Free Much Ado About Felines (Whales and Tails Mystery Book 4) by Kathi Daley Page A

a shoulder for Roxi to cry on. I mean, I get that it’s a terrible thing to lose a husband and to be left with a whole pile of problems, but the girl had no right to turn to my husband in her time of need. You know what I mean?”
    “Yeah, I get why you’d be upset.”
    Becky pulled a book off the shelf, turned it over, and read the back cover. She frowned and then replaced it. “I’m looking for a really good mystery romance. Can you recommend anything?”
    “We have a couple of really popular ones on the display table in the front.”
    Becky walked away, effectively ending the conversation, but that was okay. She had given me a few things to follow up on. I remembered Cody had mentioned meeting for lunch, and I planned to suggest we go to the Driftwood, where we could talk to Ernie about the debt he’d paid off while we ate.
     
    The heavy rain continued as the morning wore on. Tara and I decided there was no use staying open; Becky had been the only customer we’d had all day, so she decided to take some of the paperwork she had been trying to catch up on home with her and I decided to pay a visit to Roxi’s best friend Stacy. Because today was Monday, Tara arranged to meet me at the cabin later in the day for Cooking With Cathy .
    Stacy worked at the local thrift store. Luckily, she was alone in the store when I arrived. It appeared as if the entire town of Pelican Bay was deserted, most likely due to the storm.
    “Cait, I’m so glad you stopped in,” Stacy greeted me. “You’re the first customer I’ve had all day.”
    “Yeah, it’s pretty dead out there. We closed the bookstore. Maybe you should do the same. I doubt anyone is going to be out shopping in this weather.”
    “I’d love to close, but unlike you, I’m just an employee, not an owner, so it isn’t up to me. What can I get for you?”
    “Actually, I’m just here to ask about Roxi.”
    “Figured you’d be working with Finn again. I don’t know if I can add anything to what I’ve already told him, though.”
    “Do you happen to know what it was Jimmy got himself involved in before he died?”
    Stacy frowned. “Not really. All I know is that Roxi was concerned about some business deal Jimmy had become involved in. He was pretty vague about exactly what it was, which made her really uncomfortable, but he assured her that he was going to make a bunch of money in a short amount of time and they could finally fix their boat. You heard his winch blew up and his engine was on its last leg?”
    “Yeah, I heard.”
    “Anyway, after the car accident a man showed up and informed Roxi that Jimmy had twenty thousand dollars that didn’t belong to him. She insisted that she didn’t know anything about any twenty grand and she certainly didn’t have it, but the guy didn’t seem to care. He just told her that she’d better find a way to come up with it or bad things were going to come her way. Roxi was scared to death of this guy, and I know she tried everything she could think of to get the money.”
    “Do you think the guy who was trying to collect the twenty grand is the one who killed her?” I asked.
    “Honestly, I have no idea.”
    “Did you know Roxi sold Jimmy’s boat and planned to move at the end of the month?”
    “What? No, she never said anything about moving. Are you sure?”
    “No, I’m not sure. Becky Wood told me that’s what Trace told her.”
    “I know Roxi and Trace were messing around. I’m pretty sure he gave her some money. In fact, I’m pretty sure there were several men on the island who gave Roxi money in the past couple of months. Roxi was my best friend and I cared about her, but I feel like there was something going on that she wasn’t telling me about.”
    “What do you mean?” I asked.
    “I don’t know exactly. Roxi just seemed different the last couple of weeks before she died. She said everything was fine, but I knew her well enough to tell she was hiding something. I just wish I’d tried harder