Read Murder By Lime: A Key West Culinary Cozy - Book 4 for Free Online

dropped every single time. If this was the same Carlos, he was more well-connected than she thought, and probably wouldn’t think twice about stealing and reselling his products.
    Marilyn sat, reading articles about the man whom she thought might be her lime supplier, and lost track of time, only jolted back into reality by an incessant pounding sound that made her head ache. Looking for the source of the sound, she glanced out of her kitchen window and saw the vague shape of Tim Eckels beside his house again, apparently digging another large hole. The pounding noise was him jumping on the back of the shovel blade to make it penetrate the ground and the tree roots below it. She was so confused. Both Carlos and Tim had the motive to steal her limes, and both had seedy enough pasts for the thievery to be feasible, so how on earth was she supposed to figure out who had done it? While she sat pondering, her phone buzzed and she picked it up, seeing Bernard Cortland’s number come up.
    “Hi, Bernard. I was planning to call you later,” she answered the phone, leaning her head wearily on her hand.
    “Hello, Marilyn. Is your daughter with you right now?” the detective asked without preamble.
    “Yes, she’s in the guest room because she doesn’t feel well, why?” she asked, perplexed at his abrupt manner.
    “I have a warrant for her arrest, I’ll see you shortly,” he informed her, and the line went dead.
    “Wait…wha…?” Marilyn was astounded. There was absolutely no possible reason for an arrest warrant to be issued for her intelligent, educated, hard-working daughter. She sat stunned for a moment, then went to the guest room to break the news.
    “There must be some mistake,” she protested, when Bernard came to arrest Tiara. “My daughter is a good girl who’s never been in trouble in her life,” she insisted, receiving nothing but a stone-faced silence from the detective. “She’s sick, you can’t put her in jail when she’s sick,” she grasped at straws.
    “Mom,” Tiara spoke up quietly. “We know this has to be a mistake. I’ll just go with Detective Cortland, and I’m sure everything will get straightened out. Stop freaking out, and just wait here until I call you, it’s the only thing that you can do,” she said calmly, knowing that she was innocent, and being naïve enough to believe that it would make a difference.
    “What are you even accusing her of?” Marilyn demanded, ready to combat whatever charge he mentioned.
    “Tiara, you are accused of possession of cocaine, and will be held additionally under the suspicion of being an accessory to murder,” Bernard said quietly, and proceeded to read her her rights as he led her to the door. 
    “Drugs? Murder? This is insanity!” Marilyn screamed as her only child was loaded into the back of Cortland’s unmarked police car
     

Chapter 10
    “They said it was an anonymous tip,” Tiara mumbled glumly after Marilyn picked her up from the police station.
    “An anonymous tip? Well, isn’t that just convenient,” the worried mother fumed. “Someone set you up and we’re going to get to the bottom of this,” she vowed. “What did they find anyway?”
    “A small packet of cocaine and a piece of paper with Pedro’s phone number on it,” her defeated daughter said quietly.
    “Why did you have Pedro’s phone number?”
    “I didn’t,” the shattered young woman protested. “I’ve never called Pedro in my life. I don’t even know if he speaks English.”
    “Who do you know besides Drew that would have his number?” Marilyn wondered.
    “I’d bet my last dollar that it was Carlos. He was probably upset that Detective Cortland talked to him because of what I said, and chose to discredit me by doing this,” Tiara speculated bitterly.
    “Then I think I’ll just have to have a little conversation with Mr. Mechago,” her mother gritted her teeth.
    “No! Mom, don’t. We don’t know what he’s capable of. I’m in enough