Page 117 of Fall Into Temptation
She’d debated calling Ellery but decided the bride didn’t need anything else to freak out over. She’d already gone into a tailspin over red velvet coffin runners.
Eva took a deep breath and hugged the borrowed laptop to her chest. She’d finally hit her word count goal. The third latte had really given her brain the boost she needed to block out her surroundings. Of course, the caffeine tremors had slowed down her typing, but overall, Eva was freaking thrilled with how the book was coming together. It almost made up for everything else.
Earlier in the day Deputy Layla, picking up to-go caffeine, had reported that Eva was clear to return home again. But Eva still wasn’t ready to revisit the wreckage the careless Agnes had inflicted. Not tonight.
Tonight, she’d be in Donovan’s bed again. And that was something she could look forward to.
She was dreamily fantasizing about exploring Donovan’s shower with him when a minivan pulled up beside her.
“There you are!” Mrs. Nordemann yelled out the window from behind the wheel.
The rear passenger door slid open, and Aretha, the book-throwing, fit-haver from Fitz’s bookstore hopped out. “Come along, dear. We’re going to be late.” She dragged Eva to the van with an astonishing strength for her small frame. Throwing hardbacks around must have added some lean muscle mass.
Eva resisted.
“Oh, now. Don’t be shy!” Another woman poked her head out and latched on to Eva’s wrist. “Places to be! People to see!”
Eva started to struggle. “Hang on a minute. Are you going to kidnap me and dump my body in the middle of some field?”
They giggled until Ellery rolled down the passenger window.
“You, too?” Eva demanded.
“Get in the van, Eva.” Ellery’s voice was serious, almost scary.
Four against one. She could probably have taken the first three, but Ellery was the wild card. Beneath her skull sweaters and pleated skirts, she had a wiry build.
“Where are we going?” Eva demanded as she climbed into the middle row of seats.
Mrs. Nordemann looked at her in the rearview mirror. “This is the shuttle to Book Club,” she said cheerily. She cranked up the Abba song that was playing and they rolled away.
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
Eva: “I’ve literally been kidnapped.”
Donovan: “Your kidnapper can’t be very good if you still have your phone.”
Eva: “Excuse me, sheriff. Your girlfriend was just dragged off the sidewalk in the middle of town by four whackjobs and you don’t sound very concerned!”
Donovan: “Your sheriff boyfriend is busy trying to shoo an entire flock of fucking Canadian geese off Mervin Lauter’s front porch that some asshole coated with peanut butter and bird seed. Where are your kidnappers taking you?”
Eva: “Book Club???”
Donovan: “Just got bit by one of these fuckers. If I don’t die an Alfred Hitchcockian death by goose I’ll swing by and pick you up when it lets out.”
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The minivan picked Bobby up in front of Peace of Pizza and then headed a few blocks west. The women around her chattered on about anything and everything while Eva wondered how she’d ended up in a town where kidnapping was acceptable.
They pulled up in front of a large brick home. Cars lined the street, and it looked as though every light in the home was blazing. They poured out of the minivan like a clown act.
“Welcome to my home,” Mrs. Nordemann said grandly, toddling up the walkway.
It didn’t really look like the sort of place neighbors were murdered. The architecture of the home was quite traditional, but the personal touches pushed it into Blue Moon territory. A pair of turquoise papasans with cherry red cushions hung suspended from the porch rafters behind stately columns. A fountain with a very enthusiastic naked couple wrapped around each other burbled in the front yard.
“Is the water coming from his—” Eva pointed.
Bobby glanced at the statue. “Yep. That’s his penis.”
