Free My Heroes Have Always Been Hitmen (Humorous Romantic Shorts) (Greatest Hits Mysteries) by Leslie Langtry Page B

a bit much, but I was still stinging a bit from the too old to wear that hat . My cousin glared at me over her fan before being dragged off by her suitor.
    " Abby!" I turned to see Winifred Buckingham coming toward me. I raised my hand and waved. I loved Winifred. She was my cousin on my father's side, and we were very close. It's unusual for Bombays to spend time with family on the non-Bombay side, and we are discouraged from having friends outside of the family. Wini was my connection to the south—my connection to the world I insisted on being part of. We hugged each other, and then she led me around the side of the house.
    " I have been waiting for you!" Winifred was the very embodiment of over enthusiasm. There was nothing that made this girl upset and everything made her happy—kind of like a hungry puppy inside a smokehouse. "We have a new guest that I'm simply mad for you to meet!"
    " Oh? Really?" I pretended. Of course she meant my assignment—Carter Livingstone Sperry. But she had no idea that I knew that, so I played along. I liked the idea of getting this over quickly so I could truly enjoy the rest of the party.
    " He's a distant cousin from California! Can you believe that?"
    " That he's a cousin or that he's from California?" I teased.
    Winifred laughed . "Both darling, both! Anyway, his name is Carter Livingstone Sperry, and he's a gold prospector! He's found an entire mountain made of the stuff!" Wini smiled broadly. An only and overly spoiled child, she was a very pretty girl with strawberry blonde hair, green eyes, and freckles. I wondered if green eyes ran in her family.
    " So he's wealthy." I sighed with boredom. It never failed to amaze me how these ridiculously rich southern belles were so smitten by a man with money. How dull.
    Winifred looked at me with faux shock written in her eyes. "Must you be so gauche, Abby? What's wrong with a wealthy man anyway? You will need a husband to look after you sooner or later. Why not one with money?"
    I shook my head . "Surely you haven't forgotten that I don't need money or a man to look after me, my friend. I can take care of myself. And I have Auntie India."
    Winifred shook her head. I 'm sure I scandalized her. Most of these women thought I was completely mad. Who wouldn't want to be married and settled?
    " Well he's handsome and charming too," Winifred ventured a little more carefully. "You simply must meet him!" Her puppy-like enthusiasm returned in abundance, and she took my hand and ran for the door of the house.
    The Buckingham 's home was larger than the White House. And I knew because I'd been. To the White House, I mean. It was years ago, but I was able to help Mother take out a member of the French Foreign Minister's staff who was there to kill the president. That was my introduction to the elegant simplicity of the hat pin as a weapon.
    Wini and I stepped off the front porch onto the inlaid, tile floors , and I looked around. The extreme gaudiness of her home never failed to embarrass me. How did the Buckinghams live like this?
    Pink and green marble from Italy clashed wildly with a huge, mahogany staircase and banister. The wallpaper had giant, gold fleur-de-lis dripping down the walls behind a crystal chandelier that took up half of the ceiling. I'd often toyed with the idea of saying something to Wini about this obnoxious display of wealth, but what good would it do? Troy often referred to it as Satan's entryway into Hell. I thought maybe he was right.
    We stopped beside a giant, stuffed bear, posed on his hind legs as if he was going to attack us for humiliating him this way.
    "Now let me see." Wini tapped her chin with a well-manicured forefinger. She was so lucky she didn't have to strangle anyone with her bare hands.
    " Where did Carter go off to?" She finally finished her question to herself and then squeaked like a spaniel as she dashed off, dragging me behind her, toward the library.
    We opened the huge, oak doors to the library and sure