Girls' Night Out Murder (Ryli Sinclair 2) by Jenna St. James

pulled
out of our shared driveway and gone about twenty yards down the blacktop before
they turned on their lights.
    I caught Aunt Shirley’s eye. She’d noticed it, too. With a
small shake of her head, she let me know I was to keep my mouth shut and not
say anything.
    I almost groaned aloud. I also knew this meant I was
probably going to get myself into some hot water pretty soon.

Chapter 11

 
    I woke up to pounding on the bedroom door. I rolled over and
groaned. The pain of that little movement about made me pee. I tried to open my
mouth, but it seemed to be glued shut.
    It took me a few seconds to realize the pounding on the door
was actually inside my head. I tried to think back to how many drinks and jello
shooters I’d had the previous night…but even that was too painful. Thank
goodness I’d taken some headache medicine before going to bed. I’d hate to
think how I’d feel now if I hadn’t.
    I heard Paige stirring in her bed. “I hate to think how we’re
going to feel Saturday morning after the bachelorette party,” she croaked.
      Perish the thought!
    I didn’t say anything. Instead I concentrated on making the
room not spin. Hoping I had a good hold on everything inside me, I closed my
eyes and tentatively sat up.
    “It looks like our moms were thinking ahead. They put water
next to our beds,” Paige whispered.
    I slowly turned my head and saw a tall glass of water.
Reaching out for it, I drank it in three gulps. I almost felt better.
    “I suppose we should be sociable and go upstairs,” I said
once I could formulate words.
    Paige didn’t say anything. But she threw back her covers and
flung her feet over the side of the bed. Following suit, we both shuffled up
the stairs.
    Aunt Shirley, Mindy, Bea, and my mom were already sitting
around the table eating breakfast and drinking coffee. The table was set with
scrambled eggs, cinnamon baked apples, and biscuits.
    “I figured you guys could use the biscuits to soak up some
of that alcohol,” Mom said as she set down plates for us.
    It smelled wonderful. “Thanks, Mom,” I said, reaching for two
biscuits.
    “Is Megan still asleep?” Paige asked.
    “I think so, dear. You girls had a late night,” Bea said.
    I groaned. She wasn’t kidding.
    “So what’s on our agenda today?” Mindy asked.
    I looked over at Paige. As far as I knew we had everything
ready to go. The cake was being prepared, the florist was scheduled for
tomorrow afternoon, and everyone else was due in Saturday or Sunday.
    “I’m just gonna start making more jello shots for the
bachelorette party Friday night,” Aunt Shirley said as she poured Irish Cream
into her coffee.
    “Oh, my gosh. Are you still drinking?” I asked.
    Aunt Shirley laughed. “Hair of the dog that bit you, kid.” She
took a big slurp of her coffee and grinned. “Hair of the dog.”
    Suppressing a shudder, I took a swallow of my own strong,
black coffee. “I think I’m going to go for a walk and look for spots to take
wedding pictures. Kinda get an idea of things beforehand.”

 

* * *

 
    I pulled my hat over my ears and picked up my sunglasses and
camera. Now that I’d had a good breakfast, two more glasses of water, and
another handful of pain reliever I felt pretty good.
    The glare from the fresh snow made me glad I’d grabbed the sunglasses.
I headed down to the dock. These days we just kept a pontoon for cruising the
lake.
    Stepping onto the dock, I felt my body sway with the rhythm
of the water. I lifted my camera and snapped a picture of the contrast between
the white snow and blue water.
    “I know you’re here!”
    Bang! Bang! Bang!
    Startled, I looked up to see what was going on.
Unfortunately, all I saw was a blue Ford pickup with the driver’s side door
still open parked behind Jim’s truck.
    “You hear me, Cleary? I know you’re here because your pickup
is parked outside! I told you on the phone the other day that you’d better get
my shit done or I was comin’ for you!