—”

  “No.”

  “But—”

  “Shhh,” Evie said, determined to calm her friend. “C’mon now. There’s nothing good that can come from talking to Marco.” She opened up Dora’s phone and clicked on the contact info for Marco so she could block his calls. “We’re smart women. We can figure this out. We just need to hide this for a while until we know who we can trust. There has to be someone in law enforcement in this town who isn’t dirty. The only question is where?”

  “Don’t ask me, Evie. Clearly, my judgement isn’t to be trusted. You know how smart I am? I’m so smart I worked there for months before I saw Marco’s money laundering scheme even though it was right in front of my eyes.” Dora’s voice raised an octave as she continued. “How the heck is someone like me supposed to stay alive when we can’t even ask anyone for help?”

  “Trusting people doesn’t make you stupid. It makes you human.” Evie tried again to get Dora to relax her fingers, and this time it worked. She lifted the small orange flash drive from Dora’s palm and replaced it with Dora’s phone. “We need a good hiding spot for this.”

  Sunshine let out a bark, and Evie glanced down to see the pup was leaning against Dora, offering comfort. Dora absent mindedly stroked the dog as Evie marveled at how clever her puppy was grabbing the right mail for each house as they made their way through the neighborhood delivering it.

  Evie glanced down at the package in her lap and imagined what might be inside. Perhaps it was a present. And maybe it was for the woman’s birthday the way Evie’s package had been for hers. It made Evie imagine how happy some woman named Gertie Bonatelli would be when she received her gift. It really was amazing that you could send things all over the world right from your very own— “That’s it! Dora, I know what to do with the flash drive.”

  She yanked the keys out of the mail truck’s ignition and began to run the sharp edge of a key along the taped seam of the package in her lap.

  “What are you doing?” Dora’s tone turned sarcastic. “Tampering with the mail?”

  “We’re going to send Gertie here a little surprise. One that we’re going to be there to get.”

  “What?”

  The remaining tape popped when Evie tugged the box open and pulled out something wrapped in tissue. She removed the paper to reveal what appeared to be a Buddha statue, but a slot at the top of his head proved it was actually a piggy bank. “This is perfect!” She turned the bank over to remove the rubber stopper. A moment later, the flash drive clattered when she dropped it inside.

  “Hold on,” Dora said. She grabbed the bank and pulled the flash drive out to wrap it in tissue before putting it back inside the Buddha where it was now unable to move or rattle. She looked at Evie with a hint of smile. “I think this can work.”

  “Me too,” Evie said, grinning at her. “See? We can totally do this.”

  Dora frowned. “Maybe we can. But we’ve got a mess to clean up before we head on over to New Orleans to pay Gertie a visit.”

  “We certainly do. First, we finish delivering the mail.” This got a confirmation bark from Sunshine. “Who knew canines were so invested in the USPS? Do you think that’s why they chase mailmen? I bet they have a sixth sense for it. Maybe they know the guy isn’t doing his job right.”

  “Evie!”

  Evie sighed. Dora had an annoying habit of pulling her out of her riffs, which was a shame because it was where she often found her best ideas. “Once we finish with the mail, we need to free Billy.”

  “Right,” Dora said with renewed confidence that made Evie’s shoulders fall in relief. “Does Billy have family?”

  Evie shook her head, happy to have a competent Dora back. “He lives alone. His closest relatives are in Montana. Why?”

  “Good. Since today is Saturday, that means once we deliver all the mail, we can return the truck to the post office.”

  Evie perked up. She’d had a quick stint as a mailwoman at one point a few years ago and understood how the system worked. “I know just where to drop off outgoing mail, so we’re sure Gertie’s package gets delivered, and then we have until Monday before anyone will know Billy’s missing.”

  “By which time we should have set him free,” Dora said.

  Evie held up a hand for a high five. “We’ve so got this!”

  Dora’s palm smacked hers but then Dora frowned. “There’s only one problem. We don’t know where Billy is being held.”

  Evie said, “I bet it’s at one of the businesses you found in Marco’s files that they’re using to launder the money. From what you said, they’re all shady enough that a kidnapped man wouldn’t draw much attention.”

  Dora narrowed her eyes at Evie. “You’re a little too good at this. But I think you’re right.”

