The Miss Fortune Series: Overdue (Kindle Worlds Novella) Read Online Free PDF Page A

“Sorry,” she said, wiping the dribble off her daughter’s blouse. “Guess I gave her one bowl of Fruit Loops too many. Let’s get you to the bathroom,” she said, scooping the little girl into her arms.
    “Ooh, gross,” one boy shouted.
    Another boy wearing a Spiderman shirt raced over and ran through the vomit, laughing, proclaiming himself to be “Throw-Up Boy.”
    “Carson, you stop that!” his mother shouted. Several girls screamed as he chased them.
    Gertie hobbled over to join us, her arms wrapped around her chest.
    “You okay?” Ida Belle asked.
    Gertie winced. “Harry Potter speared my boob.”
    Ida Belle shook her head. “We have to get these kids calmed down or they’ll never sit still for the reading.”
    “I think it’s time for Plan B,” Gertie said.
    Ida Belle stuck her fingers in her mouth and whistled, getting the children’s attention.
    I clapped my hands. “Okay, kids, looks like we all have a case of the wiggles, giggles and screechies. Who here would like to go on a safari?”
    Screams of delight exploded from the kids. Ida Belle started to put her fingers in her mouth to whistle again, but Gertie held her hand up. “Let me handle this.”
    She placed her hands on her hips and stared at the kids. They were mesmerized. I suddenly had a glimpse of Gertie as she must have been during her days as a teacher. She spoke softly, counting down from ten to one, with each number her voice getting softer and softer.
    “This is a quiet safari,” she said after the countdown. “And we’re on the hunt for the most quiet grown-up in the library. But we have to be extra-special quiet so we don’t scare that person off. Okay?”
    The kids nodded.
    “And when we find the most quiet person, that person will get a prize. And if you are all extra quiet, you’ll get one too. Nod your head yes if you want a prize for being quiet.”
    Ten heads bobbed up and down.
    “Good. Hold your neighbor’s hand.”
    Each child grabbed hold of the child’s hand closest to them.
    “I’ll stay behind and clean up that mess,” Ida Belle said.
    I nodded as Gertie instructed the kids to follow me, with her taking up the rear. Hopefully a few laps around the library and the kids would be calmed down enough for story time.
    Gertie pulled out a pair of latex gloves from her purse. I pulled a pair from my pocket. We snapped them on. I took the hand of the first child in line, and Gertie, the hand of the last child. We tiptoed out of the children’s section and headed straight for Lucy’s desk.
    She stood and crossed her arms. “What are the children doing outside the children’s area?”
    I looked back at the kids and whispered, “Look what we discovered, kids. A grumpilopolis. And not a very quiet one, either.”
    Gertie looked at Lucy and held her finger to her lips. “Shhhhh.”
    The kids imitated her, shushing Lucy as we snaked around her and headed for the adult fiction area. Several of the adult patrons waved to the kids as we passed.
    We tiptoed past several rows of bookshelves before the girl behind me pulled at my hand. “I found the most quietest one!” she whispered. At the far end of the row, tucked in a little alcove next to the outer wall, a man was seated at a desk, slumped over an opened book.
    “He’s asleep,” one boy said.
    I called to Gertie quietly, “Stop, Gertie. I think we found the most quiet grown-up.”
    “He gets the prize,” the girl next to me said.
    I looked at Gertie. “Do we have a prize?”
    She shrugged. “I’m sure I have something in my purse we can give him.”
    I let go of the girl’s hand and moved down the aisle toward the sleeping man. As I approached him, though, something seemed off. One arm was dangling at his side. A bottle of iced coffee, the kind Walter had started selling in his store, was tipped over and the liquid had pooled around the man’s head. I craned my neck to see his face, which was pointed toward the wall. What looked like a puncture mark