Page 4 of Say Yes to the Death

Claire glanced over the first few lines of the summons. “For ‘aggravated battery.’ There are doctor bills and pictures of her bruises in this file. Mindy, what do I do? I don’t have five million dollars.”

She collapsed onto a chair and hunched forward, massaging her temples. Apparently, getting abducted and stabbed was just the beginning of her bad luck this summer.

There was more shuffling and the jingling of keys on Mindy’s end of the line. “This is ridiculous. I am so slashing that bitch’s tires. I’ll call Kyle. Do you want me to come over? I’ll bring ice cream and a lock pick. We could pay Wendy a visit. I know a guy who can get us some termites.”

Claire gave a weak laugh. “Thanks, but no thanks. I’m not going to stoop to her level. I’m going to beat her fair and square at the award ceremony in a few weeks, and then I guess I’ll beat her in court. I’m headed to Luke’s after this anyway. Could you take my last appointment for the day and pick up the giant custom box from The Box Store? It won’t fit in my car, and I need to figure this out.”

“Of course. I’ll let you know what I find. And Claire—maybe don’t check our general email tonight.”

Her insides shriveled. “Are there more?”

“Dozens, just in the past hour alone. Somebody from Dubai is offering 500k plus travel expenses, it’s absolutely?—”

“Okay.I don’t need to hear any more.” Claire’s heart was pounding again. There was no way she was capable of making a decision about expanding the business right now. She needed a glass of wine and some vitamin D. Whether that would come from sunshine or Luke remained to be seen.

“We’re going to have to start making some decisions about expanding or?—”

“Mindy, I’m getting sued. And I got stabbed a hot minute ago. I can’t do this right now.Can we talk about it tomorrow?”

Mindy paused. “Are you sure tomorrow is going to be better? Don’t you have a super important dinner?”

Dammit. She had foolishly insisted on making dinner for Luke and his mother. It was an integral part of her wooing routine for meeting parents for the first time—thoughtful gift, homecooked dinner, intelligent conversation. She and Rachel hadn’t met, but she was an attorney and had a reputation for being equally unpleasant in and out of court.

“Thanks for reminding me. At least this will be fodder for dinner conversation. Maybe Rachel will have some advice. I have to go.”

“Okay. Don’t worry. Everything is going to be fine.Call Luke. He’ll want to know.”

Claire hung up and slumped in her chair, staring at the stack of papers. All she wanted was some Chinese takeout and a blanket to hide under. Now she was being sued by her ex-fiancé’s new girlfriend, who also happened to be her biggest nemesis, and the wretched hag was going after Claire for five million dollars. Were the scales of justice broken this summer?

She flipped open her day planner and scanned the month of June. Thanks to Barney Windsor, the former client who abducted and stabbed her last week, her calendar was filling up with unplanned events. Lawyer meetings and a sure-to-be-hellish preliminary hearing all before Father’s Day. Ugh. Father’s Day.

She secured her Taser (Taser #2, to be exact) to the underside of the table. She whistled, and nails skittered excitedly somewhere in the warehouse. An extremely dusty corgi rounded the corner and arrived at Claire’s side with a violent sneeze.

“Bless you. How would you feel about running away and starting a new life in Cancun, RoRo? We could change our names. I’ll be Catalina and you be Rosalita.”

Rosie whined softly.

Claire sighed. “You’re right. I’d miss Nicole and Mindy.”

Rosie yipped.

“Luke, too, I guess. They could come along, though. We could start a destination proposal business! Proposals in Paradise. I can see it now.”

Rosie put her paw on Claire’s shoe and looked at her skeptically.

“Fine.” Claire stood and rummaged through her purse. “Where did I put your leash?” While Rosie was a loveable dog, she was poorly trained. One sighting of an errant squirrel and she would bolt down the streets of West Haven, never to be seen again.

The new HDTV that Luke had installed in the corner of the warehouse (because apparently the existing projector didn’t meet bougie Luke’s screening standards) changed from an erectile dysfunction commercial to a local newscaster.

“Thank you for joining us for a special afternoon edition of Marnie in the Morning,” said a light, clear voice Claire had last heard during her TV debut. “You are watching history being made, ladies and gentlemen.”

The camera panned out, revealing another chair.

Claire swallowed hard. Rosie whined and put her front paws on her knee.

“Here with us today is Victoria Wolfgang, the former fiancée of the alleged serial killer the West Haven Widowmaker, otherwise known as Barney Windsor, CEO of the Heirloom Hotel chain.”

Barney’s mugshot appeared behind the two women. His normally slicked-back brown hair was unkempt. A sheen of sweat covered his forehead, and his steel-gray eyes burned with malice.

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