Better Off Dead in Deadwood Read Online Free PDF

come over to the hotel and meet with you to discuss this more?”
    “No. I have to go buy some socks and batteries.”
    The line went dead.
    Criminy! I was going to kill him. It would be in all of the papers—Abe Lincoln slain again. The tabloids would name me as a long-lost relative of John Wilkes Booth.
    I hung up the phone and turned back around. Two sets of eyes watched me—one wide and curious, the other narrowed and calculating.
    Shaking off my Cornelius moment, I turned up the wattage on my smile again and faced off with Thor.
    “So, what can I do for you, Mr. …?”
    “Jerry Russo.” He strolled over and helped himself to a cup of coffee like he owned the place.
    “Are you interested in buying a home in the Deadwood area, Mr. Russo?”
    “Not at all. And you can call me Jerry, Violet.”
    First names already, huh? At least he was a friendly giant.
    He used Mona’s desk as a chair and took a sip of coffee. Grimacing, he set down the cup. “What I am interested in is watching you sell homes.”
    I frowned. Was he some kind of real estate voyeur? Next he’d want to fondle my For Sale signs.
    “Watching me?”
    He nodded. “You see, my ex-wife just passed away, leaving me as the sole surviving partner in a business venture we started together years ago when we were still married.”
    A low whooshing sound started in my ears.
    “Your ex-wife?”
    “Jane Grimes.”
    “So, you were Jane’s …”
    “Husband. Her first one, anyway.”
    I thought she said her first husband was a client, not a partner. I remembered her telling me that when she’d warned me about dating Doc. She must have been in real estate before marrying Jerry and starting Calamity Jane Realty.
    “Oh,” was all I could think to say. The whooshing grew louder as anxiety flooded my brain. Here he was, the man who would determine my future in Deadwood. Now I understood the fake laughter I’d heard coming from Ray earlier, and I knew who’d cleaned up Jane’s office.
    Jerry shook his head, sadness lining his cheeks. “I’m going to miss my Janey girl.”
    Me, too, but I couldn’t stop gawking at Janey girl’s first husband. I’d always envisioned her ex-husbands smaller, more weasel-looking, not so juggernaut-ish.
    Jerry clapped his hands together.
    I jumped in surprise.
    “I think it’s high time we get this office up and running again,” he said. “I hope you and my man Ray here are in it to win it, because Jerry Russo doesn’t allow any losers on his team.”
    What about Mona? Had she already talked to Jerry? Was she feeling like a winner yet? Jane’s death had hit Mona the hardest of us all. She’d worked with Jane for almost two decades.
    Standing, Jerry towered over Ray and me. “Are you ready to go out there and show Deadwood what you got?”
    “Yes, sir!” Ray shouted like the rat-bastard bootlicker he was.
    “How about you, Violet?” Jerry asked.
    My heart panged. Man, I missed Jane.
    “Sure,” I said with as much enthusiasm as I could muster two hours after the funeral service for my last boss. I’d have to be ready if I wanted to keep my job.
    But first, I had an appointment with a gravel-chewing detective regarding the murder of my new boss’s ex-wife, for which I’d somehow ended up on a list of “usual” suspects … again.

Chapter Three
    The glass doors of the police station were propped open. Deadwood’s crime-busters apparently weren’t worried about any convicts spilling out onto the street on this fine, sunny afternoon.
    I crested the top step and skirted a pedestal fan blowing warm air in my face. The temperature inside the building felt a good ten degrees hotter than outside. Wonderful, now I’d really be cooked during Detective Cooper’s grilling.
    The cop at the front desk had his nose buried in the newspaper. Sweat beaded on his forehead and trickled down his silver sideburns. He smelled like his deodorant had run out for lunch and never come back.
    I set my purse on the counter.