Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5

" I hope you enjoyed yourselves," Harmony Honeycutt's teeth glitter like stars right here in Between the Lines bookshop. She just finished up a soliloquy on manifesting our dreams, and now she's taking cold, hard cash in exchange for the silver bullet which apparently can only be unlocked between the hardcover of her book, Dream It, Believe It, Achieve It , at the paltry price of twenty-nine ninety-nine.

More like making my bank account paltry.

We hand the books to her and she happily takes them.

Serafina steps up and gives Niki and me the stink eye while dressed like the quintessential librarian. Sometimes I think she took the gig so she could show off her uptight wardrobe. Hiring her at this place was nothing short of typecasting.

"Harmony, these are my sisters," Serafina growls our way. "If they give you any trouble, just say so. I won't have any trouble giving them the boot from this place. Shocking that they even knew their way over. I've never seen them in here before."

"That's because you don't stock naughty books," Niki is quick to tell the truth.

"We do, too," Serafina snits back. "It's just that by your dirty standards even the naughtiest book sounds tame."

" Ooh ," I lean toward Niki, "what exactly are you reading these days?"

"I'd like to know myself." Harmony chuckles. "You girls are a hoot. Now what are your names?"

"Nicoletta Raphella Canelli," Niki pants out her formal moniker as if she were meeting her favorite rock star. "And this is my sister, Eufrasia Margarita Canelli."

Serafina rolls her eyes. "Why do we let you out in public again?"

I shove my elbow into Niki's ribs. "She means our first names. I'm Effie. E-f-f-i-e."

"Effie?" The woman looks delighted as she pens a little ditty to me personally on the first page of the book. "That is a gorgeous name."

"It's okay," I say. "Also, it doubles as a mild expletive. I can't tell you how many times I've heard people say Eff this, Eff that."

" Eff ," Serafina mutters mostly to herself as if she meant it.

Now it's Niki elbowing me. "She doesn't want to hear about expletives. Harmony here is a learned doctor. It says so right here on the cover." She flashes it my way and I see a toothy version of the woman before us, sans about twenty years with lots of gold foil fonts surrounding her face. "I'm Niki, just one K," she tells the woman. "But lots of fun."

The woman chuckles again. "I can tell you're the fun sister!" And both she and Niki have a good laugh over that one. Serafina just nods as if it were a given.

I take umbrage with that fact.

I'm fun. Mostly. Especially when I don't have anyone on my hit list. Like the ex-husband of the woman before me.

Hey? Maybe I should ask where I could find him?

On second thought, nah. I'm a big believer in lying low and avoiding the radar.

"You know what"—Niki leans toward the woman as she collects our books—"Effie here is single and I hear you have an ex. If a woman of your caliber once thought he was a good idea, I bet he'd be more than enough in his moronic state for someone like my sister."

I inch back to get a better look at my moron of a sister.

I don't know whether to be ticked or mortified. Try both.

Harmony waves the thought off. "That man is the king of morons. No one should be susceptible to him and his foolish ways. You're better off getting yourself a cute little dog and staying single, honey. You'll live a better life because of it." Harmony laughs. "But I love your enthusiasm for life, girls. Just remember to visualize your dreams clearly and believe they're already yours. Unless, of course, it's that scallywag of an idiot I was once hitched to. Then visualize yourself running in the opposite direction. The man deserves to be shot on sight for his crimes against humanity." She laughs once again as she says it. " Me , I'm humanity." She winks as we're quickly shuffled out of line by Serafina.

"Well, I've already got a dog," I say. "And I'm officially single, so I guess I'm on my way."

"What's this?" someone sniffs to my right and I turn that way to see Naomi Turner, my arch nemesis if ever there was one.

Okay, so she's not my anything, but she does have the hots for Cooper so that automatically puts her on my can't-stand-for-life list. I'm petty that way.

"Never you mind," Niki is quick to spit the words out and Naomi all but gives us the finger as she makes her way to the register.

"I know what she'll be manifesting sooner than later," I moan. The man who stole my heart. Although I don't have the guts to say that last part out loud.

I glance back at the line just as Lily and Suze get their books autographed as well, and soon that brunette who looked as if she was buying everything hook, line, and sinker is up at bat. Although she doesn't look all that enthused at the moment. She has short dark hair, long red nails, and is clad in orange from head to toe. Okay, so it's a burnt orange dress with matching tights and shoes. But it's an off-putting look even if it is fall-inspired.

"Wasn't that amazing?" Niki beams as we finish anteing up at the registers. "We're going to manifest every last one of our wildest dreams!"

"Yeah, let's start with manifesting our way back to the bakery in time for the pie-eating contest. I need to get on the clock to earn back what this book just manifested from me."

Niki and I duck out into the night air and make our way down the street as the Gobble and Grab Turkey Trot thrives around us. We sample everything from roasted turkey sliders to sweet potato casserole bites. We enjoy ourselves to the culinary hilt as the shops decked out in their holiday best with twinkle lights and festive displays lure in shoppers looking for deals and steals.

By the time we make it back to the bakery, a crowd the size of the Eastern Seaboard has gathered at the entry, including every soul we met up with in the bookshop and even Harmony herself.

A table is lined up outside the front of the bakery and several men and women are already seated and ready to go, including Noah Fox and Judge Everett Baxter, Lottie's plus-ones. They're a couple of dark-haired hunks who can shake me down in the name of the law any day. A few pumpkin pies are already set out, but I know they'll need a heck of a lot more on hand.

Lottie looks a bit frazzled as she chats away with an older brunette and they set out a couple of pies.

Hey, it's the orange wonder from the bookshop. I guess the whole bookshop is here after all.

"I'll help bring out the rest of the pies," I offer.

"Thanks," Lottie says as she sets the one in her hands down in front of a contestant.

Soon enough, the entire table is lined with Lottie's delicious pumpkin pies, and with the way my stomach is clawing at itself, I'm starting to wish I had entered myself.

"All right, everyone," Lottie announces, her voice cutting through the chatter. "Let the pie-eating contest begin!"

The contestants dive into their pies with gusto, and the crowd erupts in cheers and laughter. It's a sweet and wholesome moment if ever there was one—albeit somewhat gluttonous.

I just hope the rest of the night is as sweet as the pumpkin pie these people are devouring.

An older redheaded man on the end gives a little hop in his seat before shoveling his fork into his face faster than before. He gives another hop before dropping his fork and clutching at his throat.

His face turns the same fiery hue as his hair, then a dark shade of purple as he rises to his feet and the crowd begins to gasp.

He lets out a horrible moan before falling onto the table and landing face-first into one of Lottie's pumpkin pies.

Screams go off as Noah picks the man off the table and lays him on the ground. He checks for a pulse before shaking his head at Lottie.

"What's happening?" a woman bellows as she steps forward and it's Harmony Honeycutt demanding answers. "Why is my ex-husband lying flat on his back? What's the matter, Peter? You can't cheat your way out of this, so you decided to forfeit?"

A light chuckle breaks out among the crowd.

Her ex ? As in Peter Honeycutt, my shiny new target?

Noah stands tall and shakes his head solemnly at the woman.

"I'm sorry," he tells her. "But he's no longer with us."

The crowd's gasps quickly turn into screams.

My new mark, Peter Honeycutt, is dead and I didn't have to pull a single trigger.

And yet it does beg the question, maybe my uncle wasn't the only one who wanted the guy toes-up in the morgue.