  Evie grinned as she basked in the praise, and she decided to capitalize on her moment. “Do you want me to drive now?”

  Dora snorted in her denial. “Fat chance.” She took the keys from Evie’s hand and slid them back in the ignition before winking at Sunshine. “We’d better get moving. We’ve got mail to deliver.”

  Sunshine let out a happy bark before rushing over to the pile of mail to resume her job.

  Chapter 9

  Dora rolled her eyes at Evie as she tugged on the short, plaid schoolgirl skirt Evie had insisted she put on. “I don’t see how wearing this is going to help me blend in. I’m supposed to be your manager.”

  After Evie and Dora had delivered the mail and returned the truck and the outgoing mail, all while keeping up the ruse Billy was fine, they moved on to the next step of their plan. They were going to visit the strip club Marco was using as one of his money laundering venues in search of Billy. Evie suggested that cries of pain were awfully similar to those of passion and that maybe it would be easier to hide Billy that way. Since Dora had zero experience with strip clubs, she agreed to Evie’s plan. Evie’s reasoning sounded valid to her.

  Evie said, “You’re playing my manager because you’ve got a head for money. Wait…” She grinned. “There’s a bad joke in there somewhere. Give me a minute.”

  “Evie!” Dora cried with impatience. “Just give me the knee socks.” As she tugged them on, she mumbled, “If anyone dares to ask me to hit them one more time, they’re going to see a meltdown that would make Britney proud.”

  “Damn. I’d like to see that, too,” Evie said as she twisted in front of her full-length mirror to check out her backside. She was clad in a red sequin dress that barely covered her enough to be decent.

  Dora studied her for a moment. “Do I want to know why you even own a dress like that?”

  “Trace has a taste for—”

  “Stop right there.” Dora held her palm up. “I think I’d rather leave the reason up to my imagination.”

  “Suit yourself,” Evie said before she smacked herself on the rump. “I swear I get hotter every year.”

  “Ugh.” Dora took a look at her ridiculous get up and tugged the white button-down shirt that was tied at her midriff closer to the waistband of her skirt. “And I get fatter.”

  “What the heck are you talking about?” Evie asked. She was getting a little tired of Dora’s constant drive toward perfection. Five pounds in either direction was nothing to be concerned about, yet her friend was a stickler for staying within a three-pound range to the point of near obsession. Although she supposed that had a lot to do with Dora’s need for control and not so much about her self-worth. “You are so getting hit on when we go to that
club, so hush up girl and let’s get out of here.”

  Evie scooped Sunshine into her arms and started for the door.

  “You’re not bringing your dog, are you?” Dora asked, eyeing her as if she had two heads.

  “I have to,” Evie insisted, unwilling to leave her precious pup home alone. “What if Marco comes looking for you? If he only finds Sunshine, he might take his wrath out on her.”

  Dora went pale and swallowed.

  “I’m sorry, honey!” Evie said quickly. “I didn’t mean to freak you out. I’m sure I’m being paranoid. You know how I am about Sunshine. She’s just so precious and protective. I’m afraid I’d be worried about her the whole time. She can just ride along with us.”

  “All right,” Dora said and took a deep, fortifying breath. “You’re probably right. It’s better if she’s with us. Besides, she’s our lucky charm. Without her, we might never have found the package in the mail truck.”

  “That’s the spirit.” Evie patted her pup’s head and darted outside with Dora right behind her.

  Once they got in Evie’s car, reality set in. Getting dressed to go out was a fun thing that had made Evie forget the seriousness of what they were about to do. She’d enjoyed glamming Dora up to look more like a wild woman than the straightlaced accountant she normally was, but once they’d applied the last coat of lipstick, the harsh truth about what lay ahead fell over the two women like a lead blanket.

  Sunshine sat in Evie’s lap as her mistress pulled out of her driveway in the dark of night. Evie said, “Run over the plan one more time with me.”

  “Okay,” Dora said. “We’re going to go in and ask to talk to the owner, Dirk Jones. I’ll say we’re new to the area and I have a stable of girls he might be interested in. You are going to be the sample.” She paused. “You do have panties on under that, right? Because what if he wants you to strip?”