Lock, Stock, and Feral by Addison Moore (free e novels .txt) 📕

The smile glides right off my face. “I’m so sorry.” I’d probably be wishing the same thing if I were in her shoes.

Fish yowls, We won’t let Jasper leave you, Bizzy. I take back everything I’ve ever said about the oaf. He’s your oaf and you’re keeping him.

I give the tiny kitty a quick pat.

“I’m glad you have such a fun job,” I say, glancing out at the sea of tables and spot Georgie with two brimming tote bags apiece on each arm. “Wow, you must really move the books with this sale.”

She glances over at Georgie and laughs. “We do. All the money goes to the library fund, and it’s an excellent way for our patrons to pick up some great reads on the cheap.” I won’t bore her with my theory on book buying being a bona fide addiction. I know for a fact people get a natural high off it. “And the kicker? About ninety percent of the purchases get donated right back to the library, so we get to sell them again and make more money.”

“Really? That’s wonderful, but it’s kind of funny, too. I’ve donated books before but not many. I have a hard time parting with them. Once I read them, they become like friends.”

“I’m the same way.” The only friends I ever want. “But you would be surprised. Even the diehards like us are succumbing to the e-reader. It is kind of nice to have your entire library in your purse with you, so I can see the lure. Most people are pairing down their book collections to just a few these days. That’s the thing about books. They do take up some serious real estate in the house. And most prolific readers are choosing to go digital.”

“I get that. I certainly do both. How about that book club you’re in, the Grim Readers? Do they have a preference?”

“You can read any way you like in the club,” she says, straightening a few books in one of the boxes I just pilfered through. “I’ve done it both ways. Most people choose digital.”

“Oh? At the last meeting everyone seemed to be holding a paperback.”

Her lips pucker. “That’s because those were distributed by the publisher. The paperbacks for that book weren’t available widely, and Higgins House had yet to upload the e-book.” She looks a little miffed by this.

“I didn’t realize that. But now that I think of it, Devan, your group leader, came by a week before the event and dropped off a dozen copies in the event someone from the inn wanted to read it. It never occurred to me the paperbacks would be tough to find. It was a good book, though.”

“Really? You thought so?”

“Oh yeah, I’m big on mystery. I mean, it was easy for me to figure out who the killer was early on, but let’s just say I have a knack for that sort of thing.”

She ticks her head to the side. “I’m glad you enjoyed it. You wouldn’t happen to know who offed Patterson, would you? Cops came around and questioned all the members it looks like. Rumor has it, he was poisoned.”

“No, I have no clue who could have killed the poor man. Did you know him?”

She glances to the sky. “From the club. He was a polarizing individual. He came to the Grim Readers as a publisher, and most members were put off by the fact he kept shoving his own books down our throats.”

“I guess he wanted to promote his authors by getting some word of mouth going.”

“That’s exactly what he wanted. But unless a book is a real head turner, word of mouth doesn’t amount to much. The truth is, he was giving out promotional copies, because technically it fulfilled his duty as a publisher to advertise the books. That’s what people signed up for when they chose his publishing house. Anyway, he’s dead and gone and I guess so is that publishing house, so the Grim Readers can get back to their regularly scheduled reading.” She shrugs. “Everyone knows it was Devan who offed him. Or at least that’s what the whispers are in the club. She’s the bitter ex.” She says bitter ex in air quotes.

“You don’t believe the rumors, I take it?”

“Hard to, I guess. She’s been nothing but uplifting to everyone. It’s hard to picture her going dark on the sly. I guess you never know what anyone is capable of, isn’t that right?”

“What about James Foreman? I heard he had a crush on Hadley—Patterson was into Hadley. And I thought I heard something about James wanting to buy the publishing company.”

“James?” Her lips turn down as she expresses her amusement. “That’s a new one. I mean, about the publishing house. The thing with Hadley?” She rolls her eyes. “James was always siphoning off Patterson’s leftovers, so that doesn’t surprise anyone. Patterson Higgins was a good-looking guy. Not a lot upstairs.” He was as dubious as he was attractive, but I’ll leave that out for now. No reason to berate the guy any more than everyone else has. “Anyway, Hadley wasn’t really trying to seduce Patterson as far as I can tell. She was just desperate to get her book published. And I guess she couldn’t meet Patterson’s terms, so that’s when I noticed she turned up the heat. And believe me, I think Patterson was up for some down and dirty negotiations. Hadley’s a looker. Plus, she had that whole quasi-fame thing going for herself. Who knows? Maybe she offed the guy because she couldn’t stand what he was leading her to do? There was a lot going on in Patterson’s life that led to chaos.” Damn fool is what he was. But he thought he had all the answers. Sadly, those answers didn’t work out for him, did they?

“Well, someone killed him,” I point out. “And like you said, I guess we don’t know what anyone