Read Online Salami Murder: Book 8 in The Darling Deli Series by Patti Benning - Free Book Online
Authors: Patti Benning
Tags: Fiction
Ads: Link
inside the first thing she heard was the sound of angry voices coming from the flooded kitchen.
“Adrian, just go,” came her daughter’s voice. “I wasn’t asking you for help, I was just letting you know what happened. You didn’t need to come over.”
“You might not have been asking for help, but you definitely need it,” came the reply. Moira recognized the speaker as Adrian. “This place has been nothing but one disaster after another since I stopped helping you.”
“It’s not my fault, I think someone is trying to keep me from opening the store.”
“Let me come back as your business partner, and they won’t dare to mess with you,” he said. Candice laughed, her voice pitched high with stress and anger.
“What are you going to do, chase them away? Go Adrian, just go. We’re over. I won’t make the mistake of texting you again.”
Moira stepped out of the way as Adrian, his face red with anger, brushed past her. He ignored her completely as he stalked out of the building and disappeared around the corner. Frowning after him, she hurried the rest of the way back to the kitchen to make sure her daughter was all right.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Moira hung out with Candice after Adrian left until the repairman got there. The duct tape held, sort of. A steady stream of water still dripped from the pipe joint, but it was nowhere near as bad as the spray had been. There was a certain satisfaction in having held off the flood themselves, without help from either Adrian or David.
“Yep, it was definitely cut,” the plumber said once he had managed to get the water shut off. “Looks like you’ll need a new valve, too. Any idea who did this?”
“No,” Candice replied despondently. “None. This is just one of many bad things that have been happening around here lately.”
As Candice told the plumber about finding Matt dead in the kitchen—just a few feet away from where they were standing in fact—and the incident with her brakes, Moira walked around the kitchen looking for damage. Everything looked fine, other than the fridge which was sitting in a puddle of water and was suspiciously quiet. She opened it and sighed when she saw the melting ice in the freezer. Looking behind it, she saw that the plug was out of the wall and resting in a pool of water. There was a dent in the side of the fridge as if someone had kicked it.
“I’ll take a look at it once we get the floor dry,” the plumber said, following her gaze. “Best not to have it plugged in with the floor flooded anyway. Wouldn’t want to get electrocuted.”
Moira and Candice continued working on the floor as the plumber began taking measurements for a new pipe. The puddle of water was slowly shrinking, but the going was slow. If they had more than one mop, it would have gone much faster. As it was, they took turns mopping and using towels from Candice’s apartment upstairs to soak up what water they could. Once the towels were sopping wet, they took them outside and wrung them out.
It wasn’t long before Moira was exhausted. She was soaked to the bone and alternated between being too cold from the constant blowing of the fans inside, and too hot from the afternoon mugginess; the moist heat did nothing to dry her off when she went outside. She was relieved when she ran into Eli on one of her trips outside to wring. Candice must have called him , she thought. He must really like her if he came to help.
“She’s inside,” Moira told him. “Thanks for coming. We’ll be happy for your help.” He looked puzzled for a moment, but then nodded, following her indoors.
“Eli!” Candice exclaimed when she saw him. “What are you doing here?”
Moira gave the young man a sharp glance, surprised and suddenly suspicious. Candice hadn’t asked him to come help? How had he managed to show up at the perfect time?
“I saw the plumber’s truck and the candy shop’s doors open and thought you must be still here doing some sort of repairs. I
“Adrian, just go,” came her daughter’s voice. “I wasn’t asking you for help, I was just letting you know what happened. You didn’t need to come over.”
“You might not have been asking for help, but you definitely need it,” came the reply. Moira recognized the speaker as Adrian. “This place has been nothing but one disaster after another since I stopped helping you.”
“It’s not my fault, I think someone is trying to keep me from opening the store.”
“Let me come back as your business partner, and they won’t dare to mess with you,” he said. Candice laughed, her voice pitched high with stress and anger.
“What are you going to do, chase them away? Go Adrian, just go. We’re over. I won’t make the mistake of texting you again.”
Moira stepped out of the way as Adrian, his face red with anger, brushed past her. He ignored her completely as he stalked out of the building and disappeared around the corner. Frowning after him, she hurried the rest of the way back to the kitchen to make sure her daughter was all right.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Moira hung out with Candice after Adrian left until the repairman got there. The duct tape held, sort of. A steady stream of water still dripped from the pipe joint, but it was nowhere near as bad as the spray had been. There was a certain satisfaction in having held off the flood themselves, without help from either Adrian or David.
“Yep, it was definitely cut,” the plumber said once he had managed to get the water shut off. “Looks like you’ll need a new valve, too. Any idea who did this?”
“No,” Candice replied despondently. “None. This is just one of many bad things that have been happening around here lately.”
As Candice told the plumber about finding Matt dead in the kitchen—just a few feet away from where they were standing in fact—and the incident with her brakes, Moira walked around the kitchen looking for damage. Everything looked fine, other than the fridge which was sitting in a puddle of water and was suspiciously quiet. She opened it and sighed when she saw the melting ice in the freezer. Looking behind it, she saw that the plug was out of the wall and resting in a pool of water. There was a dent in the side of the fridge as if someone had kicked it.
“I’ll take a look at it once we get the floor dry,” the plumber said, following her gaze. “Best not to have it plugged in with the floor flooded anyway. Wouldn’t want to get electrocuted.”
Moira and Candice continued working on the floor as the plumber began taking measurements for a new pipe. The puddle of water was slowly shrinking, but the going was slow. If they had more than one mop, it would have gone much faster. As it was, they took turns mopping and using towels from Candice’s apartment upstairs to soak up what water they could. Once the towels were sopping wet, they took them outside and wrung them out.
It wasn’t long before Moira was exhausted. She was soaked to the bone and alternated between being too cold from the constant blowing of the fans inside, and too hot from the afternoon mugginess; the moist heat did nothing to dry her off when she went outside. She was relieved when she ran into Eli on one of her trips outside to wring. Candice must have called him , she thought. He must really like her if he came to help.
“She’s inside,” Moira told him. “Thanks for coming. We’ll be happy for your help.” He looked puzzled for a moment, but then nodded, following her indoors.
“Eli!” Candice exclaimed when she saw him. “What are you doing here?”
Moira gave the young man a sharp glance, surprised and suddenly suspicious. Candice hadn’t asked him to come help? How had he managed to show up at the perfect time?
“I saw the plumber’s truck and the candy shop’s doors open and thought you must be still here doing some sort of repairs. I
Similar Books
