Elisabeth Crabtree - Pink Flamingo Hotel 01 - Death by Pink Flamingo Read Online Free

give this watch to you for Christmas last year?”
    “Yes, but it’s broken. It would cost more to repair it than to fix it.”
    She angrily swiped a strand of red hair out of her face. “But he gave it to you.”
    “And I gave him a set of golf clubs that he put on eBay the day after Christmas. You didn’t see me freaking out about it.” Why would I? I thought in annoyance. Returning gifts has been a Hart family tradition for decades. Uncle Max was practically a master at it. Sylvia knew that. “You helped him ship it off, remember?”
    She sniffed. “That’s completely different.”
    “How?”
    “Because you’re not dead.”
    “Well, you’ve got me there.” I glanced over to the side, surprised to find our new gardener standing near Olivia Benson, our eighteen year old afternoon desk clerk and occasional housekeeper. They stood with their backs away from us cutting up fruit. Well, she was cutting up fruit. He apparently was supervising.
    “ You’re cutting them too big. People might choke.” Blake took the knife out of her hands. “Here let me show you.”
    “It’s not too big ,” Olivia said with a giggle. When she noticed me standing by, she shyly turned around and took a step away from Blake.
    Sylvia sucked in her breath and with her customary tact, yelled, “What are you doing in here bothering the staff?”
    Blake looked confused fo r a second. “I, uh, I thought I was a part of the staff?”
    Sylvia narrowed her eyes, and strode up to the man. “I think we can handle this.”
    He slapped the knife hilt in her hands. “Okay.” He walked over to the refrigerator. “You got anything to drink in here?”
    Thinking Sylvia’s temper was about to blow at any minute, I instinctively backed away from our new gardener, but to my surprise, Sylvia returned to the fruit tray and began stacking the pieces into little pyramids while Blake bent over and rummaged through the refrigerator.
    “He didn’t like how things were being run ,” Sylvia said with a sniff.
    “Who ?” I asked as I swung my attention from Blake back to Sylvia.
    “The gardener. He didn’t like how things were being run here, so he quit.” Sylvia turned back around and crossed her arms. “Can’t say as I blame him.”
    I caught Olivia’s eyes over Sylvia’s shoulder. Gesturing toward Sylvia, the eighteen year old made an angry face as she folded her hands and mimicked two people bickering with each other. I hid a smile as Olivia quickly wiped the expression off her face and dropped her hands when Sylvia glanced over her shoulder.
    “ Sylvia, we have to get along. Whether you like it or not—”
    “Well, I don’t like. ” Sylvia lifted her hand and pointed her finger in my face as her eyes began to water. “You may have everyone else fooled, but you’re not going to fool me, missy. I know what you did.”
    I took a step back in surprise at the vehemence in her voice. Sylvia had never been the most pleasant person to work with but she had never been outright hostile. Before I could ask what in the world she was talking about, Blake hopped up onto the counter, effectively turning Sylvia’s ire away from me and toward him. “What do you think you are doing? That’s a kitchen countertop, not a chair.”
    He held up his hands as he slid off the counter. “ Okay, okay, I’m sorry, take it easy.”
    Sylvia ’s eyes widened. Her mouth opened and closed reflexively as she fought to control her anger. “Don’t tell me to take it easy. Get out of here.”
    “Wait,” he said still holding up his hands. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean any harm.”
    “You’re fired ,” she said, pointing to the back door. “So, get out.”
    “ Sylvia, calm down,” I said. Oops, wrong thing to say , I thought as her face turned purple with rage.
    She took a deep breath. “No, ma’am. I get a say in who’s hired and who’s fired and he’s fired.” She turned back to Blake. “I only hired you as a favor to your uncle and because I