Kicking the Habit Read Online Free PDF Page B

scraping her flesh as they tracked a path down her spine. “Just as you
did for Senator Sloan,” he finished, and then his eyes narrowed a fraction
before he turned to the crowd and smiled once again.
    Maybe he had
another motive for giving her this building. It was a known fact he’d supported
Senator Sloan’s opponent. Could he have killed the senator to ensure the election went to his candidate? After
all, the senator had been leading in the latest polls. His biggest stance had
been on gun control, while his opponent had offered more funding for improving
the town.
    “Besides,
several people have come forward and donated enough money to cover what I would
have sold this old building for, anyway,” the mayor continued, flashing his
pearly whites, blinding Cece. “Rest assured, the
money will go right back into improving the town. Now cut the ribbon and smile
pretty for the Senior Scrappers. I want to make sure this picture gets into
next week’s edition of the town photo album.”
    Although Cece might be a woman
of simple means, she was a firm believer in “waste not, want not” and wasn’t
above accepting donations for the cause. She smiled wide, cut the ribbon, and
blinked rapidly as she attempted to adjust her eyes to the strobe light of
flashes going off.
    The Senior
Scrappers were a force to be reckoned with and more agile than outsiders could
ever fathom, but New Hopians knew: “When in doubt,
don’t pout.” It didn’t matter if the shot was horrible; it still went in “the
book.”
    With their
ever-ready cameras dangling from their necks like fine pieces of jewelry, the
relentless senior citizens snapped a zillion pictures for the town scrapbook in
an ongoing competition to capture the perfect shot. Over the past forty years,
there wasn’t a single event in New Hope that hadn’t been recorded in the town
scrapbook.
    A movement
high above caught Cece’s eye, and she gasped. “Is
that a scrapper in that old oak tree?”
    “It sure is.
Who knew she could climb so high?” the mayor muttered behind his sparkling
teeth. “Just keep smiling. That angle might make for a better shot.”
    “She’s gonna break her neck,” Cece said,
as the first drops of rain hit the ground. “I think it’s time to call it a
day.”
    “Oh, it’ll
pass, just give it a—”
    Another
crack of lightning streaked through the darkening sky, followed by a boom of
thunder even closer than the one before. The rain started to come down harder.
    “You were
saying?” She folded her hands in front of her and looked up at the mayor.
    “You’re
right, Sister. My mistake. After all, we wouldn’t want
anyone else getting hurt, now would we?”
    The corners
of her lips tipped down as she faced the crowd. Had she heard a threat in the
mayor’s words, or had her imagination gotten a little too active? She wiped the
rain off her forehead and decided this was not the time to dwell on it.
    Raising her
voice to the crowd, she said, “Thank you so much, everyone. I promise I won’t
let you down. In fact, I don’t have much to pack up. So tomorrow, right after
Senator Sloan’s wake, Cece’s Counseling Clinic will
be open if anyone needs me. But for now, I think you should all return to your
homes. There’s a nor’easter coming, and it looks like a doozy.”
    Everyone
dispersed, and with the key to her new apartment in hand, Cece
trudged through the wet leaves to her granny’s house, which happened to be
within walking distance of her clinic. She looked over her shoulder but didn’t
see anyone, even though she could have sworn she heard something . Hmmm. Probably just
another scrapper. Or worse, that persistent detective
who insisted on nun-sitting.
    How was she
supposed to find proof with him around? When she’d told him she intended to
solve the senator’s murder, he’d looked like the Terminator, ready to terminate her . She had a suspicious feeling if
he caught her in the act of snooping, he’d throw her in the slammer