Mom Zone Mysteries 02 Staying Home Is a Killer Read Online Free PDF Page A

picturing Will even reading a newspaper, much less filling in a crossword. Of course, I tried to spend as little time as possible around Penny’s rowdy, knuckle-cracking spouse. I guess I could have missed some of his finer points.
    Livvy’s foot thumped me in the shin as she flutter-kicked her feet. She stuck her fingers in her mouth and stared, glassy-eyed, at Marsali’s mug. Then she jerked her fingers out of her mouth and grabbed for the silverware. I snatched it away. “Time for us to go. Livvy’s getting tired.”
    “Sure. Good to see you.” Marsali pulled out a silver pen and adjusted his glasses to read the clues for the Across section.
    “Maybe I’ll drop by some afternoon,” I said as I zipped Livvy into her coat. “Cinnamon rolls in the afternoon sound great.”
    Marsali pushed his huge glasses up his nose and smiled. “I’ll look for you.”

    On Wednesday the cold front moved on and glaring sunshine bounced off the snowbanks and reflected off the sheets of ice. I sat in our overstuffed chair with Livvy on my lap. Sunlight covered us like a warm quilt as I turned the pages of our picture books from the library. “Okay, pick another one,” I said.
    “Spot! Eed, Spot!” Livvy commanded, meaning “Read, Spot.”
    “Okay, for the seventh time today.” I opened the book with the smallest sigh I could manage. The phone rang when we were on page 3.
    “Ellie. These people won’t leave me alone.”
    “Who is this?” I didn’t recognize the low, garbled voice.
    “Will Follette. Penny was always going on and on about you. How smart you are and how you always knew what to do.”
    I’d had a high GPA in college, but I always knew what to do? I didn’t think so. “What do you need?” I asked cautiously.
    “The phone’s ringing all the time. They all want something. I’m going out of town to bury my wife and don’t have time for this crap. My wife is dead. I don’t have time to return their stupid messages.” His voice wavered up and down.
    “Just a minute.”
    I pressed the phone into my shoulder and leaned over the arm of the chair to talk to Abby, who was using my computer because hers had crashed. “This is Will, Penny’s husband. He needs help sorting out some messages for Penny. He sounds pretty upset. Could you watch Livvy while I run over there and see what he needs?”
    “Sure.” She spun around on the chair and headed to the living room. “I haven’t got to read to anyone for two days.” Abby was out of seclusion after suffering through a vicious forty-eight-hour flu. She’d stayed home today from her third grade class to make sure she was completely over it and get caught up on grading papers and lesson plans.
    Outside, it was bright, but it wasn’t warm. The snow wasn’t going to melt any time soon. I crunched through the shell of frozen ice and the puddles of dirty slush as I made my way down the street to Penny and Will’s house. Perched on the tiny slab of a porch, I rang the doorbell.
    Will opened the door. “Come on in.” He headed back to his green leatherette recliner and collapsed. Several beer cans on a rickety end table clanked together as he bumped it with his arm.
    I took a seat on a worn beige sofa. The decorating scheme was a combination of bachelor pad mismatches and garage sale finds. Black and chrome modern pieces contrasted sharply with faded brown armchairs and the sofa that was way past shabby chic. A few pictures of military jets dotted the stark, white walls. The house had a utilitarian air, like the temporary austerity of a dorm room. The only splash of color came from rugs in the living room and dining room. They looked similar to the ones on our floors, so Will probably brought them back from a trip to Kuwait, Turkey, or Iraq. Those rugs and Penny’s throw her aunt had made with various shades of blue fabric had been the only bright spots in the room. I didn’t see the throw. I was kind of glad it wasn’t there. I swallowed. It was hard