Killer Colada: a Danger Cove Cocktail Mystery Read Online Free Page B
Author: Sibel Hodge, Elizabeth Ashby
argumentative, some days tranquil and easygoing.
Hearing his name, Karma's head popped up from behind the tiny sofa that I'd brought with me from the cottage. It looked ridiculously small in the large room, but Elise and Carter had sneaked in one night and removed all of Bob's furniture to sell, and even though they didn't have the right to do that since he'd left his estate to me, I didn't want to rock the boat by challenging them over it. With what Bob had left me, I could buy a million sofas and still have change. When the estate was all finally settled, I was going to be a rich woman. I still couldn't get my head around that. I needed to do some serious thinking about what to do with all that money. I knew I was going to donate some to the Second Chance Animal Rescue center, but apart from that, I didn't have a clue yet.
Harvey slumped on the sofa and moved Karma onto his lap. Karma rolled onto his back, offering Harvey his soft belly, and meowed until Harvey gave the obligatory stroke. Even though he only had three legs—Karma, not Harvey—it didn't seem to deter him from being a normal, agile cat. After he'd found his way into my life, I'd taken him to the vet for a checkup and to start his inoculations, and the vet said he was perfectly healthy. I curled up next to Harvey, resting my head on his shoulder, savoring the moment alone. With both our work schedules lately, it had been hard to get any private time together. Zen, determined not to be left out, sat in between us, nudging me with his head.
Harvey laughed, exposing that sexy dimple on his right cheek. You could tell a lot about a man by how he treated animals, and I felt a warm rush of contentment as I watched him talking to Karma as he rubbed the cat's belly gently. I was pretty sure I was falling in love.
CHAPTER FOUR
"Pandora was killed with pentobarbital," Vernon said as soon as he walked through the door of the tavern. It was just after 9:00 a.m., and I was retrieving cutlery from the dishwasher and winding napkins around it. "I just got off the phone with my contact."
Ruby stopped wiping down the tables and gasped. "So it's true. Tim killed Pandora?" She walked toward us, hand on hip, an angry red flush creeping up her neck. "That poor woman. After all she went through with Jenna."
"What's pentobarbital?" I asked, mouth agape.
"It's a barbiturate," Vernon said. "It's used for several things, like treating seizures, but most importantly, it's used in the euthanasia of humans and animals. It's been used a lot as a lethal injection for death penalty cases. Administered intravenously, death is pretty much instantaneous."
"How awful." Ruby slumped onto a barstool. "I just hope it was painless and she didn't suffer."
"Lester Marshall has arrested Tim Baxtor," Vernon said.
"But if Tim had administered the drug intravenously, how did he get Pandora to sit still long enough to stick a needle in her?" I said. "Surely she would've put up a fight."
"There were no defense wounds mentioned in the autopsy report," Vernon said. "And no traces of any other drugs in her system, like a sedative. There were also no other injuries that might've rendered her unconscious first."
"So how did he manage it, then?" My forehead crinkled. "Surely she would've been struggling."
"Unless she was asleep," Ruby said.
"At the kitchen table?" I asked.
Vernon shrugged. "I've been known to nod off on the odd occasion there."
"Yes, that's because you were drunk, most probably." Ruby quirked an eyebrow.
I remembered the bottle of rum on the table. "How much alcohol did they find in her system?" I asked.
"She was way over the legal driving limit, so that might explain it," Vernon said.
"Maybe she'd been drinking the rum all afternoon. The bottle was almost empty," I said.
"But we don't know when she bought it," Vernon said.
"True, but she'd obviously been drinking a hefty dose of something alcoholic." I put the cutlery on a tray underneath the bar.
"I think Tim must've
Hearing his name, Karma's head popped up from behind the tiny sofa that I'd brought with me from the cottage. It looked ridiculously small in the large room, but Elise and Carter had sneaked in one night and removed all of Bob's furniture to sell, and even though they didn't have the right to do that since he'd left his estate to me, I didn't want to rock the boat by challenging them over it. With what Bob had left me, I could buy a million sofas and still have change. When the estate was all finally settled, I was going to be a rich woman. I still couldn't get my head around that. I needed to do some serious thinking about what to do with all that money. I knew I was going to donate some to the Second Chance Animal Rescue center, but apart from that, I didn't have a clue yet.
Harvey slumped on the sofa and moved Karma onto his lap. Karma rolled onto his back, offering Harvey his soft belly, and meowed until Harvey gave the obligatory stroke. Even though he only had three legs—Karma, not Harvey—it didn't seem to deter him from being a normal, agile cat. After he'd found his way into my life, I'd taken him to the vet for a checkup and to start his inoculations, and the vet said he was perfectly healthy. I curled up next to Harvey, resting my head on his shoulder, savoring the moment alone. With both our work schedules lately, it had been hard to get any private time together. Zen, determined not to be left out, sat in between us, nudging me with his head.
Harvey laughed, exposing that sexy dimple on his right cheek. You could tell a lot about a man by how he treated animals, and I felt a warm rush of contentment as I watched him talking to Karma as he rubbed the cat's belly gently. I was pretty sure I was falling in love.
CHAPTER FOUR
"Pandora was killed with pentobarbital," Vernon said as soon as he walked through the door of the tavern. It was just after 9:00 a.m., and I was retrieving cutlery from the dishwasher and winding napkins around it. "I just got off the phone with my contact."
Ruby stopped wiping down the tables and gasped. "So it's true. Tim killed Pandora?" She walked toward us, hand on hip, an angry red flush creeping up her neck. "That poor woman. After all she went through with Jenna."
"What's pentobarbital?" I asked, mouth agape.
"It's a barbiturate," Vernon said. "It's used for several things, like treating seizures, but most importantly, it's used in the euthanasia of humans and animals. It's been used a lot as a lethal injection for death penalty cases. Administered intravenously, death is pretty much instantaneous."
"How awful." Ruby slumped onto a barstool. "I just hope it was painless and she didn't suffer."
"Lester Marshall has arrested Tim Baxtor," Vernon said.
"But if Tim had administered the drug intravenously, how did he get Pandora to sit still long enough to stick a needle in her?" I said. "Surely she would've put up a fight."
"There were no defense wounds mentioned in the autopsy report," Vernon said. "And no traces of any other drugs in her system, like a sedative. There were also no other injuries that might've rendered her unconscious first."
"So how did he manage it, then?" My forehead crinkled. "Surely she would've been struggling."
"Unless she was asleep," Ruby said.
"At the kitchen table?" I asked.
Vernon shrugged. "I've been known to nod off on the odd occasion there."
"Yes, that's because you were drunk, most probably." Ruby quirked an eyebrow.
I remembered the bottle of rum on the table. "How much alcohol did they find in her system?" I asked.
"She was way over the legal driving limit, so that might explain it," Vernon said.
"Maybe she'd been drinking the rum all afternoon. The bottle was almost empty," I said.
"But we don't know when she bought it," Vernon said.
"True, but she'd obviously been drinking a hefty dose of something alcoholic." I put the cutlery on a tray underneath the bar.
"I think Tim must've
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