Free Vanessa Gray Bartal - Lacy Steele 07 - Icy Grip of Murder by Vanessa Gray Bartal Page A

ensuing case, would she?”
    “There’s one way to find out,”
Michael said. He crossed his legs, set the play in his lap, and began to read.
    “‘Scene one, take one,’” he paused
and looked at Jason and Lacy. “She actually wrote ‘take one,’ here, as if she’s
the director. I don’t think she knows the proper format for a screenplay, which
makes this even more enticing.” He cleared his throat and returned his
attention to the play.
    “‘The scene opens on a small town.
Our heroine, Dolly McGee, sits at her desk typing the pastor’s sermon,
inserting words to make it more colorful.’”
    “Maybe that explains why Tosh said
prostate instead of prostrate three times last Sunday,” Lacy said.
    “‘Suddenly, a cop enters—he’s
a handsome man with bulging muscles, wearing a shirt unbuttoned down to the
chest hairs.’”
    “It does not say that,” Lacy said.
Michael showed her the page. “Oh, Pearl,” she muttered.
    “You’re blushing,” Michael accused
Jason.
    “No, I’m trying not to throw up,”
Jason said. “Tell me this isn’t about me.”
    “Let’s see what other clues we can
find.” His index finger scanned the page. “Skim, skim, skim. Here we go. ‘Officer
Jesse Canticle, a twenty-something former football star, was being heavily
pursued by the red-haired harlot, Lucy Stone.’”
    “Aw, Babe, you made the cut, too,”
Jason said.
    “I feel all warm inside, and also a
little frightened for our safety,” Lacy said.
    They read for another hour, until
Jason put his hands over his ears and proclaimed he couldn’t take anymore. “We
were just getting to the good part,” Michael said.
    “Which good part?” Jason asked.
“The part where Jesse Canticle and Dolly McGee made out in her jail cell or the
part where he broke her out of confinement and gave her a gun so they could
hunt the murderer and the lion together?”
    “All of it. It’s brilliant,”
Michael said. “Lacy, I know you do work as an investor now. I’m going to need
to borrow enough to buy the movie rights to this play. This is Oscar material.”
    “Oscar the Grouch, maybe,” Jason
said.
    “Someone’s cranky. Could it be from
the two pizzas and pound of candy?” Michael said.
    “No, it’s from trying not to
picture myself in a kissing scene with Pearl,” Jason said.
    “That wasn’t you, that was Jesse
Canticle, a hand sanitizing cop who says ‘geez’ a lot,” Michael said.
    “I’m taking a shower. If I don’t
come out for a while, it’s because I’m trying to find a way to scrub my brain,”
Jason said.
    “If you keep wearing that hat, I
think it’ll do the job for you,” Michael said.
    “Do not knock the hat. It’s the
only thing keeping me warm in this frozen wasteland,” Jason said.
    “Ouch for your girlfriend,” Michael
said.
    “Shut it,” Jason said as he went
into the bathroom and slammed the door. Michael turned to Lacy.
    “How much pizza did you eat?”
    “A piece and a half,” she said.
    “I had two pieces.” They stared at
the empty boxes that had once contained thirty pieces.
    “I’ve never seen him eat more than
three pieces before,” Lacy said.
    “I’ve never seen you eat fewer than
four,” Michael said.
    “What’s that supposed to mean?” she
asked.
    “I think I finally understand
what’s going on here. For whatever reason, you’re functioning at a higher than normal average and Jason’s barely functioning at all,”
Michael said.
    “That’s ridiculous,” Lacy said.
    “Is it? Everything is covered with
ice and snow out there. How many times have you fallen?”
    “None,” she said.
    “You haven’t eaten dessert all
day,” he said.
    “I haven’t?” she asked.
    “No, I’ve been watching. And yet you
don’t have sugar-deprived crazy eyes. Meanwhile Jobba the Hut in there has mowed down everything in his path and is still in danger
of gnawing us in our sleep.”
    “But that’s ridiculous. Why would
that happen?”
    “I don’t know.