Bound To Be Dead: Cozy Mystery Bookshop Series Book 3 Tamra Baumann (new books to read txt) 📖

it appears she took it. “This turned out amazing!” The marriage of stainless-steel professional appliances with the wood cabinets’ warm earth tones looks like something out of a magazine. Sharp, clean, and expensive. Just like the rest of the house.

“Couldn’t have done it without you.” Carol waves a hand toward the island. “Have a seat, and I’ll fix us right up.” She grabs the hot cookie pan and sets it on the granite countertop. Perfectly baked sugar cookies fill the air with sweet temptation as she slides them onto a cooling rack.

After filling two plates with cookies, she slides one in front of me. “Why do you look as though you’ve just lost your best friend, honey?”

I could never fool her.

“I need to talk to you about something…difficult.” I take a bite of perfectly crispy sweetness and withhold the moan that wants to escape. “But maybe we should just enjoy these amazing cookies for a minute first.”

“Let me guess.” My aunt crosses the kitchen and pours out two cups of tea. “You’re here to ask me where I was when Tina was killed?”

My cookie stops halfway to my lips. “Why would I ask you that?” My heart starts galloping. How could she possibly have guessed that? Is she going to confess to murder?

She hands me a cup of tea. “Because Beth told me you found out about Frank and Tina. And per Beth’s visions, you need to know if I killed Tina out of jealousy or revenge, right?”

I can’t believe my aunt is discussing this as if it’s no more important than the weather. “That’s pretty much it in a nutshell.” I set my cookie down and hold my breath.

“One question first. If I killed Tina, do you think I’d confess to you?”

“No.” I swallow the anxiety rising in my throat. “But I wasn’t going to ask you straight up. I was going to ask some questions and watch your reactions. See if I could get you to tell me where you were last weekend during the fundraiser.”

“Mmm.” My aunt takes a bit of a cookie. “I guess working in your mom’s bookshop has made an amateur sleuth out of you.”

“Maybe.” I take a long drink of tea to clear my throat. “I don’t go looking for trouble. Lately, it just seems to find me.”

Smiling, Aunt Carol slides onto the barstool beside me. “I spent the day in the city being an indulgent grandmother. Blakely and I hit the toy store first, had lunch, went to the aquarium, and then got ice cream before I took her home. Dylan was by earlier, and I gave him permission to check my credit card to confirm.”

“Oh.” I release the breath I’d been holding. “Thank goodness.” So, Dylan is one step ahead of me again.

“You looked like you were going to pass out there for a moment.” The corners of my aunt’s eyes crinkle as she takes a sip of tea.

I turn and face her. “I know you’d never hurt anyone. I just had to confirm to be sure.”

Carol nods as she sets her cup down. “Dylan said something similar. And he looked almost as uncomfortable as you did while he asked. I’ve always liked him.”

“Me too. But there’s something else I need to tell you. About the trust. Seems my mom violated one of the terms…” I tell my aunt about the deal my uncle tried to make and my suspicion that he’s trying to separate from her before the end of the year, so he won’t have to share.

Carol silently nods as she listens.

When I’m done, she sighs. “Thank you for telling me, Sawyer. Now that I know he made you that offer, I can hopefully prove he was trying to hide assets. But it also means I’ll need to act faster than I’d anticipated.”

“I figured, so I did something I hope will help.” I grab the slip of paper with the lawyer’s name and number from my pocket and hand it to her. “She comes highly recommended and will take your call in ten minutes if you choose to talk with her. That’s about the same time Uncle Frank is going to know I turned down his offer. If you need money Frank can’t trace, I’ll sell the wine my mother left me to help you. You can pay me back later.”

Tears form in the corners of my aunt’s eyes as she accepts the slip of paper. “This is the kindest thing anyone has ever done for me.” My aunt stands and hugs me. “And thank you for the wine offer, but I’ve been stashing away cash for years just for this very moment. He won’t know what hit him.”

“Good for you.” I give my aunt one last squeeze before I release her. “I hear this lawyer is as ruthless as Uncle Frank. No offense, but I hope she annihilates him.”

“Me too, Sawyer.” My aunt looks down at the paper in her hand and nods. “Me too.”

With my good deed done for the day, I head back to my store to meet with the Admiral and Madge. We need to go over what we know and eliminate those we can from the suspect list. I wish one of those names was my dad’s, but he’s not in the clear yet. I’m afraid he won’t be until we find the real killer because there’s so much circumstantial evidence stacked against him. It’s times like this I’m glad Dylan is the sheriff. He knows my dad and will give him the benefit of the doubt unless the evidence screams otherwise. Hopefully, that will happen soon.

I’m just outside my store when my phone rings. The name on caller ID makes my heart instantly warmer. “Hey, Brittany. How are you?”

Brittany grunts. “I just registered for school. I got lame classes because it’s so late in the year. My mom said I could wait until January, but that didn’t make sense. I might have lost credits.”

“Right.” Brittany is still more responsible than her