Aretha Moon and the Dead Hairdresser: Aretha Moon Book 2 (Aretha Moon Mysteries) by Linda Ross (reading books for 7 year olds .TXT) 📗

the weird stories to write, like Avery Turnberry, the reincarnated stripper, and I still do the horoscopes, but I now have a personal coffee cup, courtesy of Lorenzo.  It reads World’s Greatest Bowler. Yeah, I know.  I don’t bowl.  I assume Dollar General was out of World’s Greatest Employee mugs.  It’s not exactly a certificate of merit, but for Lorenzo it’s like being knighted.

“She came in looking for a job six years ago,” Serena said.  “She was good, we got along, and I hired her.”

“Did you ever have any trouble with her?  Did she get along with everyone?”

“Oh, yeah, everybody liked her.  Well, maybe,” Serena began, then paused.

“There was someone?” I prompted.

“I’m sure it was nothing,” Serena said, almost apologetically, “but two days ago Stephanie Riley came in for a trim and color.  Kara didn’t have anyone at the time.  I washed Stephanie’s hair in back, and we were walking to my station when she suddenly stopped and yelled at Kara.”

“What did she say?”

“It was like, ‘What are you doing?’ and then she went and sat down in my chair.”

“What did Kara do?”

“Nothing.  I was a couple of feet behind Stephanie and couldn’t see.  I think Kara had been standing near my chair, and she went back to her own station and picked up a magazine to read.”

“And that was it?”

“I thought so, but when Stephanie paid and was leaving she stopped near Kara and said something.”

“What was it?”

“She was talking quietly, so I couldn’t hear too well, but it sounded like she said something about her husband.  She was going to let her husband know about something.”

“That’s strange.”

“I thought so too.  I asked Kara about it later, but she said it was just about a mutual friend.  So I dropped it.”

“You said Kara didn’t have a client there at the time?”

“Right.  Someone came in later for Kara to do some highlights.”

“Isn’t Stephanie married to a lawyer?” I asked.  The name sounded familiar.

“Yeah, I think he works in the state’s attorney’s office.”

“That sounds right.”  If I had antennae I would say they were quivering at that point, but it was probably the start of another hot flash.

Serena and I fell silent and watched the cops do their jobs, moving back and forth efficiently and talking on their radios.

My cell phone rang, and I recognized Lorenzo’s number.  Bad news travels fast.

“Hello, Lorenzo.  What’s up?”

“That’s what I want to know,” he boomed.  I think I’ve mentioned that his voice is somewhere between a rock crusher and a cement mixer.  “I’m hearing something about a murder.  Do you know anything?”

“Yeah, you might say that.  I found the body, and I’m sitting in close proximity at the moment, along with a lot of cops.”

Lorenzo nearly crackled with electricity.  “Great!  This is terrific!  Find out everything you can and start writing it up for Monday.”

“It’s the weekend,” I complained.  “And I’ve got Avery Turnberry to write up.”

“Who?”

“The reincarnated stripper.”

“Oh, him.”  Lorenzo chuckled.  “How about if you give your notes to Carl to write up and you work on the murder?”

“No,” I said immediately.  I was feeling a little protective of Avery for some reason, and I didn’t want him in Carl’s slimy hands.  Avery seemed like a sweet, although befuddled, guy.  “I’ll do Avery this weekend.  And I need to talk to some more people before I write up the murder.”

“Good work, Moon.  This is going to boost circulation.”  I could practically hear Lorenzo rubbing his hands together in anticipation.  “Even more to celebrate at the anniversary party.”

“Work?” Serena asked when I got off the phone.  I nodded morosely, and she said, “Men always expect women to work when they don’t want to.”

I thought that pretty much summed up my marriage, which had ended in divorce when my ex found a woman who tickled his fancy more than I did.  I had been the one who worked weekends at our printing business, while Boyd was apparently out getting his fancy tickled.

When Jimmy walked over to us, I looked up expectantly.  My adrenaline rush was starting to ebb, and I wanted to get home to a Diet Coke and something laden withsugar.

“Ms. Roosevelt, you can go on home.  We’ll call you if we need to talk to you again.”

Serena sighed and stood, looking wobbly for a moment.  Jimmy touched her arm and asked if she was okay.  She nodded and walked to her car with Jimmy and me watching.

“I can run you home now if you want,” Jimmy said.  “Then I’ll have to get back to the station.”

“Thanks.  I appreciate the lift.”

Once we were in his car, I didn’t know what to say.  I know I should have told him what Serena said about Kara having words with Stephanie Riley, but I wanted a chance to talk to her first.  If I was going to write a decent story for Lorenzo, I had to go looking for information.

Jimmy turned the car toward downtown and took the overpass on Highway 79.  My sister Eileen and I live on property we inherited from our grandmother.  It’s on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi River.  Eileen has the house, and I live in a converted barn, which has been nicely renovated after a bit of damage a while back.

When we pulled into the drive, I couldn’t help remembering a time in the summer when Jimmy had come to the house and he had ended up kissing me.  I swallowed hard at the memory, wondering if things between us would ever go beyond friendship.  I’ve had a crush on him since he would visit his grandmother who lived next door to us when I was a kid, but things never got beyond the buddy stage except for that one kiss.

I was lost in my fantasy world where Jimmy