Free Lizz Lund - Mina Kitchen 02 - Christmas Bizarre by Lizz Lund

new wheels, too?”
    Bauser shook his head. “Nope, that’s Norman’s ride.”
    “Helps with the horses,” he explained.
    “Does it have heat?”
    “Of course. Why?”
    I explained about the van as we clambered inside. We followed Norman’s nose and wound up at Lucky Palace.
    “Come in! Come in! Party of uh, three? Wait…” The cheerful hostess’ smile turned upside down at Jim.
    “He’s a service dog,” Bauser explained.
    She scowled at Bauser. “You not blind.”
    “Epileptic.”
    She shook her head. “I no understand. Used to be dogs for blind. Now epileptic? Yesterday lady bring poodle. Say she has diabetes. We gonna need new license. Follow me.” Our hostess led the way, muttering something in an Asian dialect we assumed was not repeatable.
    We sat down and looked at each other. Except for Jim, who studied the menu.

CHAPTER 4
Friday
     
    After gobbling bowls of steaming Won-Ton soup and eggrolls and sharing entrees, we freed our jaws to talk.
    “I was a lot hungrier than I thought,” I admitted.
    “So was Jim.” Bauser stared at him: Jim had devoured every morsel of a family size bowl of rice.
    Norman stifled a burp. “The point is, we do think we know where we’re headed.”
    “Where’s that?”
    “Online retail.”
    “You want sell online merchandise?” I all but fell out of my chair.
    Bauser shook his head in disgust. As did Jim. “No, silly, we want to help other people sell online.”
    “So what will you do?”
    Norman tugged open the wrapper of his fortune cookie. “Don’t know yet. There’s tons of possibilities. We need to examine viable options that lead toward long-term sustainability.”
    “Huh?”
    Bauser smashed his cookie open on the table with his fist. “We have to make sure we’re not shut down before we get started.”
    “Got it.” I didn’t, but felt it was incumbent upon me to say so. I opened my fortune cookie quickly. I had to. Bauser and Norman were munching theirs and Jim was looking possessively at mine.
    I stared at my fortune. “What the—“
    “What does it say?” Norman asked.
    “ Help – prisoner 1465 Conch Avenue, Mantoloking, NJ!”
    “It does not say that,” Bauser said.
    “It certainly does.”
    “Give me that.” He grabbed my fortune.
    Norman made motions for the check.
    “Son-of-a-gun. She’s right.”
    Norman took the fortune. “It is a little disconcerting that it’s actually handwritten.”
    I nodded, crunching on what remained of my cookie , since had Jim relieved me of the first half of it.
    “Probably some practical joker.” Bauser swallowed the rest of his cookie, much to Jim’s chagrin.
    “Of course.”
    After we argued about paying the check, with Norman winning, (or losing?) as usual. We left the tip and shuffled out into the cold toward the truck.
    “Lickety Split?”
    I nodded.
    Norman pulled up at the corner of Orange and Prince Streets. I hadn’t been there in a while, not since they’d gone legit, anyway. So I was kind of looking forward to it, in a nervous kind of way.
    “I’ll be right back!” I hopped out with my soiled Sparkle and into the store.
    No one was there. I tapped the bell on the counter.
    “Just a minute!”
    Mrs. Phang’s sister-in-law poked her head out from behind a curtained back room.
    “Can you have this cleaned by tomorrow?”
    The woman looked just as stumped as if I’d asked her about her last trip to the moon. Eventually, the penny dropped and she pulled out a three-ring binder from behind the counter. She opened a section, and ran her finger down the page, frowning. Then she nodded and smiled. “Yes, I can!”
    I was beginning to understand who the brains behind the actual dry cleaning business was and worried a bit about Mrs. Phang not being in charge of cleaning my Sparkle.
    “Where’s Mrs. Phang?”
    The woman scrunched up her face with worry. “You know her?”
    “Yes. She’s friends with my aunt. And my mom.”
    “ What’s your name?”
    “Mina Kitchen.”
    The