A Deadly Slice of Lime: A Key West Culinary Cozy - Book 6 Read Online Free PDF

Tiara shook her head. “I’m just really bummed out because, when I don’t
start my day with that kind of focus and relaxation, things don’t usually go as
well,” she shrugged.
    “Well,
we’ll just concentrate on doing everything we can to make it a great day,”
Marilyn chimed in optimistically. “I do wonder what’s going on though.”
    “Yeah,
me too. Guess we’ll find out when we watch the news later,” her daughter
replied. “Since I’m here early, I’m going to start working on the marketing
plan that we’ll implement for the expansion. We’re getting closer and closer.”
    “Unless
of course I have to pay out four million dollars to a lying old woman,” her
mother made a face. She hadn’t told Tiara yet about the bee incident, or about
having been caught spying by Bernard Cortland. She clearly had to figure out
another plan of attack.
    “Well,
I’m going to proceed on the assumption that she’s not going to be able to
swindle you out of that money,” Tiara tossed over her shoulder as she headed
for the front counter computer.
    **
    Marilyn
had sold out of almost everything. She, Tiara and Kelcie had been hopping, with
cruise ship customers, tourists and locals all day, and by the time the sign on
the door had been turned over to Closed, there was very little stock to box up
for the homeless shelter and children’s home. Tiara finished counting up the
receipts and register cash, announcing that they’d had their single biggest day
of sales to date, receiving excited applause from Kelcie and her mother.
    “Okay
ladies, that means we celebrate tonight – if you two don’t have any other
plans, that is,” she offered with a broad grin.
    Before
either of the young women could answer, Tiara’s father, Daniel, came bursting
in through the front door.
    “Mar,
I know we’ve had our differences, but I really need your help this time,” he
said, rushing over to her, eyes wide.
    Kelcie
politely excused herself, not wanting to stay anywhere near the potentially
incredibly awkward family situation. Marilyn and Tiara were so fixated upon the
man who had come charging into the store that they barely heard her say
goodbye.
    “Daniel,
I thought that I had made it perfectly clear…” Marilyn began, her teeth
clenched.
    “Dad,
what’s wrong?” her daughter interrupted, seeing her dad’s uncharacteristic
pallor. Her mother gave the two of them a scorching glare, but held her tongue
and waited for his answer.
    “My
friend, Brad, went missing last night. I just assumed that he’d gone out for a
few drinks after I went to bed and found…someone that he was…interested in,”
Daniel explained awkwardly. Tiara rolled her eyes, imagining the awkward
attempts that Brad had made, and her father continued.
    “Anyway,
he apparently never came back to his room at the hotel, and wasn’t answering
his cell phone. I woke up to the sound of the police pounding at my door just
before the sun came up, and they asked me all sorts of questions about Brad,
and why we were traveling together, how long I’d known him, stuff like that,”
Daniel ran his hand through his thick golden-going-grey hair, clearly upset.
    “So,
I answered all of their questions as best I could – I was still half asleep and
had a throbbing headache – then they asked me to get dressed and come with
them.”
    “Hungover?”
Marilyn asked snidely.
    “Irrelevant,
Mom. Please,” Tiara gave her a warning look, and she crossed her arms,
listening to her ex’s story, but choosing to remain hostile. “Where did they
want you to go after you got dressed?” she asked, frowning.
    “They
put me in the back of a patrol car and took me to the beach, where there was an
area roped off with crime scene tape,” he replied. Tiara’s eyes widened and she
exchanged a worried look with her mother.
    “I
asked them why we were there, and they told me that they had reason to believe
that I might be able to identify a body that had been pulled out of