A Good Day for Chardonnay (Sunshine Vicram #2) by Darynda Jones

Ricky, a gorgeous Asian, wore the most perfect eyeliner Auri had ever seen. He applied it with surgical precision and Sun and Auri wanted to know how.

Now was her chance to find out.

She waited until they got closer, positioned herself to be at Cruz’s mercy, then said, “Help me! He wants the eyeliner trick or he’ll kill me.”

Ricky set his box on a nearby table and looked at them, less than impressed. Richard, with his glorious mop of spiked, black hair, followed suit, only his expression held more humor than disinterest.

Sensing her inevitable defeat, she added, “And he’ll get blood all over your porous Italian tile.” Which, really, who put a porous tile in a coffee shop?

Ricky gasped. “Fine. Your chai latte is on the house.”

She rolled her eyes. “My chai latte is always on the house. He knows that. You’re not fooling him.” She pointed at the kid holding a butter knife against her throat, rather limply much to her chagrin. “He’s a criminal mastermind.”

Ricky gave Cruz a dubious examination.

Richard winked playfully at him. “The redhead put you up to this?”

He lifted a shoulder.

Ricky leaned closer to her and whispered, “Better luck next time, squirt.”

She deflated. So close.

She disentangled herself from her captor and stood to give them each a hug. “You just missed Mom.”

“We have some fresh-baked pastries we’ll take over in a bit. Aren’t you supposed to be in school?”

“We’re on a scavenger hunt!” Sybil shouted. Really loudly. She didn’t handle panic well.

“Yeah,” Auri said, going in for the save, “for history. We’re finding different historical sites in town and taking pics of them.”

“Nice,” Ricky said. “You should take a picture of Richard. He’s a historical site.”

Richard glared at him. “I’m not that much older than you.”

“Whatever helps you sleep at night, Grandpa.”

Auri giggled, then sat down and scowled at Cruz. “We need to talk.”

“Okay,” he said, a telltale grin lifting one corner of his mouth.

“Your performance was underwhelming.”

“Underwhelming?”

“Yes. Less than whelming, if you will. I was not whelmed. You’re going to have to step it up if you want to fool those two.”

He smiled behind his cup. “I’ll remember that.”

“All right, good.” She took a deep breath to steady herself, then nailed Cruz with her best look of determination. “I’m ready to go all the way.”

Cruz choked on his coffee about the same time Auri realized her double-entendre faux pas.

“No, inside.” She patted Cruz’s back. “Inside Mrs. Fairborn’s house. Did you think I meant—?” When he gave her a hapless shrug, she asked, “Have you even met my mother? She knows about the devil’s doorbell, Cruz.”

“The devil’s what?” he asked between coughs.

“She will know if it’s been rung. We need a plan.”

“Why would we ring her doorbell if we’re breaking in?”

“No. The devil’s—Never mind.”

Sybil sat glued to the conversation, her gaze bouncing back and forth between the two from behind her massive mug.

“And we had a plan,” Cruz said. “You chickened out.”

Auri sank against the seatback. “I know. I’m sorry. Did I mention that I’m pretty certain Mrs. Fairborn killed her husband, too?”

Her two cohorts refocused on her. “No, you did not,” Sybil said.

“He went missing around the same time and the sheriff never did a thing about it.”

“That sweet old lady,” Sybil said in awe. “A black widow. Whodathunk?”

“Okay. I’m ready now. For real this time. Let’s do th—” She stopped and listened. “Do you hear that?”

Cruz and Sybil looked around.

“That’s my mom.”

Sunshine texted Auri as she hurried down the alley toward Caffeine-Wah. She typed, I just needed to read your voice. I’ll probably be home late.

When her daughter typed back, I love you, Mom, her heart almost imploded.

She typed her usual smart-ass response, then entered the coffee shop through the back door.

Levi’s sister, Hailey, had sent up the signal, a code word they used that meant she needed a meeting ASAP. They’d been investigating Clay Ravinder for a few months now. He was threatening to take everything away from Levi, everything his nephew had worked so hard to build, and use it as a bargaining tool to get back into the Southern Mafia. Or, at least, one syndicate of it.

Neither Sun nor Hailey could let that happen. In fact, Hailey had come to Sun when she was still a detective in Santa Fe. As soon as Sun got some hard evidence on Clay’s less than aboveboard pursuits, thanks in no small part to Hailey’s ability to eavesdrop, she’d turn the case over to the feds.

They could hardly arrest Clay for his plans to run Levi out of his own business. They had no physical evidence he was planning anything illegal. But according to Hailey, Clay was working with Sun’s predecessor, a corrupt sheriff named Redding, and they were into everything from drugs to guns. Sun had a connection with ATF that could serve her well in this instance.