A Dreadful Meow-ment (MEOW FOR MURDER Book 2)

than the fatal one it opted for. After all, I had dolled myself up, spritzed, sprayed, and shaved to the hilt, so I thought I’d take a stab at seducing the handsome author while I had his attention.
I can’t help it. Even though I’ve never been one of those women who needed to jump from relationship to relationship, it doesn’t negate the fact I need a man—particularly one who is good with his hands. And, according to those best-seller lists, Shep’s fingers know exactly what to do and when to do it. That man can use my body like a keyboard anytime he wants. But I guess we’ll never know what would have come from a little innocent flirting.
Instead of waking up next to that handsome grump, I had to wake up grumpy all by my lonesome. And since waking up alone has been at epidemic levels since I’ve arrived in Starry Falls, it’s precisely why I’m so bent on kidnaping one of Opal’s many cats. I just need one to love and share a bed with. I’ve been meaning to ask permission before I choose my victim and run her or him all the way to my cabin, but I keep getting waylaid by sexy authors and dead bodies.
Thea waltzes by. “Please take over. I can’t stand the stress of managing this place. I don’t know how Regina did it.” She twitches her head. “But then again, she always took off and left me in charge. Hey? That’s right around the time I started to pull my hair out.” She gives the peach fuzz at the base of her temple a quick pat. “I’m glad to report it’s growing back nicely, and I’d like to keep it that way.”
Thea Bradley is a sweetheart, with her freckled nose and picket-fence smile. And apparently, she has a nervous habit of committing more than a little follicular damage to herself as well.
I glance across the café and spot Tilly flirting with a man in a muscle tee, and across from her stands Flo Jenkins, our resident Goth princess, complete with freshly dyed navy hair—this week—and enough black eyeliner to draw a map of the constellations over her eyelids and matching onyx lipstick. She wears thick combat boots despite the fact it’s heating up nicely outside. And if I were a paying customer, I’d be worried she might spit that gum she’s hacking away at right into my food.
Opal strides into the place dressed in a silver gown that looks as if it’s made exclusively out of safety pins and, my God, if she doesn’t make it look like a million bucks. It’s probably couture, from some weird and pricey designer, a throwback to her days as a billionaire. Word on the Starry Falls streets is that not only does Opal live upstairs in this grand mansion all by her lonesome, but she keeps the spare eleven or fifteen rooms as her private walk-in closet.
If only my breakup left me in the same predicament.
“Oh good, you’re here.” She gives a dramatic sigh as she sashays her way over. Opal’s silver locks complement her steely frock, and that cranberry-hued lipstick adds to the edgy appeal she’s sporting today. “I just heard the news. Congratulations.”
“Ooh.” Tilly bops over, nearly spilling coffee from the carafe in her hand. “Just in time for the gossip.” She looks to Opal with expectation. “Let’s hear it, woman.”
Opal makes crazy eyes at me, and with the way her blue eyes are ringed in kohl, it really does add a psychotic flair.
“Fine.” Opal feigns disappointment in me, or at least I hope she’s feigning it. “I’ll tell you—I just found out you’re—”
“Oh, the body!” I snap my fingers as if I just scored the right answer in a pop quiz. “Yeah, Shep and I found another one last night. It was a friend of his, too.”
Tilly sucks in a breath. “I bet you saw it coming.”
Tilly and Opal are the only two souls in Starry Falls—heck, in all of Vermont—
who know about my extracurricular supernatural abilities.
“I did not see it coming.” I frown with the confession. “But I did have a vision of someone threatening to kill Shep. That’s actually why I agreed to go to the hyped-up senior prom to begin with. But that sort of turned out to be a bust. It came true.” I nod. “And it wasn’t anything but his friend being playful.”
“But you never know,” Tilly says with morbid fascination.
“That’s for sure.” I sigh. “In fact, I had another vision right before we left. I think I know who the killer might be.” Oliver Kincaid, the silver fox who wields a hammer for a living, comes to the forefront of my mind and I do my best to momentarily push him away.
“Really?” Tilly’s eyes grow twice their size. “So who are we tracking down? I can get Thea and Flo to close up shop.”
“Thea opened,” I say with a slight wince because I’m not above her asking, I just thought it needed to be pointed out. “And the suspect in question just so happens to be a silver fox.”
Tilly leans my way. “Is there some code of ethics that says I can’t date a suspect?”
“Not that I know of.”
“Then I’m in like sin, sister.” She holds out a hand and I slap her five.
Opal waves her hands at the two of us. “Oh, stop it. The two of you are just viciously toying with my emotions. You’re both well aware of the good news. And now you’re the ones that need to spill the details.” She bends over and scoops up a fluffy white Persian named Matilda.
“Hey there, pretty girl,” I say, giving the sweet kitty a pat on the head. “Do you want to come home and live with me forever and ever?”
Opal twists her body so that Matilda is well out of reach.
“You mean with you and Shepherd.” Opal gives a knowing wink.
I blink back. “Why would I live with Shep? The man can’t