Page 61 of Vicious Kingdom

“No, ma’am.” Penelope smirked and held up her own dazzling rock. “I’m taken.”

“Goodness! That’s a stunner.” Jannet plucked my friend’s hand to take a closer look. “Are you local, dear?”

Penelope nodded. “Yup.”

“Transplant, though. South Dakota or Wyoming?” Janet peered closer at my friend, as if her eyesight wasn’t raptor sharp.

“North Dakota.”

Janet snapped her fingers. “NorthDakota. We always forget about little old North Dakota. Huh, I’m sorry, I should have known. Oh! Look at that!” She snatched a vase but quickly shook her head and plopped it back.

“Madame, if you are going to keep touching the merchandise, I must insist that you don’t slam it on the shelf,” the owner of the shop said icily.

Janet rounded on her. “You are in charge of the estate sales that collect these items?”

“Yes,” the owner responded. “We only go to ones in a certain price point.”

Janet hummed. “So if you want to continue to have access to the elite’s worldly goods after their demise, I suggest you improve your customer service. One word from me, and you’ll be out of business.”

“She can do it too,” I added, unable to help myself. “You heard of the Bistro Rotunda?”

The owner’s eyes widened.

“Yeah, my girl Janet here, put them out of business after the manager got lippy.” I shuffled a few steps and gave Janet a side squeeze.

Her tinkling laughter filled my ears. “Oh, that was a hoot! I only wanted them to sweep the sidewalk after an animal got into the city’s trash receptacle. You’d have thought I asked them to feed their patrons for free—oh! Speaking of demise.” Janet rounded on me. “I heard the most shocking thing!”

I grinned. “Do tell, darling.”

“Some billionaire tech tycoon, in town on business, was found dead in his hotel room.”

The world tilted.

Whatever else Janet was saying was suddenly covered by the rushing sound of water. My pulse beat wildly, my lungs stopped working. The lights of the shop dimmed.

“—and they’re claiming it was drugs. Which is funny because I never took him for that type. Of course, I only met him once.”

“Anna?” Penelope was suddenly in front of me.

“I need to sit down,” I gasped, reaching for a wicker stool.

“Not on that!” the shop owner yelped.

Janet gave her a withering look. “Watch yourself.”

Ignoring the scream from my bummed foot, I staggered to something more solid and plopped onto an embroidered cushion. The hand-carved settee groaned under my weight, but my legs refused to hold me any longer.

“I heard the billionaire was your friend, dearest. I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news.” Janet’s voice mercifully dropped an octave. “I can’t believe you didn’t already know! Your father printed the story this morning. Every gruesome detail.”

“Janet, I wonder if you’d be so kind as to help me pick out a gift for Anna’s friend. We’ll let her catch her breath, yeah?” Penelope swept the eccentric socialite into the chase.

I pulled out my phone, fingers trembling.

“Here.” The shop owner handed me a cold bottle of water. “If you spill on the settee, you buy it.”

“Thanks,” I croaked, uncapped the bottle, and sipped as my eyes scanned the news article.

The settee didn’t survive, because the next minute, I was choking and spewing water.