Poisoned Prose (A Books by the Bay Mystery)

last night, Laurel. And frankly, I’m relieved you weren’t there. All of that incredible energy, that powerful force that she was able to exude . . . it just vanished.”
    “She told us she’d become a ghost,” Laurel whispered. “How did she know?”
    Olivia thought back on the beginning of the performance. And then her eyes flew open and she sat up in bed. “Here’s another question. Who was she pointing at in the audience right after she raised the subject of the ghost?”
    Laurel gasped. “Do you think she saw her killer? That she knew she was almost out of time?”
    “Maybe. We should let the chief know who was seated there.”
    Laurel didn’t reply. As the silence grew, Olivia could practically feel her friend’s reluctance to speak. “What is it, Laurel?”
    “Don’t you remember who came in late and took the last seats on the end of that row? The exact place Violetta pointed to?”
    Dread washed over Olivia. Its coldness was incongruent with the bright white sheets and the warm sunshine streaming through the windows. “Damn it all. It was Grumpy and Dixie.”
    “Are you going to tell Rawlings?”
    The question echoed the one Dixie had asked her the night before, and Olivia felt the sudden burden of it. “I have to,” she said miserably.
    An hour later, she opened the door to the deck and stepped into the heat. The stark light had bleached the colors from the sand and sea oats. Except for the glassy ocean, the whole world had been rendered a dull beige. Cradling a mug of coffee, Olivia watched Haviland race down the path over the dunes, heading for the water’s edge. She tried calling Rawlings again, but he didn’t answer.
    She showered, slipped into a gauzy sundress, and drove into town. The church bells were pealing, and people dressed in their Sunday best hurried from sanctuary to car, reluctant to be away from the luxury of air-conditioning for more than a moment. The noon sun perched high in a hazy blue sky, and the heat shimmered off the sidewalks in ripples.
    The moment Olivia entered The Bayside Crab House, Haviland turned left for the kitchen. “No, you don’t,” she scolded. “We have paperwork to do.”
    Haviland gave a sniff of disapproval but trotted into the manager’s office. Olivia liked to do her bookkeeping on Sundays when her sister-in-law, Kim, was home with her two kids. Kim handled the restaurant’s day-to-day operations, but Olivia made the major decisions. Settling into the desk chair, she placed orders, reviewed the budget, and e-mailed a Raleigh advertising firm about the restaurant’s fall campaign.
    She’d just sent the e-mail when her half brother, Hudson, knocked on the office door. “Hungry?”
    She smiled at the man she hadn’t known for very long. Hudson was gruff and taciturn like their father, but he had a softer heart than Willie Wade and adored his wife and children. He also wasn’t as enamored of whiskey as Willie had been. Hudson rarely drank, and when he did, a cold beer satisfied him. Her brother was a hard worker and an excellent cook, and over the past year, Olivia had grown quite fond of him.
    He’s not your brother
, a voice whispered.
    Olivia studied Hudson’s tall frame and dark eyes. They were Willie’s eyes, but they weren’t hard or angry. They were much kinder. Willie Wade was not known for his kindness.
    He
is
my brother
.
No one knows that Charles Wade is my father. The facts don’t matter. What matters is that I need Hudson and his family, and they need me.
    “I had a late breakfast,” she said, still smiling. “How about a salad?”
    “You got it.” Haviland nudged Hudson with his paw and whined once. The big man studied the poodle. “I might have something for you too.”
    He returned shortly with a grilled chicken Caesar salad for Olivia and a small bowl of ground beef mixed with peas for Haviland. “What do you think of the specials for next week?” he asked after serving Olivia her meal.
    “I think the mahimahi and cilantro fish tacos will be a huge hit,” she said. “And the blackened grouper is always a top seller, but my favorite is the firecracker shrimp with a side of wasabi slaw.”
    Hudson was clearly pleased. “It’s got quite a bite.”
    They finished reviewing the menu and Hudson left to go back to the kitchen while Olivia ate and continued to work. As she completed her last task, images of Violetta invaded her thoughts. Turning to the computer, she typed Violetta’s name into Google’s