Read Online Trouble in the Tarot by Kari Lee Townsend - Free Book Online Page B

call me unless it was important. I’d better take this.”
    “Go ahead,” I said, and the waiter discreetly stepped away from our table to give us privacy.
    “I hope this is important, Grady,” Mitch said into the phone. He and Captain Grady Walker were not just co-workers, they were friends. He was like a father to Mitch.
    Mitch’s face changed from one of irritation to concern. His gaze met mine, and a feeling of doom swept through me. “Be right there,” he finished and then hung up.
    So much for the night being perfect.
    I sighed. “What is it? Let me guess. This has to do with Granny and Fiona, doesn’t it?”
    He nodded slowly.
    “That’s it. I have had it with the two of them. They are both going to be in serious trouble when I get a hold of them.”
    “They already are.”
    The tone in his voice made me pause. “What do you mean? What on earth have they done this time?”
    “Granny Gert and Fiona Atwater have been arrested for the murder of Bernadette Baldwin,” he said gravely.
    “Whaaat?” I shrieked, drawing stares from everyone around us. Karma was an angry beast, all right, but I hadn’t thought it was downright ruthless or that it would sink its ugly teeth into my granny.
    Granny and Fiona had done a lot of naughty things this past week, including wanting to throttle each other, but murder? Neither one of them was capable of murder. There had to be a mistake, but I was afraid this was one mess even I couldn’t fix. My mother always said, family was family, for better or worse…ruined dates and all.
    *    *    *
    “There has to be a mistake, Captain,” I said. Mitch and I sat across from Captain Walker in his office with his desk between us at the precinct.
    He steepled his fingers with a grim look on his face, reminding me of the King of Swords. “I have to admit it doesn’t look good for either of them. Granny hasn’t acted like her normal sweet self since Fiona came to town. According to Fiona’s friends, she’s been out of sorts since she found out Granny lived in Divinity. The whole town can see how they’ve been determined to outdo each other at any cost. I’ve had more calls of complaints against those two this week than I’ve had for anyone else all month.”
    “I’ll admit they both have been behaving very badly all week long, but that hardly makes them capable of murder,” I said, wringing my hands. “There has to be something more.”
    “There is. It all started at the auction earlier. Fiona’s afghan took in more money than Granny’s quilt, but Bernadette’s lace doilies, placemats, and tablecloths earned the most,” he said.
    “Even I heard those two weren’t happy about that,” Mitch stated. “But disappointment doesn’t equal murder.”
    “It went beyond not being happy,” the captain added. “Everyone there heard both Granny and Fiona arguing with Bernadette, telling her they’d make sure she didn’twin the bakeoff. The baked goods were supposed to be delivered tonight to Trixie, who is not only the head of the sewing circle but is also in charge of the bakeoff. Only, the goods never made it.”
    “What exactly happened?” Mitch asked, taking notes as always. He hadn’t complained at all when our date ended prematurely. Instead, he’d driven me here without a single word and sat strong and supportive beside me. I knew if anyone could help free Granny and get to the bottom of this, it would be Mitch.
    “Well, Trixie said a bunch of the Sewing Sisters and Knitting Nanas showed up at the same time to deliver their baked goods for safekeeping and cataloguing. With all the commotion, Fiona’s and Granny’s pie and cookies wound up missing. Of course they accused each other of trying to sabotage the other person, but when a search of the premises didn’t produce their merchandise, they wondered if Bernadette had anything to do with it since she was nowhere in sight.”
    “I can’t believe they actually agreed on something,” I muttered,