Caught in the Frame (Ponderosa Pines Cozy Mystery Series Book 3) by ReGina Welling (novel24 .TXT) 📕

a voice clogged with fatigue. In the past twenty-four hours, he’d managed to spend only a scant three in sleep on the plane. Turbulence and the intense desire to protect EV from having to face Remy alone brought him alert far too often for the nap to be considered restful. Now, his eyes drank her in, while also searching for signs that this new development was too painful for her to bear.

EV went silent for a moment while she flipped through an internal catalog of her own emotions. Anxiety over having to face her ex again after all this time—check. Dread of having to tell Lila the whole sordid tale of her past—check. Worse, having to possibly hash that out with Remy—check. And finally, a deeply-seated satisfaction over playing avenging angel for her town—big fat check.

That last didn’t exactly cancel out the rest, but cushioned them enough to spread a savage grin over her face. “What’s the plan? Whatever you need me to do, I’m in.”

“If I’ve never said it before,” Dalton walked over and kissed her soundly on the lips. “You’re one hell of a woman, Emmalina Torrence.”

Chloe, delighted at seeing the kiss, let out a loud whoop that forced Nate to crack a smile. With the tension released, Chloe ordered a couple of pizzas from room service—hoping to counteract the threatening sugar coma—and the four of them sat down at the table to hammer out a plan for getting to the bottom of Remy’s vendetta against Ponderosa Pines.

“I could see him coming back to take some sort of revenge against me, though for what reason, I have no idea. But what could he have against an entire town?” EV frowned. “And more importantly, why now? He’s been nothing but a bad memory for thirty years. Something must have triggered him. And Marjorie still has no clue? I don’t get it.”

“That’s been the problem all along. Without a clear motive, we’re struggling to make what evidence we do have fit any kind of actionable reason for what he seems to be trying to accomplish. Best we’ve got now is several counts of identity theft.” Nate snagged the last piece of pizza. ”Even if he’d managed to get Evan to convince the town to throw in the towel and combine with Gilmore, I can’t see any profit in it for him. He has no financial stake in Gilmore that I can find. They’ve been very helpful over there, by the way. Not just the police department; the entire town management team.”

His comment pulled a raised eyebrow from EV. In her experience, the leaders of the town of Gilmore had always looked down on the residents of Ponderosa Pines. It was easy to forget the fact that Nate had been top dog back in Portland; his foray as a small-town lawman seemed natural to her, but perhaps his status legitimized Ponderosa Pines in the eyes of Gilmore’s officials.

Dalton took up the narrative. “Nate’s investigator friend dropped off everything she’s found so far.” He twisted in his chair to grab the briefcase he’d brought with him, and pulled out a sheaf of papers.

Jumping up to clear the pizza leavings from the table, Chloe brushed past Nate. The momentary touch raised goosebumps on her arms, and for a second she considered kicking Dalton out of his own room. Love ya, Dalton, but you’re blocking me pretty hard right now. Just as Veronica and Mindy had suggested, it looked like skulking around the castle for some alone time was their only option.

As Dalton laid out the papers, EV snatched each one up, scanned it quickly, then placed it back on the table. What she saw was enough for her to know Remy was the culprit. There was even enough evidence that Nate had been given the green light to officially reopen the investigation, but no judge would issue a warrant based on what they had amassed so far.

An hour later, Dalton’s eyes were drooping and the bones of a plan had formed.

Chapter 7

Chloe’s usually-groomed hair fell in a disordered mess around her face—the result of running her hands through it while resisting the urge to yank it out by the roots. Listening to Lila argue with the sacrificial lamb of a liaison to the atrium manager over why it wasn’t prudent to unleash five hundred live butterflies indoors was right up there with getting her teeth cleaned on Chloe’s list of least favorite things to do. That the seemingly timid little mouse had drawn the short straw was evident. Remarkably, she held her ground and insisted Lila have the wedding of her dreams, while remaining within managerial guidelines. EV had been alternating between silent laughter and slipping into some state of meditative avoidance ever since Lila’s dainty hands hammered on the connecting door right before she let herself into Chloe’s room earlier that morning.

With caffeine coursing through her system, Chloe could handle her mother in full-on diva mode, but before breakfast, she was a little much to take.

“Butterflies do not poop.” Lila’s near shriek knocked the zen right off of EV, who beat a hasty retreat to the bathroom. Seeing EV’s lips pressed tightly together, Chloe suspected it was to keep from peeing her pants with laughter.

Traitor, Chloe’s eyes shot daggers at EV’s back before she gave in to the inevitable and stepped into the fray. She waived the harried young woman—whose only error had been trying to placate the bride beast—out the door before rounding on Lila.

“Everything poops, Mother. Give it a rest. It’s not going to happen. Don’t we need to be somewhere else right now?” Sighing, Chloe pressed fingers to her temple; the ache there was starting to throb.

Lila glanced at her watch. “Yes, we need to meet Baylee in the cafe in five minutes.” She pitched her voice louder, “Get out here, EV, we’re leaving now.”

Before Lila could pull open the door, a loud knocking preceded the shrill, singsong question, “Where’s my newest bri-ide? Are you in there Lila?”