SCREWED DOWN MURDER (Mrs. Fix It Mysteries Book 2) Read online

  “She should have come forward.”

  “It would have been her word only,” Kate said. “She’s young.”

  “But now she has the added charge of kidnapping,” Scott said.

  Kate shrugged. She had to get back to fixing Carly’s shelves.

  ***

  Kate met Scott for breakfast the next morning. While they ate muffins and drank coffee at Bean There, Larry walked in with Carly.

  Scott looked at Kate. “Your doing?”

  “I might have made a suggestion to Larry.”

  “You insist that you aren’t nosy, but you are,” Scott said.

  “I like to take care of people. That’s all.”

  “I get that. Maybe I need some taking care of.”

  She put up her hand. “You know how I feel. We’re friends for now.”

  “And when I find your husband? Will you keep me in the friend zone?”

  “We’ll see.”

  She wasn’t making any commitments. Before she could change the subject, Dean and Jessica walked in. Jessica made a beeline for Kate.

  “Oh, Kate. I have the estimate signed. And I’ve prioritized what I want done.” She dropped a key on the table. “I’m moving into Dean’s place, so I won’t be at the house much. Just tell me when you complete each task and I’ll pay you.”

  Kate looked at the key then palmed it. “Okay.”

  “Good. Hello, Scott. Didn’t mean to ignore you.”

  He smiled. “No offense taken.”

  He seemed more amused than anything. Jessica went back to Dean.

  “How is your disposal working?”

  “Like new. Thanks.”

  “Good.”

  “So Jessica is going to put her house on the market?”

  “Yes, as soon as I’m done. I think she’s ready to be out of that house. Dudley had horrific taste in decorating.”

  “I don’t understand men who feel they need to dominate women,” Scott said. “I don’t have the energy to do that. I want a partner.”

  Kate sipped her coffee, not sure how to answer that. If Scott was auditioning, he was doing a good job. She wanted a partner also.

  “Kate, don’t fret about the passport until we know for sure what his visits were about.”

  Was Scott able to see inside her mind? She found it uncanny that he could figure out what she was thinking. As if he were on the same wavelength or something. Greg had always treated her as if she were a foreign object. He’d never understood her.

  She had to stop comparing the men. It wasn’t fair to either of them.

  “We got a confession out of Beth.”

  “Oh?”

  Now this was more interesting.

  “She was confronting Dudley about what she’d found with the contracts. He’d tried to harm her, so she pulled out her Taser weapon. She had no idea that he had a heart condition.”

  “So not premeditated.”

  “No, she’s been charged with murder two,” Scott said.

  “Really sad to see a young life ruined like that.”

  “If she had just come to us then we could have helped her. And she was the one who backed into the utility pole.”

  “That would explain the dent in her bumper. I knew it wasn’t done at the office. It had metal flecks in it. I didn’t make the connection because the new pole they put up was made of fiberglass.”

  “She lucked out when the recordings were ruined.”

  “What did Jessica find?”

  “She found an appointment in Dudley’s book to meet Beth. She called Beth who came over, and then when she figured out that Jessica knew something she kidnapped her. She was going to kill her then dump the body.”

  Kate shuddered. “How awful.”

  “But it’s done. And now you can get on with your steady work at Jessica’s house.”

  “True. Means I can get my truck fixed, too.”

  At least it all worked out okay. Jessica had Dean. Larry had Carly. Kate glanced over at them. They didn’t know that anyone else was in the room. It made Kate happy. Now if she could just figure out where her husband was, she, too, could get on with her life.

  ~~~

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve