Killer Colada: a Danger Cove Cocktail Mystery Read Online Free Page A

through in his time at the FBI, I couldn't really blame him. He'd been shot in the knee in the line of duty and in considerable pain for a long time. When the painkillers didn't work anymore, he'd turned to booze. The only thing that had stopped him drinking was when we'd been investigating Bob's murder and he needed to have a clear head. But in the last few weeks, he'd slipped back into his old habits.
    Vernon shrugged. "And now I started again."
    Ruby shot him a worried look. She opened her mouth to say something, but Vernon cut her off.
    "You're not my mother, so don't look at me like that."
    "No, but I am a friend, and I worry about you." She rested a manicured hand on his arm and gave a gentle squeeze.
    Vernon glanced down at her hand for a moment, a wistful look on his face. He placed his over hers and patted gently. "I know what I'm doing."
    "You need a distraction again to stop you drinking," Ruby said decisively.
    "No, I need a Smugglers' colada." Vernon looked up at me expectantly.
    I sighed. I worried about his drinking too. With alcoholic parents, it stayed on my mind a lot. And it was ironic that I'd ended up owning a bar. But Vernon was a big boy, and I was a bartender. As much as you like to help your friends, you can't live your life for them.
    The door opened, and Duncan Pickles, hack reporter extraordinaire, walked in wearing a rumpled suit. I recognized him from his byline photo in the Cove Chronicles . He zeroed in on Ruby and me behind the bar and waltzed over.
    "Hi, Duncan Pickles from the local paper. I heard you two found Pandora Williams today." Holding his hand out to me, his eyes gleamed with the sniff of a good story.
    I ignored his hand, so he swung it in Ruby's direction. There was no way I was talking to a reporter about what I'd seen, especially one as unscrupulous as him.
    "I've got nothing to say to you." Ruby glared at his hand like it was poisonous. "Knowing you, you'll put some kind of nasty slant on things. Pandora should be able to rest in peace." She pointed toward the door, her silver mandala bracelet jangling. "You know the way out."
    Duncan shrugged casually. "You know I'm going to report it anyway, so you might as well tell me what happened." He swung back to me again. "So?"
    "So, what?"
    "How did you find her? What position was the body in? How did Tim Baxtor look when he was running away from the scene?"
    I held a hand up to silence him. "You won't get anything out of me. I've got no comment."
    "But you think he's guilty, right? I mean, no one else could've got into that house and killed her, could they? It's pretty impossible. So, I heard some kind of drug was used to bump her off. What do you think it was?"
    "Right, that's it." Vernon grabbed hold of the collar on Duncan's jacket and steered him toward the door.
    "Hey! That's assault, that is! I'm only doing my job."
    "Well, go and do it somewhere else. You heard the ladies. They're not talking to you." Vernon opened the door and calmly ejected Duncan. Then wiped his hands down his trousers, as if Duncan had contaminated him with scum, before heading back toward us.
    Two hours later, I closed up the tavern and flicked off the lights. Harvey followed me down the private corridor behind the bar and along the internal entrance to the apartment above. I unlocked the door and found Zen, my black tomcat, sitting behind the door, waiting for me with a look on his face as if to say where've you been, human? I'm starving!
    I scooped him up in my arms and kissed his head.
    "Where's Karma?" Harvey asked, closing the door behind me as we walked up the stairs that led into an open plan lounge/kitchen. There were windows along the length of the front wall facing the ocean. Sometimes I'd sit here and just stare at the waves, trying to empty my mind of thoughts and just meditate on the ever-changing scenery. It was amazing how the sea never stayed the same color. It seemed to have moods, just like humans. Some days it was fiery and