Read Online Permanently Booked by Lisa Q. Mathews - Free Book Online
Authors: Lisa Q. Mathews
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of a suspect in a case down here—that she and Dorothy solved.
“Long day, huh?” she tried, swirling the lemon slices in her cup. The water still tasted like chlorine. She was working on Jennifer to get Hibiscus Pointe to switch to salt water for the pool, too, but so far no dice. What did they put all those extra resident fees toward, anyway?
Probably a bonus for Roger.
“You could say that. Goes with the job, though.” He finally smiled and pushed up his shades. Yep, those baby blues were intense, all right. “So, tell me, how well did you know Lorella Caldwell?”
Summer drew back. Not again. He didn’t seriously think she had anything to do with this murder, did he? “I didn’t. Never even saw her before in my life.”
He pulled out his phone and gave it a tap. “Are you sure? You still live in the complex here, don’t you? Why is that, by the way?”
His tone was even, but Summer’s face burned. Okay, so maybe it was kind of weird that she lived in a retirement complex with a bunch of old people. But that didn’t mean she was some lazy freeloader, or hiding from anything.
“I like it here,” she said. “The facilities are pretty good. They have a lot of dumb rules, but the people are really nice.”
She cringed as Gladys Rumway, all dressed up for dinner in a show-stopping yellow pantsuit and matching headscarf, led a group of chattering women past the pool gate toward the main building. Gladys’s beady eyes widened a half slit as she took in Summer and the detective together at the pool, before turning back to her wannabes, probably to make some gossipy comment. “Well, most of them are okay,” Summer muttered.
The detective took a sip of his lemon water. “You’re planning to move out soon, though, right?”
“Move out?” Summer bristled. Well, he had a lot of nerve. Where did he live that was so great? His own grandma lived here.
Detective Donovan cleared his throat. “I mean, didn’t you say this whole old-folks thing was just a temporary arrangement, until you found a real apartment?”
“No,” Summer said. “I mean, yes.” This was a lot like being grilled by the Residents Board. And it was, by the way, even less of Shane Donovan’s business than theirs where she chose to live.
He was right, though. Originally, she hadn’t planned to stay here very long. Just until she got back on her feet after moving to Florida and things cooled down on all that other stuff. She’d planned to make her exit from Hibiscus Pointe before the second rent check to Syd was due.
But the truth was, she was getting sort of used to the place.
Besides, she couldn’t leave Dorothy now. How often did you find an amazing friend, detective partner, and grandma, all rolled into one?
“It’s not like I’m stuck here,” Summer said. “I can move out anytime I want. And it isn’t as if this is my whole social life, or anything,” she added. “I like hanging out with Dorothy, that’s all. And Ernie and his wife, Grace. And Dash, and a whole bunch of other people.”
She could count them on two and a half fingers: Esmé, who worked 24/7, Mia, who was off on an extended cruise after her ex-fiancé ended up dead, and—sort of—Jennifer.
One corner of the detective’s mouth twitched slightly, revealing a very small, extra dimple she hadn’t noticed before. “Hey, whoa, I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean it to come out like that. Let’s start over. I just need to confirm that you still live here. You know, for the case.”
Right. Obviously, he thought she was a loser. “I told you before, I’m the aquatics director here now,” she informed him. “I teach swimming and fitness classes and we’re starting up a water ballet team soon.” If Helen Murphy got her way.
“You’re quite a diver, too.” Detective Donovan jerked his head in the direction of the board. “I was watching you earlier. Pretty impressive.”
“Thanks.” Now he knew she was good at two things: water
“Long day, huh?” she tried, swirling the lemon slices in her cup. The water still tasted like chlorine. She was working on Jennifer to get Hibiscus Pointe to switch to salt water for the pool, too, but so far no dice. What did they put all those extra resident fees toward, anyway?
Probably a bonus for Roger.
“You could say that. Goes with the job, though.” He finally smiled and pushed up his shades. Yep, those baby blues were intense, all right. “So, tell me, how well did you know Lorella Caldwell?”
Summer drew back. Not again. He didn’t seriously think she had anything to do with this murder, did he? “I didn’t. Never even saw her before in my life.”
He pulled out his phone and gave it a tap. “Are you sure? You still live in the complex here, don’t you? Why is that, by the way?”
His tone was even, but Summer’s face burned. Okay, so maybe it was kind of weird that she lived in a retirement complex with a bunch of old people. But that didn’t mean she was some lazy freeloader, or hiding from anything.
“I like it here,” she said. “The facilities are pretty good. They have a lot of dumb rules, but the people are really nice.”
She cringed as Gladys Rumway, all dressed up for dinner in a show-stopping yellow pantsuit and matching headscarf, led a group of chattering women past the pool gate toward the main building. Gladys’s beady eyes widened a half slit as she took in Summer and the detective together at the pool, before turning back to her wannabes, probably to make some gossipy comment. “Well, most of them are okay,” Summer muttered.
The detective took a sip of his lemon water. “You’re planning to move out soon, though, right?”
“Move out?” Summer bristled. Well, he had a lot of nerve. Where did he live that was so great? His own grandma lived here.
Detective Donovan cleared his throat. “I mean, didn’t you say this whole old-folks thing was just a temporary arrangement, until you found a real apartment?”
“No,” Summer said. “I mean, yes.” This was a lot like being grilled by the Residents Board. And it was, by the way, even less of Shane Donovan’s business than theirs where she chose to live.
He was right, though. Originally, she hadn’t planned to stay here very long. Just until she got back on her feet after moving to Florida and things cooled down on all that other stuff. She’d planned to make her exit from Hibiscus Pointe before the second rent check to Syd was due.
But the truth was, she was getting sort of used to the place.
Besides, she couldn’t leave Dorothy now. How often did you find an amazing friend, detective partner, and grandma, all rolled into one?
“It’s not like I’m stuck here,” Summer said. “I can move out anytime I want. And it isn’t as if this is my whole social life, or anything,” she added. “I like hanging out with Dorothy, that’s all. And Ernie and his wife, Grace. And Dash, and a whole bunch of other people.”
She could count them on two and a half fingers: Esmé, who worked 24/7, Mia, who was off on an extended cruise after her ex-fiancé ended up dead, and—sort of—Jennifer.
One corner of the detective’s mouth twitched slightly, revealing a very small, extra dimple she hadn’t noticed before. “Hey, whoa, I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean it to come out like that. Let’s start over. I just need to confirm that you still live here. You know, for the case.”
Right. Obviously, he thought she was a loser. “I told you before, I’m the aquatics director here now,” she informed him. “I teach swimming and fitness classes and we’re starting up a water ballet team soon.” If Helen Murphy got her way.
“You’re quite a diver, too.” Detective Donovan jerked his head in the direction of the board. “I was watching you earlier. Pretty impressive.”
“Thanks.” Now he knew she was good at two things: water
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