Balmy Darlings and Deaths: A Chinese Cozy Mystery (A Raina Sun Mystery Book 4) Read Online Free Page A

sloshing coffee down the side of the mug. “Someone strangled her.”
    Raina sat back, a hand over her mouth. Oh, no. Someone must have taken advantage of the car accident as a diversion to do the dirty deed. And after a public brawl, no wonder the police questioned Eden like a suspect. “Was LaShawna strangled with bare hands or a weapon?”
    “The police are keeping mum at the moment. What will happen to her little boy? They used to come by for a muffin at the beginning of every month.”
    “Why once a month?”
    Brenda shrugged. Talking about the routines of her customers seemed to calm her down.
    “Don’t worry about the boy. He’ll end up with his father. Who found the body?”
    “One of the stylists. Claire? Connie?” Brenda paused, giving Raina a sideways glance. “Everyone had been talking about the fight between Eden and LaShawna. Do you know anything about it?”
    Share and share alike. The currency of the small town. Since there were several other witnesses, Raina told her friend about LaShawna barging into the spa, but kept quiet on Eden’s termination. This part would come out soon enough without her disclosing it
    Brenda tsked, shaking her head in concern. “Your friend is in trouble all right. Will Phil keep her on at the newspaper?”
    “Why wouldn’t he?” Raina said even though her stomach sank. Did her friend offend someone’s ancestors? Her luck seemed to go from bad to worse.
    Brenda shrugged. “It depends. It’s one thing to report on a murder, but it’s another to be a murder suspect. I’m not sure how the advertisers would react when they have to interact with Eden for their placement.”
    “But not you?”
    “I've been on the other end of the microscope. In a small town, your reputation means everything,” Brenda said. She was referring to the dark side of small town living she’d experienced last Christmas when her husband was a suspect of a hit-and-run accident. “I better get back to the counter or Joe will get overwhelmed. He prefers being in the kitchen.”
    Raina followed her friend back into the dining area. “Everything okay with you?”
    Brenda faltered and gave her a sideways glance. “Everything is fine. Why wouldn’t it be?”
    Raina didn’t answer the rhetorical question. She felt a wave of guilt for bringing up the child. Brenda and her husband found each other later in life—marrying in their late thirties—and had been trying to have one of their own for years now. And after last Christmas’ fiasco with the foster child, children might not be in their future. She gave her friend a hug. “Take care of yourself.”
    When she got to the senior condo complex, Raina carried her overnight bag and the takeout bag upstairs. As she opened the front door, she heard a moan from the direction of the restroom. She dropped the bags by the threshold and rushed inside. Oh, no…
    Louie Po sprawled on the floor between the tub and toilet. Sweat matted the silver hair. Her arms wrapped around the toilet, as she strained to pull herself up. When she glanced at Raina, her expression was sheepish. “I can’t get up.”
    Raina smiled at the elderly woman even though her heart hadn’t stopped pounding with fear. This was all her fault. She should have been here. “Are you hurt?”
    “No. My foot slid out from underneath me. I think there might be a bruise on my hip where it landed on the floor.”
    Raina grabbed Louie Po Po underneath her armpits and hauled her up. She wrapped an arm around the elderly woman's waist, and they shuffled back into the bedroom. By the time Louie Po collapsed onto her pillow with exhaustion, Raina was drenched in sweat. She returned to the living room for an ice pack and closed the front door.
    They had a quiet dinner—Louie Po in bed and Raina perched on a chair next to her. Afterwards, the elderly lady said Raina was a good girl and fell asleep. Raina tiptoed back into the living room and curled up on the sofa with a lap blanket. Her eyes