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

conversation.
    It took a lot for me to not get into a screaming match with my mama. She’d start on her hissy fit and get me worked up before bed. I wasn’t about to let her get the upper hand. Not in this case. This was real sheriff business.
    I turned on the hot water as high as it would go and steam rolled out into the bathroom as I got undressed. The bathroom mirror quickly fogged. I took Poppa’s pin off my sweatshirt and carefully laid it on the little glass shelf above the toilet. Sticking my hand under the water, I jerked it right back out and turned on the cold water, making it a desirable temperature and not one that would require me to go to the clinic for third-degree burns.
    I stepped in and pulled the shower curtain closed, letting the water run over my head with my eyes closed. Images of the day kept popping inside my head though I tried to just enjoy the moment. The stick symbol bugged me, as did the stab wounds. The idea of mercury poisoning made my skin crawl. Who would think of something so awful? Wasn’t the stabbing enough? This killer was vicious, and I had to get him or her behind bars before the community found out just how awful the murder truly was.
    Finn. I made a mental note to give him a call to see if he’d found anything else at the jewelry store. Then there was Wyatt. I had mentioned to him that I was going to see if he could get appointed as my temporary deputy, but he never gave me a definitive answer. I thought I better call him before it got really late.
    I jumped out of the shower and grabbed a towel. Without drying myself off, I darted back down the hall to grab my phone. It was getting late and I didn’t want to wake up Wyatt if he was sleeping.
    “The coffee smells good.” Wearing only the towel, I stopped in the doorway of the kitchen. Then I saw Finn sitting at the kitchen table while Mama scurried around to get him a cup of coffee.
    “Your friend Finn stopped by.” Mama acted like she had the best southern manners in the world as she opened the cabinet to get a coffee mug. “Nice young man. Don’t ya think?” Mama turned around.
    Finn’s mouth dropped. He threw his hand up over his eyes and tucked his chin to his chest.
    “Kendrick Lowry!” Mama shrieked, dropping the mug, which shattered all over the kitchen tile floor. She rushed over, throwing her arms around my shoulders and pushing me back down the hallway into the bathroom. “This is why you need a good paying job. Stop pretending to play Nancy Drew all day long. When are you going to grow up?” She shoved me in the bathroom, slamming the door behind me.
    I looked at the full-length mirror on the closed door at my reflection. It was still framed in steam from the hot shower, but the full image of me standing there dripping wet with a towel was right there. There I stood, with my long honey-colored hair plastered to my head, dripping big drops of water down onto my towel. Only the towel looked like moths had eaten it. There were holes in it exposing parts of my body that didn’t need to be exposed, leaving Finn with an eyeful of things he shouldn’t have seen.
    “Get some new towels!” Mama screamed from behind the closed door, followed up by stomping feet and a slam to what I hoped was the front door.
    A little giggle escaped me, turning into a hysterical laugh that caused me to take a seat on the edge of the tub, looking at myself in the full-length mirror. As much as I tried to keep it in, the laughter poured out of me and tears piled up on my eyelids. I had heard about these moments of insane laughter but had never experienced one until now.
    I felt like I was on the edge of insanity and in an episode of This Is Your Life , because today had been eerily similar to both.
    The image of Mama huffing it down Free Row’s sidewalk made me cackle more. My stomach hurt as I doubled over trying to catch my breath. The knock at the bathroom door brought my laughter to a halt.
    “Are you okay in there?”