Hurricane Force (A Miss Fortune Mystery Book 7) Read Online Free PDF Page B

that was the case. “It’s Harrison,” I told Ida Belle and Gertie. “He insists on talking to me now.”
    They cast worried glances at each other.  
    “On the right side of the church, in the door past the piano is a single restroom,” Ida Belle said. “Use that. I don’t know that you’ll get enough signal to talk, but at least you won’t be sharing the room with other women like the main bathroom.”
    I shoved my phone in my pocket and set off down the aisle for the restroom. It was located on a back corner of the church, and the outside walls almost hummed with the force of the wind hitting them. I locked myself in, pulled out my phone and dialed. It took three tries before I got a connection, and even then, I could barely hear Harrison.
    “I can barely hear you,” I said, “so talk loud, and fast. I don’t know how long this connection will last.”
    “It sounds like you’re in a wind tunnel.”
    “I am in a wind tunnel. It’s a hurricane.”
    “You were serious about that?”
    “Yes, and I’m serious about losing signal. Hurry up!”
    “Your risk assessment just went from high to duck now.”
    I felt a chill run through me. “What happened?”
    “Some counterfeit money turned up at a casino in New Orleans. It’s almost a perfect match for the bills used to make the deal with Ahmad that we were working when you blew your cover.”
    My grip tightened so hard on the phone that my fingers started to throb. “You’re sure?”
    “Positive. The lab has done at least ten comparisons on the bills. The new ones are slightly cleaner, but the base workmanship is the same.”
    “What are the flaws?”
    “The main one to look for is at the corner of the right eye. Remember how that section looked like it had been done in a hurry on the other bills? Well, it’s much better now, but there’s still a flaw at the edge.”
    I reached into my pocket and pulled out the hundred, then shone my flashlight on it, drawing it as close as possible to my face. Was that a break in the pattern in the corner of the eye? I needed a magnifying glass to be sure.
    Or maybe I didn’t. Maybe I already knew.

    ###

    Ida Belle and Gertie looked up anxiously at me as I made my way back up the aisle and took a seat between them. Carter and Walter were checking a window at the back of the church and most everyone else had drifted off to sleep.
    “What’s wrong?” Ida Belle asked.  
    I told them what Harrison said.
    Gertie’s eyes widened. “You don’t think the money in the storm is the same money, do you?”
    “I can’t see the bill well enough to be sure, but…”
    “You had a bad feeling to begin with,” Ida Belle said. “I’m sure you’re right.”
    “But how can that be?” Gertie asked. “How could he have found you? I know you’re not exactly low-profile in Sinful, but Sinful is not exactly high-profile around the world.”
    “I don’t have any answers,” I said. “Maybe it’s a coincidence.”
    “You don’t believe that for a minute,” Ida Belle said.
    “No, I really don’t.” I blew out a breath. “When we were tracking new buyers, there was one that we thought would receive shipment through the Gulf of Mexico. New Orleans is one of the logical places to conduct that kind of transaction. Boxes of cargo on large ships tend to go unnoticed when there are a lot of them.”
    “So if this new buyer received shipment through New Orleans,” Ida Belle said, “that would explain how the counterfeit money got to the casino there. Everyone working the deal probably got counterfeit as payment and one or more of them headed to the casino.”
    “It makes sense,” I said.
    Ida Belle frowned. “I assume these suppliers don’t tell Ahmad that they’re paying him with counterfeit.”
    “Hardly. Ahmad has businesses all over the world that he uses to launder the money, so it might have taken a while to catch the first round. The work is good. I mean really good. You’d have to be an expert or have a