Free Fixin' To Die (A Kenni Lowry Mystery Book 1) by Tonya Kappes Page A

out into my fenced-in backyard. When it came to living on Free Row, Duke was even more effective than my gun. His size made people think twice.
    “’Bout time you got home.”
    My skin crawled like someone had dragged their nails along a chalkboard. I knew who was in my kitchen before I even turned the corner.
    Without looking at Mama, I went over to the coffee pot, grabbed the carafe and stuck it under the sink, turning the faucet on.
    “If you were going to break and enter, the least you could’ve done is make a pot of coffee.” I kept my eye on the rising level of water. “I didn’t see your car out front. What are you doing here?”
    “Your daddy had to go to the Jaycee’s club meeting.” Mama never did like to stay by herself when Daddy was gone.
    The Jaycee’s was really a club for men up to forty. Daddy was far past forty, but he was their main consultant, grand poo-pa in the community. Even though he complained that no other businessman in Cottonwood would step up to the plate, secretly I knew he loved it.
    “We heard about Doc’s murder and the jewelry store break-in. I figured I’d better stop by and hear about it for myself instead of gossip from the Euchre club.” She drummed her fingers along the table. The drumming stopped, but the pointing began. “This occupation you have decided to go into.”
    “Mama, I won’t have you coming into my house and telling me that I need to go to beauty school and work at Tiny Tina’s.” I slammed the faucet off and set the pot of water on the counter so I could let Duke out.
    He had already scratched the hell out of the door casing; the last thing I needed him to do was tunnel a hole through the outside wall.
    Mama stood up when I came back into the kitchen. “Look at you,” she said. It was like I was looking into a mirror. “You look tired. You are a young woman. Vibrant and of the marrying age.”
    It was hard looking like her. All the men in town always told me how pretty she was and how lucky I was and that any man that stole my heart was going to be lucky too. She wore her hair long, like mine, and though her olive skin did have a few more wrinkles than mine, she was still gorgeous. She and I stood about the same height, five feet five inches, and we had the same body type, though she had a little wider hips. We had curves in the right places. We weren’t too thin or heavy. And we wore the same size eight shoes.
    Life between us was great once. She was my best friend, until I told her what I wanted to do with my life. That was the day it all changed.
    “Oh, Mama.” I threw my hands in the air. “Who on earth am I going to marry from Cottonwood?”
    She shrugged. She knew I was right. There were no men in Cottonwood, not single anyways.
    “And I’m sure Daddy is fine.” I shook my head. “Otherwise, he’d have called me himself.”
    “Well, you are killing him.” She sashayed over in her Capri khaki pants and yellow short-sleeved tennis shirt. She took the pot of water off the counter and poured it into the coffee maker. “And living on Free Row doesn’t help either.” She twirled her finger in the air. “One of these people in your own backyard is probably who killed Doctor Walton and broke into Viola’s place.”
    “It was good enough for Poppa.”
    “It was different then.” She was good at reminding me. “Do you have any leads on who killed Doc?”
    I leaned my hip against the counter and crossed my arms. “You know I can’t tell you anything about the investigation.”
    “I’m worried about you.” She flipped the coffee maker on. “After all, you are the one responsible for putting yourself in this situation and my only child.”
    She wouldn’t be my mama if she wasn’t worried.
    “And I’m going to be fine.” I sucked in a deep breath. Fighting with her was not on my priority list. Her complaining wasn’t going to change anything. “I’m getting a shower.” I shook my head and headed down the hall to end the