Whiskey Rebellion (Romantic Mystery/Comedy) Book 1 (Addison Holmes Mysteries)

over his shoulder and it was everything I could do not to groan in pain and give myself away. I took a quick glance around and noticed we were still in the living room before I closed my eyes again.
    “I had to give my mother daily morphine injections before she died,” John said. “I still have the syringes and medication. I’ll just give her more than the normal dosage. It’ll be quick and it won’t be messy.”
    “Take her to the guest room,” Fanny said. “We can keep her there until it gets dark and then we can move her.”
    John headed out of the living room with me, and I knew I’d never get out alive if I didn’t do something quick. I hung limply with my arms hanging down his back, and when we passed a low table I grabbed a heavy candlestick and hit him in the back of the knee.
    We both went down in a screaming he ap, but I had fear on my side, so I kicked and clawed until his hands loosened their grip. Spots danced in front of my eyes and a thin sheen of sweat gathered over my clammy body. It wouldn’t be long before I was passed out in a heap on the floor, so I scrambled off the ground and ran for my life.
    Fanny stood her ground and blocked my way, so I squinted my eyes and channeled my inner middle linebacker before running right through her. We crashed over a table, and glass shattered around us. Pillows, overturned lamps, and a broken candy dish filled with sugared almonds littered the floor around us.
    I had Fanny in a headlock and was trying to get her to stay down so I would have a chance to escape, but my palms were slicked with sweat and the blood that dripped down the back of my neck was more than a little distracting. John Hyatt came up behind me and pulled at my arms and legs like I was a human wishbone, and my screams echoed through the room.
    “Let her go, you bitch! You’re hurting her,” he yelled.
    I knew I was losing, so I let my body go slack. John gave a great heave as he threw me from Fanny’s body. Everything seemed to go in slow motion from there. I flew through the air, and I knew when I landed it was going to hurt like hell. I got satisfaction in seeing a swarm of cops enter the room with guns drawn just before I hit the long expanse of glass windows at the back of the living room.
    I tucked my head and tried to roll into a ball as the window gave and shattered at my back. My last thought was that I hoped the glass wouldn’t leave scars.

    “Addison—“
    I heard the sound of my name in the dis tance, a persistent buzzing I wanted to ignore but found impossible to do.
    “Let me die in peace,” I said.
    I lay spread eagle on the ground. My head hurt worse than it had a half hour ago, and I couldn’t feel my legs. I didn’t want to open my eyes and see the damage, but the annoying drone of my name being called didn’t give me any other choice.
    The flutter of the leaves on the trees above me was hypnotizing, and the ground was hard below me. In my imagination I was in a tropical paradise where there was no pain. I thought about swaying in the breeze on a hammock, a tall glass of lemonade in my hand and a half-naked man fanning me with giant palm leaves.
    “Earth to Addison,” the voice said again.
    “I should’ve known it was you,” I said to Nick.
    His face looked strained and worried. “How many fingers?” he asked.
    “A million. What happened to John and Fanny? Did they get away?”
    Nick was doing some deep breathing exercises, and I realized he was as angry as I’d ever seen him before. I had a sinking suspicion he was angry with me.
    “Please don’t yell at me yet. I think I need some Tylenol first. I know you’re angry,” I said, licking my lips.
    “Do ya think? I just watched your body fly twenty feet and crash through a plate glass window like you were on an episode of Smackdown. I ought to lock you up. Unfortunately we can’t arrest people for being stupid.”
    “Don’t call me stupid. I was trying to gather evidence so you could make an arrest since you seemed to be a little inept when it came to tracking down vicious killers. I was going to give you the information once I’d left here.”
    “I had a tap on his phone, and I was waiting for a warrant to come through to search the premises when you made your grand entrance. Fortunately, I’m aware of your tendency towards dumb luck and ordered the cops watching the house to let me know when and if you showed up.”
    I gasped at this admission. “You didn’t trust me.”
    “Not as