In the Worst Way (Mercy Watts Mysteries Book 5) Read Online Free PDF Page B

falling over Pick who yelped.  
    “The starting price on your golden locks is fifty thousand,” said Oz.  
    Not the movie then.  
    “Good to know.”  
    “So you killed Richie Costilla.”  
    Damn. That was fast.
    “Well, you never know until you see it.”  
    “Huh? Oh, right. The movie. Look, Mercy, I just wanted you to know. Keep your head down.”  
    “Thanks. See you later.”  
    “Good luck,” he said and hung up. Is there anything more ominous than ending a phone call with good luck? I don’t think so.
    I tucked my phone away. “So…you were saying, Dad.”  
    “What did Felix want?”  
    “To go to the movies. We have different tastes. You said I’m going away.”  
    He cocked an eyebrow at me. “Suddenly you don’t seem to mind.”  
    Hell, no, I don’t. Fifty thousand isn’t chump change.
    I shrugged. “I can fight you, but I won’t win.”  
    He threw up his hands. “Finally, she admits it.”  
    Myrtle smiled and I grimaced. I’d never live this down and Dad would expect to win forever. Not going to happen. This was a onetime thing.  
    I rolled my eyes. “Fine. Go ahead and rub it in. Where am I going? Prie Dieu? Grandma’s house?”  
    “A girl trip. Your mother has arranged it all,” he said with a diabolical grin.  
    “A girl trip? With who?”  
    “Your cousins.”  
    I went cold. My toes were probably blue. “But…I only have three girl cousins.”  
    “That’s right. You, Mercy Watts, are the lucky winner of an all-expenses-paid trip with your only three female cousins.”  
    “Weepy, Snot, and Spoiled Rotten? What did I ever do to you?”  
    “We don’t have that much time,” Dad said, the grin growing wider.  
    Myrtle handed me a thick packet of Amedei Prendime dark chocolate bars. “Good luck, dear.”  
    “No way. I’m not doing it. I can go somewhere that they’re not. How about federal prison?” I asked.  
    Myrtle stood up and hugged me. “May God give you the serenity to accept the things you cannot change.”  
    Oh my god!

Chapter Four

    DAD LET ME get my truck from Soulard Market’s parking lot, but only because my veg would rot and ruin the upholstery. I was not allowed to go alone. Officer Samson accompanied me and stuck so close I felt like a toddler with a helicopter mom.
    I pulled in the alley behind my parents’ house after dark and closed the garage door on the trio of squad cars behind me. I retrieved my phone and checked for messages. There were plenty of messages. None were from Chuck and he was the only one I wanted to hear from.  
    “Dad’s sending me off with the Troublesome Trio,” I texted him.  
    I waited and nothing. Of course. Of course, there was nothing. I screamed and banged on the steering wheel. Samson whipped open the garage side door with his gun drawn.  
    I waved and got out. “Sorry. I just had a moment.”  
    His eyes darted around the dim garage like he didn’t believe me. “Yeah?”  
    “Yeah. It’s been a bad day. Aren’t you off shift?” I asked.  
    “We’re doing Detective Watts a favor.”  
    Dad was still Detective Watts. I guess he always would be. Samson helped me gather up my cloth bags and lug them down the long brick walk past Mom’s lush gardens. The tulips were blooming, fat and heavy. The cold spring air accentuated the scent of the flowers. For a moment, I forgot the break-in and the rest of it and just breathed in the fruits of Mom’s labor.
    We tromped up the back stairs before I said goodbye to Samson and unlocked the door. I picked up my umpteen bags, walking sideways into the butler’s pantry at the rear of my parents’ house. It was ice cold as usual. Dad stood at the marble counter pouring himself a generous glug of whiskey and watching me out of the corner of his eye. Pick trotted in from the parlor and sat on Dad’s foot. Dad looked down and frowned. “Why does he always sit on my feet?”  
    “It runs in the family,” I said. “You want to help me