Murder of the Cat's Meow: A Scumble River Mystery Read Online Free Page B
Author: Denise Swanson
her shoulder, Alexis curled her lips and said, “I see the late Fawn Irving has decided to join us after all.”
Two red circles formed on the gawky blonde’s pale cheeks. “Sorry,” she muttered. “I didn’t hear my number being called.”
Alexis raised a perfectly plucked sable eyebrow. “Perhaps if you had fewer holes in your head, your hearing would be better.”
Fawn recoiled, her hands flying to the multiple pierced earrings she wore. “I, that’s really…” She stopped, swallowed, and straightened her spine. “Would it hurt you to be supportive once in a while?”
“I’d like to help you, Fawn,” Alexis mocked, “because I know you need it, but I’ve mislaid my magic wand.”
“Maybe one of your flying monkeys stole it.” Fawn was breathing heavily and her fingernails dug into the tabletop, but she didn’t back down.
Alexis gazed at a bruise on Fawn’s forearm, then
tsk
ed. “Bump into something again—or did your husband come back?” Fawn gasped and Alexis smiled, shaking her head. “Your klutziness never ceases to amaze me.”
“Why are you always so mean, Alexis?” The fragile woman finally lost the inner battle for strength that she’d been fighting, and whimpered, “What have I ever done to you?”
“Nothing. Nothing at all.” Alexis bared her teeth in a self-satisfied smile. “How could you? You’re such a colossal nobody, you and your second-rate cats aren’t even a blip on my radar.” With that, she plucked a cat from its cage and began the judging.
As Fawn slunk to a chair in the back without retaliating, Skye relaxed. She’d lingered, thinking that the gorgeous judge might provoke another physical altercation—thistime by Fawn—but now that everything seemed calm, Skye left the room and returned upstairs.
As she continued to guide contestants to the correct areas, she thought about the most recent scene she’d witnessed in the basement. Why had Alexis insulted Fawn? There hadn’t been any discernible reason for her verbal attack on the older woman. Was Alexis just plain mean? Didn’t she care that her cruel words might make a bad impression that could damage her chances at the speeding-dating event? Maybe she thought the male participants would be blinded by her beauty and her bad behavior during the cat show wouldn’t be an issue.
After Alexis’s extreme nastiness, the rest of Skye’s escort duties went smoothly. Princess had been the only feline fugitive. And although Skye saw Elijah several times that morning, he appeared calm and in control of himself, mostly texting or fiddling with his rosary beads.
During the past few months, Skye had been trying to mind her own business no matter what went on around her, but Alexis’s treatment of Fawn continued to gnaw at her. So during the noon break, she looked for Bunny, determined to make her aware of the beautiful judge’s bullying behavior.
When Skye couldn’t find Bunny, she decided to ask Frannie if she knew where the elusive redhead had gone. Earlier, Frannie had explained that she was in charge of the food and nonalcoholic drink portion of the events, so Skye headed toward the grill.
The young entrepreneur was behind the counter selling cold sandwiches, chips, fruit, cookies, and sodas, and when Skye reached the front of the line, she asked, “Do you know where Bunny is? I haven’t seen her in a while.”
“She’s in the bar working with the deejay for tonight.”Frannie handed Skye a key, adding, “Here, you’ll need this. The door’s locked.”
“Thanks.” While Skye made her food selections, she noted that Frannie seemed to be in her element, managing the crowd with finesse and chatting easily with the customers as she took their money and made change. “Looks like you’re doing a brisk business.”
“Yep.” Frannie leaned forward and whispered, “We deliberately only gave them forty-five minutes for lunch so they’d have to eat here if they didn’t want to risk being late for
Two red circles formed on the gawky blonde’s pale cheeks. “Sorry,” she muttered. “I didn’t hear my number being called.”
Alexis raised a perfectly plucked sable eyebrow. “Perhaps if you had fewer holes in your head, your hearing would be better.”
Fawn recoiled, her hands flying to the multiple pierced earrings she wore. “I, that’s really…” She stopped, swallowed, and straightened her spine. “Would it hurt you to be supportive once in a while?”
“I’d like to help you, Fawn,” Alexis mocked, “because I know you need it, but I’ve mislaid my magic wand.”
“Maybe one of your flying monkeys stole it.” Fawn was breathing heavily and her fingernails dug into the tabletop, but she didn’t back down.
Alexis gazed at a bruise on Fawn’s forearm, then
tsk
ed. “Bump into something again—or did your husband come back?” Fawn gasped and Alexis smiled, shaking her head. “Your klutziness never ceases to amaze me.”
“Why are you always so mean, Alexis?” The fragile woman finally lost the inner battle for strength that she’d been fighting, and whimpered, “What have I ever done to you?”
“Nothing. Nothing at all.” Alexis bared her teeth in a self-satisfied smile. “How could you? You’re such a colossal nobody, you and your second-rate cats aren’t even a blip on my radar.” With that, she plucked a cat from its cage and began the judging.
As Fawn slunk to a chair in the back without retaliating, Skye relaxed. She’d lingered, thinking that the gorgeous judge might provoke another physical altercation—thistime by Fawn—but now that everything seemed calm, Skye left the room and returned upstairs.
As she continued to guide contestants to the correct areas, she thought about the most recent scene she’d witnessed in the basement. Why had Alexis insulted Fawn? There hadn’t been any discernible reason for her verbal attack on the older woman. Was Alexis just plain mean? Didn’t she care that her cruel words might make a bad impression that could damage her chances at the speeding-dating event? Maybe she thought the male participants would be blinded by her beauty and her bad behavior during the cat show wouldn’t be an issue.
After Alexis’s extreme nastiness, the rest of Skye’s escort duties went smoothly. Princess had been the only feline fugitive. And although Skye saw Elijah several times that morning, he appeared calm and in control of himself, mostly texting or fiddling with his rosary beads.
During the past few months, Skye had been trying to mind her own business no matter what went on around her, but Alexis’s treatment of Fawn continued to gnaw at her. So during the noon break, she looked for Bunny, determined to make her aware of the beautiful judge’s bullying behavior.
When Skye couldn’t find Bunny, she decided to ask Frannie if she knew where the elusive redhead had gone. Earlier, Frannie had explained that she was in charge of the food and nonalcoholic drink portion of the events, so Skye headed toward the grill.
The young entrepreneur was behind the counter selling cold sandwiches, chips, fruit, cookies, and sodas, and when Skye reached the front of the line, she asked, “Do you know where Bunny is? I haven’t seen her in a while.”
“She’s in the bar working with the deejay for tonight.”Frannie handed Skye a key, adding, “Here, you’ll need this. The door’s locked.”
“Thanks.” While Skye made her food selections, she noted that Frannie seemed to be in her element, managing the crowd with finesse and chatting easily with the customers as she took their money and made change. “Looks like you’re doing a brisk business.”
“Yep.” Frannie leaned forward and whispered, “We deliberately only gave them forty-five minutes for lunch so they’d have to eat here if they didn’t want to risk being late for