Read Online Death of a Neighborhood Witch (Jaine Austen Mystery) by Laura Levine - Free Book Online

already wasted the morning at the costume shop, and I really had to finish those Larry Lumbar spots.
    “Sorry, honey. No can do. I’m swamped with work.”
    “I’m thinking a Fuddruckers burger,” she said. “With extra cheese.”
    “See you in a half hour,” I said, reaching for my car keys.
    What can I say? Apparently I’ve got tapioca where my spine should be.
    A half hour later, I was parking my Corolla in the Century City Mall parking lot. As I got out of the car, I noticed a teenaged boy gazing at me in unabashed admiration.
    Whaddaya know , I thought, with a carefree toss of my curls. I’ve still got it.
    “It’s neat,” the kid said, “the way the eyes blink.”
    Oh, for heaven’s sake. He was talking about the stupid skeleton skull.
    “Thanks,” I replied with a weak smile, and headed up to the food court.
    It was a beautiful California day. The early morning fog had burned off and the sun was shining its little heart out. The food court was filled with the usual weekday assortment of retirees, shopaholics, and bizpeople from the nearby Century City law firms.
    Kandi had nabbed a table on the outdoor terrace.
    “Over here!” she called out, waving to me.
    She was dressed in her “work” clothes, which in Hollywood means designer jeans, T-shirt, and blazer.
    “Hi, sweetie!” She got up to give me a hug. “I ordered your lunch!”
    I looked down at the table, expecting to see a Fuddruckers burger bursting with extra cheese. Instead, all I saw was a depressing plate of chopped vegetables.
    “What happened to my burger with extra cheese?”
    “You don’t really want a fattening burger, do you, hon?”
    “Yes, I do want a fattening burger.”
    “Well, too bad. I got you a lovely chopped vegetable salad. Now eat it. It’s good for you.”
    Sometimes Kandi labors under the illusion that she is my mother.
    I picked away at the shards of lettuce, trolling for croutons, while Kandi told me her amazing news.
    “Remember Madame Vruska, my psychic?” she asked.
    “Indelibly,” I assured her.
    “The woman is a genius! One of the things she predicted was that I would come into unexpected riches. And I did!”
    “Really?”
    “Yes, I was in Bloomie’s just now, trying on a blazer, and guess what I found in the pocket?”
    “What?”
    “A dollar!”
    She whipped out a dollar bill from her purse and waved it in triumph.
    “Kandi, hon,” I pointed out, “a dollar isn’t exactly ‘riches.’ ”
    She graced me with an exaggerated roll of her eyes. “Must you be so literal? It’s the principle of the thing.”
    “Did you buy the blazer?” I asked, eyeing a shopping bag at her feet.
    “Yes,” she admitted.
    “How much was it?”
    “A hundred and eighty dollars.”
    Thanks to her job dashing off quips for animated insects, Kandi can afford to drop one hundred and eighty clams on a blazer without blinking.
    “So let’s get this straight. You found a dollar. And spent a hundred eighty. And you came into riches how?”
    “Oh, don’t be such a spoilsport,” she said, shoving the dollar back in her purse. “Madame Vruska said I’d come into money, and I did. And she said I’d meet my true love in the arts. And I will. I just know it!”
    She had so much hope in her eyes I couldn’t bear to disillusion her.
    “Of course you will,” I murmured, patting her hand soothingly while nabbing one of her croutons.
    “So how’re things going with the new guy on your block?” she asked.
    “Peter? He invited me to his Halloween costume party.” Eagerly I told her about the flapper outfit I’d just rented.
    “Sounds adorable!” she enthused.
    “It will be, if I remember to suck in my stomach all night. It’s a little tight around the tummy area.”
    “Tight around the tummy?” She perked up in that way she gets when she’s about to wax euphoric. “Then you must, absolutely must , get a Tummy Tamer.”
    “A Tummy Tamer?”
    “A spandex miracle worker that takes inches off your