Eggnog Trifle Trouble (Murder in the Mix #28) - Addison Moore Page 0,71

not only sitting on my bladder these days, but she or he is noshing on my brain cells as a snack.

I’m about to snap a picture when a couple steps out from the entry and swoops on by on their way to the parking lot, and I freeze solid once I see who that man in the dark coat is—the very man who graced my bed up until last night.

The woman he’s with has on a long red coat, and they move behind a planter box for a few seconds, taking themselves out of my line of vision while they do God knows what. Then a few moments later they walk off toward the parking lot, slowly drifting from one another as if they were strangers.

“What’s a matter, Lot?” Carlotta gives my arm a jostle as if she were trying to pull me out of my trance.

Both Carlotta and Keelie insisted on accompanying me on my latest investigative mission, and I didn’t protest at all.

Keelie squints in the direction I’m staring and gasps. “Oh my stars! Is that?”

“Don’t say his name,” I hiss. The human ear is trained to hear its own name at remarkably low decibels, and God knows I don’t want to clue Everett in on the fact I just caught him red-handed—with a redhead in a red coat no less.

My entire body goes numb. I can’t move. It’s as if my life whizzes before my eyes, and just like that, it’s all over before it ever really began.

A lone tear rolls down my cheek, and the icy air licks it with its fiery tongue.

Carlotta gasps. “Well, there’s your clincher. He’s a two-timer.”

“He’s a two-timer,” I say in disbelief. “How is this my life?”

It’s not. I refuse to lay claim to it.

Keelie scoffs. “Actually, you have a long history of going out with cheaters. First, there was Bear, then that ninny in New York you were engaged to.”

Carlotta nods. “Let’s not forget Foxy.”

A hard groan comes from me just as a white Range Rover speeds right up to where we’re standing and out pops Evie before the vehicle speeds away again.

“I knew it!” She clasps her hands together. “You’re on a stakeout or something, right? Dash and I saw your minivan leaving the bakery with Keelie and Carlotta, and I thought we should follow you. So what are we doing?” She quickly puts her long hair into a bun that wobbles directly over the top of her head. “Don’t worry, Mom. We’ve got this. Do you need me to distract someone?”

“Nope,” Keelie answers for me as she leads us in through the very doors Everett just emerged from. “That’s what she’s got me for. It’s late, my sister should be long gone for the day, and she always leaves men in charge at night. It gives her a false sense of security thinking they’ll ward off any criminals.”

“And yet here we are.” Evie skips as she says it.

“We’re not criminals,” I’m quick to tell her.

Evie shoots me a look. “Are we about to do something illegal?”

My mouth opens then closes. “If the door is unlocked and I happen to get lost, it’s not entirely illegal.” But I’m pretty sure riffling through their personal files is a felony offense.

“How do you like that?” Carlotta harps. “My own niece is a sexist. Naomi’s got another thing coming if she thinks all she needs to do to ensure security is have a man around.”

Keelie frowns over at her. “More like your niece likes to find any excuse to hire as many hot men to work with as possible. Which is exactly why I’m here. I’m going to unzip my jacket and show the man at the front desk my goodies while you run off and get the info you need, Lottie.”

Evie gags. “You’re going to show him your boobs? You really think that’s going to put some poor guy in a trance? He’ll call the cops on you, right after he takes a few pictures for his personal files.”

Keelie scoffs. “You haven’t seen my boobs. You don’t know what they’re capable of. They’ve grown ten times in size after I had little Bear.”

“So has the rest of you, Keelie Nell,” Carlotta blabbers. “So has the rest of you.”

“Oh, would you stop,” I hiss over at my look-alike. “Keelie, I’m sure your boobs are wonderful, and by the way, so is the rest of your body, but I think we should stick to something a little more G-rated now that Evie is