two of you had last week where you hired him to put a hit out on Detective Fox via poisoning. And I think we all known that Detective Fox was recently hospitalized with toxic levels of fentanyl. Mickey confessed to the whole thing.”
“Oh no.” I shake my head as the room grows quiet. “It was an accident. I didn’t mean to—” I look to Suze, who consequently looks as if she’s about to commit a murder herself, mine. “That’s not what happened.”
“Save it, lady.” The deputy navigates me out of the room as Everett and Noah sail by my side.
“Don’t worry, Lemon,” Everett growls. “We’ll get this straightened out in a timely manner. I hope.”
“You hope?” I shrill. “Noah, you wouldn’t press charges, right? So I’m essentially off the hook.”
Noah’s dimples invert. “I wouldn’t, but the state might.”
“The state?” I gag on the words. “As in the State of Vermont versus Lottie Lemon?”
Carlotta and the rest of the party pour out of the B&B along with us.
“It’s that curse at play again, Lot!” Carlotta calls out.
“Thanks for the reminder.” I shoot her a look just as I spot three different sheriff’s cruisers with their lights flashing in the night like a seizure. My mother’s guests have gathered around, and it seems as if a thousand different faces have materialized from out of nowhere to witness my demise.
Cormack Featherby jumps from the crowd, holding that ridiculous clipboard.
“They’re finally hauling you away!” she squeals with delight. “I won’t need to appeal to the town council after all. You’re getting the official boot from Honey Hollow, Luanna! But don’t you worry. Big Boss and I will raise that baby with the best nanny that money can buy. We might even come visit you in the pokey.”
“Oh my stars, I’m going to prison.”
Everett grunts as he leans in hard, “You are not going to prison.” There’s an edge of anger to his voice, and I can tell he wants to tear apart every deputy at the scene, perhaps starting with Noah.
Mr. Muscles opens the rear door to the sheriff’s cruiser closest to us and motions for me to get inside.
“I’m sorry, ma’am,” he says. “Standard procedure.”
My mouth falls open as I look to Noah and Everett, and they both offer up an apologetic shrug.
“Everett, tell me poisoning isn’t a serious offense.” Suddenly, I have both the fear of God and the State of Vermont in me.
His lips flex. “It’s a felony. But don’t worry. I’ll drum up a solid defense team if it gets to that. You won’t serve any time.”
“Time?” My voice hikes once again.
Noah takes a breath. “If it makes you feel better, Lot, I’ll ride with you to the sheriff’s department.”
“That does not make me feel better, Noah.”
I slide into the back of the sheriff’s cruiser and wonder how this has become my reality.
It’s clear the Hearst curse is still very much in play. First, it burned my house down, and now it’s burning my life down. Makes total sense.
It couldn’t get much worse than this, could it?
And just like that, I feel a sharp jab deep in my belly.
I suck in a quick breath and grip my stomach.
“The baby just kicked!”
Both Noah and Everett crowd into the backseat with me and place their hands over my stomach in hopes to feel just about anything.
My mother’s words come back to me, and if she’s right, the universe just gave me one heck of a hint regarding my baby’s future.
How does that saying go? The future’s so bright, I gotta wear government-issued silver bracelets?
No. I’m pretty sure that’s not it.
I contemplate my potentially cursed future and the questionable future of my unborn child all the way down to the Ashford County Sheriff’s Department.
And I wonder exactly what it will bring.
Let’s hope there’s not a felony offense on the horizon.
But with that Hearst curse and my own wayward brand of luck, things aren’t looking so good for either of us.
*Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed Lottie’s latests adventure. You will not want to miss the next book in the series! Click HERE—> Eggnog Trifle Trouble (Murder in the Mix 28) to pick it up today!
My name is Lottie Lemon, and I see dead people. Okay, so I rarely see dead people, mostly I see furry creatures of the dearly departed variety who have come back from the other side to warn me of their previous owner’s impending doom.
It’s Christmastime in Honey Hollow. The snow is falling and it’s beginning to look