Read Online Bubbles Ablaze by Sarah Strohmeyer - Free Book Online

removed a tiny quill from his neck and pinched it between my fingers.
    â€œWhat is this?” I stood, handing Genevieve the quill.
    â€œTranquilizing dart,” Genevieve said. “Only, I used up all the free samples they handed out at End Times Survival Camp so I had to improvise. This one’s dipped in Sominex. Tripled the dose just to be safe.”
    Roxanne and Mrs. Wychesko, apron still around her neck, approached.
    â€œWhat a shame,” Mrs. Wychesko said, cocking her head. “I liked him much better alive.”
    â€œHe is still alive,” I said. “Isn’t he?”
    â€œLet’s see.” Mama brought back her foot to kick him.
    â€œStop that.” I pushed her aside. “Have you no respect?”
    â€œI’ve never witnessed anything like that in my life,” Mrs. Wychesko said. “It was all slow-mo.”
    Roxanne was none too pleased. “You can’t leave him here for all the world to see. It’s not good marketing to have customers lying in the doorway, shot in the neck. Business is bad enough.”
    Genevieve leaned down, shoved her size-twenty-two arms under his shoulders and dragged Stiletto across the orange shag rug to the couch in Roxanne’s parlor. With a grunt she picked him up and threw him on the cushions, tossing a black andmulticolored crocheted afghan on him as an afterthought. If Stiletto ever spoke to me again, I’d be amazed.
    Mama took me aside. “Listen, I didn’t raise up an ingrate. When Jane told us this morning that someone had tried to kill you, Genny ripped off her apron and rushed right up here to be your one woman personal security entourage. The least she deserves is a simple thank you.”
    She might be dressed like a slut, but she was still my mother. I did as I was told when Genevieve returned.
    â€œThank you, Genevieve,” I droned, “for shooting my boyfriend with Sominex.”
    Genevieve blushed. “Aw, that’s okay, Bubbles. It was a pleasure.”
    I slapped my head. It was no use.
    Mama looked around the salon. “Hell’s bells, it’s great to be back in my hometown. Nothing like visiting the old stomping grounds of one’s youth to feel invigorated again. Biggest mistake I ever made was leaving Slagville for Lehigh. Yessiree. ’Course it’s hard to stick around when there ain’t no work.”
    â€œHow come you’re here, anyway?” I asked Mama. And how soon will you be leaving, I wanted to add. “Don’t tell me you’re part of my security entourage, too.”
    â€œShe’s looking for the Nana diary,” Genevieve cut in.
    â€œThe Nana diary?”
    Mama’s kohl-lined eyes narrowed with suspicion. “At my last visit up here someone swiped Nana Yablonsky’s diary, the one that contains all our best pierogi recipes.”
    â€œWhat if it gets in the hands of Mrs. T?” Genevieve asked, crossing herself at the mention of the doyenne of the flash-frozen potato ravioli. “She’s right in Pottsville. She could make a killing on your grandmother’s secrets.”
    I doubted Mrs. T was willing to risk her empire on Nana Yablonsky’s gut-wrenching venison and vinegar specialties.
    â€œPoint is, we gotta find out who stole the Nana diary and get it back.” Mama pointed to my towel. “What were you doing? Taking a bath while Stiletto was hot on the investigation?”
    â€œI was dirty. It was gross in that mine.”
    She stood on tiptoe and cupped my chin. “You listen to me, sweetie pie. If you want to find the filth that tried to kill you and your man, then you got to get some dirt on your pretty polished nails.”
    â€œI’m gonna call Mr. Salvo,” I said, removing her hand from my chin and strolling over to the telephone. He wasn’t in the newsroom this early, so I left a message on his voice mail about last night and how to reach me at Roxanne’s.
    Then I