Read Online Sealed with a Kill by Lucy Lawrence - Free Book Online Page B

her to move to Morse Point. Brenna was pretty sure it had saved her life, and in return, if Tenley asked Brenna for a kidney, it was hers. Luckily, she was only asking for help in finding a murderer.
    The center of town was shut down for the evening. Only the Fife and Drum, the movie theater, and Stan’s Diner were still open. Brenna parked in the alley behind the shop and came in through the back door.
    She found Tenley pacing around the darkened shop.
    Brenna paused in the doorway to study her friend. Her long blond hair was clipped at the nape of her neck, but stray wisps had escaped, giving her that caught-in-a-windstorm look. Her forehead was puckered in a frown, as if she were trying to remember something important but it was eluding her.
    “Hey,” Brenna said softly from the doorway. She didn’t want to startle her.
    “Thanks for coming,” Tenley said. She crossed the room with her arms wide and hugged Brenna close, as if trying to draw in some of her strength.
    “Anytime,” Brenna said. “So, what’s the lead?”
    “Well, I’m still working it out,” Tenley said.
    “Explain.” Brenna unzipped her jacket and hung it on the back of a chair, which she pulled out to sit on.
    “While I was at the police station checking on my father, one of Uncle Harvey’s girls came in.”
    “He had daughters?” Brenna asked.
    “Four,” Tenley said. She took the seat opposite Brenna. “Just like us. I think that’s one of the reasons my dad and Uncle Harvey were so successful. They both had highmaintenance wives and several daughters.”
    She gave Brenna a wry smile, and Brenna knew it went without saying that most of the daughters were high-maintenance, too.
    “Anyway, Kristin said something that bothered me,” Tenley said. “When I told her how sorry I was, she looked so sad, but then she said, ‘At least we won’t have to be embarrassed by his midlife crisis anymore.’ ”
    Brenna raised her eyebrows. “Interesting.”
    “I thought so,” Tenley said. “You know I haven’t been welcomed much into the Morse family fold over the past two years, but even I noticed that my parents and the Lesters were spending less and less time together. I mean, we used to go on vacations, have barbecues, and our parents were always at the country club together.”
    “Why do you suppose that changed?” Brenna asked.
    “I don’t know, but I’m beginning to have my suspicions,” Tenley said. “You know how my father is.”
    “Jolly, carefree, a real card,” Brenna said.
    A smile flashed across Tenley’s features, breaking the tension that had been evident in the tight lines around her mouth.
    “Yeah,” she said. “Try stern, judgmental, and inflexible.”
    “Silly me,” Brenna said. “I must have had him mixed up with Jay Leno.”
    “It’s the chin,” Tenley said. “Happens all the time.”
    It was Brenna’s turn to laugh.
    “So, what’s your theory?” Brenna asked.
    “What if Uncle Harvey was having a midlife crisis, of which my father didn’t approve?”
    “So he shot him?” Brenna asked, horrified.
    “No, no, I don’t think my father is the killer,” Tenley said. “He could never harm anyone, but he is a big shunner.”
    “Ah, yes, the highly favored method of punishment among the privileged: the shunning,” Brenna said. Her own parents were big on shunning, so she could relate.
    “That would explain why there seemed to be a rift between them,” Tenley said. “It would also explain why Uncle Harvey wanted out of the business.”
    “But the question remains: who shot him?”
    “I think we need to find out more about his supposed crisis.”
    “I’m in,” Brenna said.
    “Thanks,” Tenley said. “I knew I could count on you.”
    “We need a plan.”
    “I already have an idea of where to start,” Tenley said. “That’s why I wanted to talk to you. I need a wingman.”
    “I’m listening.”
    “Have you ever been to the Morse Point Country Club?”
    “No, I can’t say that I