Wicked Whoopie Pies Addison Moore (the false prince series TXT) 📖

“Your therapist?”

“That’s right.” She nods with an incensed look on her face. “She said it would be a good way to get my feelings out and that neither Terri nor I would get too heated that way. I’ll admit, it felt good to do it. And I liked the fact I had witnesses. Terri was known to bend the truth. And that way I was hoping to shame her into staying away from my man. Trust me, Miles Brogan’s widow wishes she could have done the same thing. She’d have a family because of it.” She stalks off into the sanctuary and Binky swirls in front of me.

“What’s happening, Lottie? Why are you letting her get away with it?”

“You know, maybe she didn’t do it,” I say as I pull out my phone. “Maybe we’ve been looking in the wrong places? I should have looked up the Brogan family from the start.” I do a quick search and my phone populates with pictures. “It’s him,” I whisper. “The man with the light eyes.” A little laugh hitches in my throat. “Binky, this is the same man from that picture in Terri’s office. The one in the frame that looked as if she had kissed it a hundred times?” I pull the picture back up on my phone and that black and white picture of Miles stares back at me. This time something catches my eye. “Binky, look, that watch of his is hitting the light—and he’s wearing cufflinks. That’s exactly what Nelson said he was accused of stealing. I bet whoever stole those notes also set it up to make Nelson look like a thief.” My mind swirls with the possibilities. “Nelson said he worked for a lot of people at the church and that someone referred him to Terri. I bet that was the killer.”

Binky lights up with a purple aura around her. “I bet that means someone was planning this for a very long while.”

I nod. “And meticulously setting up one person after the next.” My breathing grows erratic and I go back to those pictures of Miles Brogan just hoping to find another clue, but I don’t have to look far. I spot picture after picture of Miles’ widow, along with what’s captioned as his other family members, and I stop cold. And just like that, I have a sneaking suspicion I know who set Nelson up—who set everyone else up as well.

“Binky? I think we’ve found our killer.”

Lottie

“Shall we kill her?”

I frown over at the tiny furry poltergeist. That fuzzy white stripe running down her back glows a bright shade of purple.

“I don’t think two wrongs make a right,” I say just as Charlie and Carlotta come into my line of vision. “Good gracious, speaking of murder.”

They’re standing behind an overgrown silk ficus plant at the other end of the foyer, and each of them has their hands wrapped around one another’s necks.

I’m about to speed over when I bump into a body and the coffee in the woman’s hand jumps.

“Oh!” I help steady her hand and look up to see the exact woman I was hoping to find. “Olive,” I pant, studying her face for a moment—so friendly, so open, such warm eyes. It doesn’t seem possible.

“It’s fine.” She laughs. “It’s just about time for the congregational business meeting. Are you ready to cast your vote?”

“Yes, actually, I am.”

Binky whips her tail over my face. “Don’t let her go. I wouldn’t waste a minute. She could be plotting her escape.”

I bet she’s right. I nod over to the giant framed picture of Terri.

“It’s tragic, isn’t it?” I ask, gauging her reaction to the portrait of the dead.

Olive stiffens as she examines her old client. “It is. She was far too young. But it happened, and now here we are. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.”

My blood runs cold as she recites the exact words that were written on one of those threatening notes Terri received.

“Olive, can I speak to you? It’ll just take a second.”

That friendly look on her face quickly dissipates and she takes a moment to study me in return.

“Sure, Lottie. But it’ll have to be quick. They’re gathering everyone into the sanctuary now.”

We walk out the front doors together, and I lead her to the flower garden to the left. There’s a wall of hedges privatizing this area, and there’s a three-tiered fountain glowing an ethereal blue in the center of it. The air is warm, and the scent of fresh soil only seems to annunciate the fact it’s springtime. The night is dark as pitch, save for the glow of the fountain.

“It’s so quiet out here.” She cinches her purse over her shoulder and takes in a full breath. “I just love coming out here. It’s so very peaceful. It reminds me of an easier time in my life.”

“The past can be a great place.”

“It was a beautiful time,” she says, expelling a heavy sigh.

Binky circles around Olive’s shoulders. “Here it is, Lottie. She’s opened a door to the past. Jump through it before she closes it for good.”

“You haven’t been in Honey Hollow long, have you?” I ask. “Three and a half years? Four?”

“Something like that.” She gives me a sideways glance.

“Oh, Lottie”—Binky floats between us—“you should find Noah. Her suspicions have been aroused.”

I’d have to agree.

“Olive, what made you choose to work at Honey Hollow Covenant?”

“It was the people.” She lifts her chin to the fountain and long dark shadows take over her features, giving her a ghoulish appeal.

“It was one person in particular, wasn’t it?”

Her head snaps my way and her lips part as if she’s searching for words.

“Olive”—I take a step toward her—“it was Terri Norris that brought you to Honey Hollow, wasn’t it?”

The whites of her eyes enlarge as she takes a quick breath.

“I thought so.” I nod her way. “That brother you were meeting for his birthday? You said he wasn’t going to show because he had to work late, but that