Page 19 of A Spot of Trouble
Did he really need to punish the entire island, though? Clearly the man had no clue how seriously the residents of Turtle Beach took their bingo.
Violet wasn’t about to let him get away with it. Her father had been right.
This means war.
“You have to win the softball game this Saturday,” she blurted to Joe after she’d parked her cupcake truck at a furious angle, stomped up the three flights of stairs to his apartment at the March family beach house, and pounded on the door until he answered.
His eyes lit up at the sight of the loaded baking tray in her arms, and he held the door open wide. “Cool, you brought cupcakes.”
“I’m serious, Joe.” She walked past him and dumped the tray on his butcher block kitchen island while Sprinkles made herself at home in Joe’s favorite recliner. “The police need to crush those lowlife firefighters.”
“Aren’t you the one who suggested just this morning that we end the feud?” He picked up a cupcake, jammed it into his mouth, and reached into the refrigerator for two bottles of beer. “Want one?”
Seriously?Read the room, Joe.“Thanks, but I’m not really in the mood for beer.”
He shrugged and perused the remaining cupcakes. “Since when do you care so passionately about softball?”
“Since this.” She reached into the pocket of her swing dress, pulled out a folded slip of pink paper, and slapped it down on the kitchen island with sufficient force to cause the cupcakes to jump in place.
Joe looked at it and then back toward Violet. “Given your current state of agitation, I’m almost afraid to ask.”
Violet crossed her arms. “Go ahead. Read it.”
He tipped his beer bottle back for a generous swallow before picking up the paper. Violet paced the length of the small kitchen while he unfolded it.
“This is a ticket,” he said. And then a vein popped out in his neck. “For a fire code violation!”
The tension in his voice roused Sprinkles from the recliner. She leapt over the back of it and bounded into the kitchen to paw gently at Joe’s knee.
“Now do you see why I’m so upset?” Violet threw her hands up.
Joe studied the ticket and absently ran a hand over Sprinkles’s head. “This ticket is for a violation involving maximum occupancy rules. What did you do? Throw a party in your cupcake truck during business hours? I didn’t think you let customers in there.”
Violet fumed. Of course her brother would think she was to blame. “I did nothing of the sort. I didn’t do anything wrong at all. Sam Nash just strolled into the senior center and shut down bingo night.”
“And he ticketedyoufor the violation?” The vein in Joe’s neck was looking angrier by the second. “That doesn’t make sense. You don’t even work there.”
Violet was sort of hoping he wouldn’t hone in on that detail. “Someone apparently told him I was in charge.”
“Don’t tell me.” Joe tossed the ticket onto the kitchen counter and reached for his beer. “It was the Charlie’s Angels, wasn’t it?”
“Yes, but—”
“Violet, I’ve said this before and I’m going to say it again: you need to find some friends your own age.”
Why did everyone keep saying that to her? She was perfectly happy with her social life, thank you very much. And Turtle Beach was a tiny island. Who exactly was she supposed to hang out with? Sam?
She shuddered in horror at the very thought of it. “Ethel, Mavis, and Opal are perfectly harmless. You’re totally missing the big picture, here. Sam closed down bingo. He’s obviously a monster.”
A monster whose slugging percentage was the best in University of Chicago’s history. Yes, Violet had Googled him, and no, she wasn’t proud of it.
“I thought I told you to stay away from him,” Joe said.
“Iamstaying away from him. I can’t help it if he showed up at bingo night with an obviously evil agenda.”
“I don’t know.” Joe shook his head. “Bingo night does get pretty packed. I don’t know what the maximum occupancy numbers for the senior center look like, but he may have been right. I’m a little surprised he didn’t issue a warning instead of writing up a violation right out of the gate. It makes me wonder if he was somehow antagonized.”
He arched a brow. Resting Interrogator Face activated. Violet must have been off her game. She didn’t see it coming.
