Inconvenient Murder: An Inept Witches Mystery Read Online Free PDF Page B

as she listened to Melinda’s drama queen, stage-stealing ways. Her high-pitched voice grated on Emily’s already frayed nerves.
    Emily interrupted Melinda’s mindless rant. “Mel, is Davis there? Can you put him on the phone?”
    “No, Emily. He isn’t here. He’s traveling for work. He went to Vancouver, BC, yesterday. I don’t expect him back for a couple of days.” A moment of silence and then, “I’ll call him. I’ll get him on his cell, okay? Don’t worry.”
    “Thank you, Mel. This is going to be so hard for Davis. They were so close.” Her feelings toward Davis and Melinda were complicated, but she felt a stirring of compassion for them. Davis lost a brother and Melinda a brother-in-law.
    Melinda agreed. “You’re right. This is going to be devastating for him. All of us. Oh, Emily. Are you okay? I know you two weren’t on the best terms, but he was technically still your husband. You loved him once. What can I do?”
    Emily fought to gain control of her emotions. Irritation with Melinda’s ever-present drama, fury that Owen had to die in the basement of her new life, and exhaustion from not enough sleep. Maybe even some sadness. She had loved him once. And now he was dead. Another faded memory of her wedding day drifted into her mind, and she felt her eyes tear up.
    “Melinda,” Emily asked in a small, vulnerable voice, “could you guys come?” Emily shoved the sadness and focused on her anger. He had been a cheater, after all.
    She took a deep breath in an effort to control her words. “Would you mind taking on all the arrangements?” He was a douche, and he didn’t deserve her energy. She kept her thoughts to herself, though. Davis and Melinda would actual miss her cheating husband.
    “Oh, yes, honey, of course. I’ll call Davis, and then I’ll catch the next ferry. Davis will meet me there.”
    “Thank you, Mel. Would you ask Davis to call me? I think I might need his help. It’s no secret that Owen and I weren’t on good terms. I’d rather be safe. You know I didn’t kill him, right, Mel?”
    She was angry at the shaking in her voice that she couldn’t seem to repress. It would be just like that idiot to screw with her in his last moments on earth. Emily held the phone to her ear while she paced the apartment, searching for some leftover item of Owen’s that she could destroy to vent her rage.
    “Oh, no. That is just awful.” Emily waited while Melinda continued to try to talk through her sobs through the phone. “Of course you didn’t kill him. You shouldn’t have to defend yourself at a time like this. I’m sure Davis will be able to take care of it quickly.”
    “One more thing, Melinda. Could you call his parents and the rest of the family? They don’t like me much, considering, but they have a right to know as soon as possible. Let them know we will get back to them with the details for the funeral.”
    Emily heard Melinda’s sobs through the phone, but Emily was mostly mad and inconvenienced. She wouldn’t miss him at all. Mostly.
    Melinda sniffed and spoke. “Yes. I’ll call them as soon as I get a hold of Davis. I’m going to call him now, okay? I should be able to make one of the morning ferries.”
    “Thanks, Melinda. I’ll see you soon.”
    The connection ended, and Emily put her head down on the table and finally let out a long breath to release the emotions she’d been trying to hold in since she’d gotten Ingrid’s call. The tiny bit of lamenting was drenched in white hot fury. She wanted to punch something. And then sleep. Too bad Owen wasn’t alive. She could have punched him right in the face.
     
    •
     
    Thursday Afternoon
     
    Davis and Melinda arrived before Gabe did.
    Emily hugged them both, resisting both Davis’s irritating Ken-doll looks and the urge to punch Melinda right in her puffy eyes. Emily pulled Melinda to her in a tight hug and made eye contact with Ingrid across the room. Ingrid made a funny face, and Emily fought a