Death is a Bargain (A Kate Kennedy Mystery Book 3) Read Online Free Page A

without sleeping even one night in his dream house.
    “Yoo-hoo!” She didn’t have to turn around; she’d recognize Mary Frances Costello’s bird call anywhere. The dancing ex-nun was vice president of the condo board and, since she’d been principal of a grade school, she sometimes tended to treat her co-owners as naughty children. A glamorous redheaded paradox, Mary Frances, Broward County’s reigning tango champion, had turned her only bedroom into a dance studio, complete with beams, wall-to-wall mirrors, and rack upon rack of exotic tango costumes. Her living room housed a huge doll collection displayed behind glass doors in floor-to-ceiling bookcases—ranging from Barbie and Ken to Henry VIII and his six wives.
    Boy, did Kate have a new friend for Mary Frances.
    “Hi, Mary Frances,” Kate said, and kept moving.
    “Where have you girls been all day?” Mary Frances’s green eyes sparkled like Scarlett’s at Twelve Oaks while tempting the Tarleton twins. “I have such exciting news.”
    Her charm was wasted on Kate. “Ballou’s been home alone all day, Mary Frances. I have to take him for a walk. Now.”
    “I certainly understand the needs of a neglected animal, Kate.”
    “For God’s sake, Ballou isn’t neglected,” Marlene snapped, her face flaming red.
    “Of course not,” Mary Frances said. “Don’t I know he’s the luckiest Westie in South Florida? I’ve just returned from my first day of training to become a volunteer at the Broward County Humane Society. I’ll be working in adoption, placing pets. I just can’t get all those poor abandoned puppies and kittens off my mind.”
    Strange. Ballou, who loved most everyone, barely tolerated Mary Frances. Yet…the former nun’s volunteer work with the Humane Society impressed her. It was more than Kate had ever done.
    “If I don’t get upstairs and walk my dog, you’ll be reporting me for cruelty to animals.” Seeing the crestfallen look on Mary Frances’s face, Kate relented. “Want to join us?”
    She heard Marlene groan.
    “You’re coming too, right, Marlene?” Kate was enjoying herself. Marlene and Mary Frances were always sniping at each other. “Ballou would love to see his favorite aunt. And Mary Frances can tell us all about her new job, and you can tell her all about us becoming vendors at the Palmetto Beach Flea Market.”
    “Talking about cruelty to animals,” Mary Frances said, “did you know the Humane Society sent an investigator out to the Cunningham Circus? Some young elephant trainer supposedly abused an elephant.”
    “Just give me a minute to change my shoes,” Marlene said. “I’d love to go for a walk with you and hear all about it.”

Six

      
    “Down, boy,” Kate ordered, but it sounded a lot like “I love you.” Ballou jumped, yelped, licked, and nipped at her ankles all at the same time, expressing boundless joy at seeing his mistress. Then, to her delight, he held up his right paw as if waiting for a high five. Kate obliged. The high five greeting had become a ritual between the Westie and Charlie. Kate felt honored to carry on the tradition.
    She kicked off her good beige sandals and slipped into her old canvas boat shoes. No time to change her clothes: This dog had to go for his walk.
    Ballou, as usual, squirmed and fussed as she struggled to put on his leash. “Stop that! Auntie Marlene and Mary Frances are waiting for us.” He cocked his head, staring up at her with soulful eyes, then went back to nipping at her hands. She shook her head and resumed her struggle, knowing be wouldn’t calm down till the leash was on.
    Obeying house rules, Kate carried Ballou into the elevator and across the lobby, under the watchful eyes of Miss Mitford, keeper of the keys and longtime sentinel at the front desk. A dour woman who’d been at Ocean Vista since the ribbon had been cut on the condominium thirty years prior, Miss Mitford ran the desk like a Marine drill sergeant, never allowing any leeway to