Bodies & Buried Secrets: A Rosewood Place Mystery (Rosewood Place Mysteries Book 1) Read Online Free Page A

the rooms to let in some fresh air. The pollen wasn’t too bad yet this year, and the breeze might just help clear out some of the dust in the old rooms. Annie had been told that some of the home’s furnishings were still in the house, though it hadn’t been lived in for over a decade. She checked every bedroom, but apart from a couple of small tables, there was no sign of the furniture. She decided to check the attic but was distracted by Bessie’s calls from downstairs. Making a mental note to have Rory help her investigate the attic, she headed back down to her mother.
    “Hey, Mama, has the power company sent anybody over yet?” Annie thought that her mother’s contacts with the Coopersville Electricity Board must have finally come through, but she was surprised to see a well-dressed blonde woman standing in the middle of her kitchen.
    “Oh, Annie Purdy, would you just look at you! You haven’t changed a bit since high school, well, except maybe you put a little weight on.”
    It took Annie a few moments to place the face in front of her, but when it clicked, it clicked hard. “Suzy Anderson.” Annie looked at her mother, who shrugged in confusion.
    “In the flesh!” The blonde smiled, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. Like her designer-style purse and large bust, the smile was an obvious fake.
    “What are you doing here?” Annie surprised herself with her sharp tone, but she couldn’t help herself. Suzy had made her life a living hell in high school, teasing her mercilessly about everything from her frizzy hair to her freckles, and it seemed like everything that Annie wanted, Suzy got. They’d competed for spots on the softball team, cheerleading squad, and even the student council, and it always seemed that Suzy had the upper hand.
    “Well, now, let’s cut right to the chase, shall we?” Suzy plonked her purse down on the counter and pulled out her checkbook. “I’m here to buy this house, and you’re gonna sell it to me.”

4
Blast From The Past
    Annie was sure she’d have to pick her jaw up off the floor. “Excuse me?” She wiped the dust off her hands and crossed her arms. “I must have misunderstood you because this house is not for sale.”
    Suzy tightened her smile, barely showing any teeth. “Don’t be silly, Annie. This property would have been mine, but your bid made it to the seller faster. I’m sure you can find somewhere else to live, and I can pay you five percent more than you paid for this place, so you can consider it flipped.”
    “Suzy,” Annie began, putting her best, most calm voice into use. “You misunderstood me. We are in the process of renovating this place to turn it into a business. I’m not interested in selling, not for a five percent profit or any other profit. What makes you think you can walk in here after all these years and boss me around, anyway? I mean, I know you thought your poop didn’t stink back in high school, but surely you’ve come to your senses by now?”
    Suzy’s smile disappeared completely. “We may have had our differences,” she said, looking from Bessie to Annie as she spoke, “but I’m trying very hard to make up for that. You see, the problem is, I’m not buying this house for me, but for my client, who requests to remain anonymous.” She stressed this last word, putting a level of importance on it that seemed comical to Annie. “My client is desperate to get his hands on this particular piece of land, and I’ve been authorized to offer you substantially more than you are paying for it if you’ll just stop your purchase of the property. I mean, it’s early days, you probably haven’t even been to your lawyer yet…”
    “Actually, we have,” Bessie piped up. “It’s all rolling now, and we are not interested in your significant five percent, thank you, Susan.” Bessie’s use of Suzy’s Christian name elicited a sour look from the blonde woman. “I reckon you should go on and tell your boss that you couldn’t