Euphoria Lane Read Free Page B

gaze traveled between them. “Just how well do you two know each other?”
    “Boys . . .” Jessie cooed. She looped her arm around Harry’s. “Why don’t we sit down and relax while you tell us how we can make this thing go away?”
    “Let’s not!” Harry yanked his arm out of her reach as if she had a contagious disease. He glared at her. “Only respectable people are allowed to live in Euphoria.”
    Oh, great! He thinks my sister is a drug-dealing hooker because she’s playing undercover waitress at the diner.
    Jessie glared back at him.
    Andi had never seen a standoff before, but she knew she was witnessing one now. Harry obviously wanted them out of his community, but Jessie wasn’t going to budge an inch.
    Andi stepped between them before Jessie could morph into her lady mud wrestler persona and knock Harry into the next condo.
    “Did you know the neighbors referred to Bernice as the Wicked Witch?” Andi asked in her calmest teacher voice. “I’m sure you don’t want to be disliked the same way she was.”
    “I don’t care what anyone thinks. The rules are the rules.” Harry’s voice took on a sinister tone. “The witch may be dead, but the wizard isn’t. Obey the rules, missy, or you’ll wish you never landed here.”
    She suspected it wouldn’t matter if she followed the rules or not for as long as Jessie lived with her. Andi tightened her fists until her nails bit into her palms. Summoning her courage, she strode to the door and swung it open with flourish. The wooden panel brushed against her hip, causing her pen to fall from the pocket of her shorts and clatter against the tile floor. Bright-red ink flowed from the tube like an ominous warning.
    At that moment, she once again heard the loud whine of the broken bathroom fan. “Andi!” Her father called out. “Got any matches? It’s murder in here.”

TWO
    Luke pushed open the glass door to the public library located two miles down the street from the Euphoria Condominiums. The large number of disgruntled neighbors attending the monthly meetings made it impossible to gather in the neighborhood clubhouse.
    A bright, painted jungle covered the library walls as far as Luke could see. Smirking monkeys swung from one tree to the next over slithering pythons while skulking tigers foraged for prey in the dense underbrush. The mural always reminded him to mentally prepare for the verbal attacks he would endure during the Euphoria Condominiums homeowners’ meetings. Angry homeowners, as well as the HOA board, liked to blame him whenever they didn’t get what they wanted. A sudden sense of relief flowed over him when he realized Bernice wouldn’t be yelling at him that night. And that made him feel guilty. He never wanted to benefit in any way from the death of another.
    Luke marched through the lobby. He wished the library would invest in a metal detector. Over a dozen years ago, a man had shot five people at a homeowners’ association meeting not more than ten miles from where he stood. One woman died. Now Bernice. He knew he had to get the board to back down from its agenda of sending out one violation letter after another before another life was claimed.
    He located the corridor leading to the meeting rooms and instantly recognized the man sipping water from the fountain. “Harry, we need to talk. I’m sure you’ve heard that the police believe Bernice was murdered because of her work on the board. You might want to rethink your stance on violation letters.”
    “No one is going to shove me and a dollhouse off a balcony,” Harry scoffed.
    Luke rubbed the back of his neck. Not once had Harry ever made his job easier. “Just hear me out. It’s time for a change. The board doesn’t have to be seen as bad guys. You don’t have to walk the community daily, looking for violations. It’s my job as your property manager to send out violation letters after my weekly visits. Board meetings should become a place where neighbors go for help.