Lock, Stock, and Feral

on what look to be a bun made of a glazed donut. Sure enough, a sign strung up over the booth reads we bet donuts to burgers you’ll love our food! Feed one to your sweetheart and you’ll have a sweetheart for life! Made with real wagyu patties!
“Ooh, wagyu,” I moan at the thought. “That’s some fancy beef. And pairing it with donuts? That’s just brilliant. I really want to try those.”
“I’ll tell you what’s brilliant”—Juni grits the words in a husky voice—“that line of abs they’ve got showcasing their wares. Now that’s some beef I’d like to wrap a donut around.” She cranes her neck into the crowd. “Looks like Mama’s gonna miss out on the burger buffet.” She does a double take to our left. “Lookie there”—Juni knocks me in the ribs—“ain’t that the perp in the orange blouse?”
Sure enough, I spot a fresh scrubbed blonde with her no-nonsense demeanor in jeans and a floral orange blouse standing under a tent filled with books. Her arms are filled with paperbacks and there’s what looks to be a green smoothie in her hand.
Fish pokes her head out and looks that way. To choose a spinach shake in a sea of burgers swaddled in glazed donuts is pretty telling about a person.
“I so agree,” I mutter. “Juni, why don’t you grab a burger and I’ll go talk to Devan. I’ll catch up with you soon.”
We split ways and I stride over to the tent with the word books written across the front in bright yellow letters. It’s cooler under the canopy, taking the sting of the late afternoon sun away while tinting the plethora of tables laden with books with a lime green patina. Cleverly crafted towers made of hardbacks dot the middle of the tent, erecting themselves from one end to the other like literary Christmas trees.
Devan is busy chatting away with a man in an apron who is actively straightening the books and he points her over to my general direction.
Fish pats me on the chest. Here she comes, Bizzy! Act natural.
I make a left without looking where I’m going and walk right into one of those cleverly strewn literary Christmas trees, causing a slow moving avalanche that my body seems to fall right into. Lucky for Fish, I land on my side and manage to swim my way through the hardbacks to a sitting position as an entire throng of employees comes to my rescue.
Way to act natural, Fish yowls. Are you okay? You’ve only got two legs, for goodness’ sake. You’d better take care of them before we’re both getting around on all fours.
“Funny,” I say as I nod to the kind men who help hoist me up. “Thank you so much. I’m sorry about that.” I take a step out of their way as they get right to cleaning up the mess I made, and I step right into the path of Devan Abner.
A jovial laugh comes from her. “Bizzy? Is that you?” She pulls me to the side. “My goodness, are you okay? Is your cat okay?”
“I’m fine. And Fish is fine, too. My other cat is the small orange tabby, but she’s actually not with me at the moment. Technically, she’s not really my cat. She’s sort of staying with me until we figure everything out.”
“I saw her that night at the inn.” She gives a wistful smile. “If you ever want to place her, you let me know. I’d love to give her a home. Are you sure you’re okay?” She helps dust off my arm.
“Yup. I was just showing off some of my top klutzy moves. I’m super embarrassed.”
She belts out another laugh. “Well, don’t be. I’ve had my fair share of red-faced moments—like the time I walked right into a giant hole in the ground. My ex kept right on walking and didn’t miss a beat.” Funny how the roles are reversed and I’m the one who’s still walking and haven’t missed a beat.
My eyes widen a notch. “That wouldn’t be Patterson, would it?” Normally, I wouldn’t have segued to the deceased so quickly, but I figured since she gave me an inch I was going to take a macabre mile.
Her expression sours at the mention of him. “How did you know that?”
“Someone whispered something to the effect at the book club meeting the other night. How are you doing? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” Her back shudders. “I still can’t believe he’s gone.” I’m not sorry about it, but I can’t believe it. I’ve dreamed of this for years.
My lips part at the horrible thought and Fish mewls.
This must be good, Bizzy. You look as if you’re ready to fall right over once again.
She’s not wrong.
“So how long were the two of you married?” I ask.
“Just a few years. Patterson was a pretty good basketball player in college and got recruited to the Red Claws. That’s when we were together.”
“Really? That’s huge.” The Red Claws are in the National Basketball Association. That must be why all those women were pawing at him. They were bona fide jersey chasers.
“It would have been.” She glares past my shoulder as if she was looking right at him. “But he sustained a shoulder injury to his rotator cuff that was a career ender. We were just about to move to Portland and everything. Anyway, we drifted apart. I couldn’t stand the attention he was still getting from his basketball groupies, and as it turned out, he loved it. I don’t know if you noticed or not, but he was still what I like to call a crowd pleaser right up until the end. Women found him irresistible.”
I nod. “It was noticeable. So you must have been on friendly terms. I mean, he came to the book club you head up.”
She plucks up a book off the table before us with a cartoon picture of a dog knocking over a wedding cake, and I can’t help but notice there’s a shiny silver knife in that