Once Upon a Murder Read online

  Also by Kodi Heart

  The Murderous Chapters

  Once Upon a Murder

  Twists Like a Knife

  Under Deadline

  Table of Contents

  Also By Kodi Heart

  Once Upon a Murder (The Murderous Chapters, #1)

  Once Upon a Murder

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Twists Like a Knife

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  Also By Kodi Heart

  Once Upon a Murder

  The Murderous Chapters

  Book 1

  By

  Kodi Heart

  Once Upon a Murder

  Once upon a time, there was a dead body...

  When Olivia Andrews - rising-in-the-ranks-author, breaks it off with her ex-boyfriend, she finds there's more to fear than make-up texts.

  She has more drama in her own life than what she writes about. When the body of someone close to her lands in her way amidst the picturesque wilds of the northwest, Olivia has to prove she didn't do it while staying one step ahead of the killer – who has promised to write her ending next.

  Laughing at the wildly inappropriate visits with her aging aunts and dodging the love interest of her best-friend's brother, Olivia struggles to stay on top of her deadline while avoiding becoming the next plot twist.

  Can Olivia clear her name for the murder and discover who is out to get her in this chaotically satisfying mystery set in a small town, or will she become post-humously famous?

  Don’t miss out on this fast-paced cozy mystery!

  Chapter 1

  I dabbed foundation on the bruise just above my cheekbone, but nothing was covering that mark. The blue and purple had only deepened in hue over the last few days since our last writers’ meeting.

  Thankfully, the marks along my collarbone were gone, so I could wear something besides the hated turtlenecks or my singular scarf with the red and yellow polka dots.

  Telling everyone I fell down the stairs was ludicrous, but that’s what I’d done everywhere I went. Everyone knew the truth in my writers’ group, though, but that was another reason why I’d stayed in the bathroom as long as I had. I didn’t fall down the stairs. I fell into my ex-boyfriend's fist and slipped into his stranglehold.

  Not for the first time.

  The library bathroom was empty of other women. Three stalls stood with all the doors open, as if mocking my situation. The light wasn't bright enough to dispel every shadow in the corners of the room, but it was enough to clearly see the carelessly applied makeup on my face. The lies my make-up told just reinforced my shame. They would know I was trying to cover the bruises up.

  Sylvia would know and she would smirk, tossing her strawberry blonde hair around that I sometimes wanted to rip from her Princess Diana head. She was graceful and always fashionable with an understated class.

  I could throw something at her.

  Running the water until it turned warm, I avoided looking at myself in the mirror. What would I see? Nothing new. Just my flannel jacket, crazy, curly, dark hair, and curvy shape that I liked to hide in jeans and hiking boots with t-shirts, and finally, the bruises on a swollen cheekbone.

  Keep walking, people. Nothing to see here. Unless of course you want to see my bum! I grinned at my joke as I bent closer to the sink to wash black, smudged eyeliner from my chin. Moving lower thrust my posterior up into the air. I was short, but I had long legs and the “specialty needs” counter was lower than normal.

  The bathroom door squeaked open. I jumped and spun around, clenching my hands behind my back. My heart raced, and you would think I expected a murderer to come through the door.

  My best friend, Robyn, studied my face. She waited to speak until after the door closed shut. “Olivia, are you okay?”

  I exhaled on a whoosh in relief. I wasn't sure what was going on or who had my side. David, my ex, had dated Kami at one point, but she still wasn’t there yet. As far as I could see from my post in front of the bathroom sink. She hadn’t texted me that she was there in any case. She still hadn’t really said anything about the week before and what had happened with David.

  Did Kami believe my side? I didn’t want to drag her into anything. As close as she and I had gotten, I hated that the ex might have finally gotten between us, even though we’d never addressed the David in the room. I didn't know if she believed me or not. Not that I had tried dragging her into it.

  I turned back to the sink and faced myself while looking at Robyn in the mirror. I offered a tight smile and tried to look nonchalant. “I'll be fine. Do you think it looks like I'm trying to be a clown or something?” Motioning toward my make-up, I screwed my lips to the side.

  Her multi-colored ponytail swung behind her as she moved toward me. She put her hand on my back and studied me in the mirror. “No, you're going to be fine. You don’t look like a clown. Only that loser, David, would say that.”

  Robyn leaned closer to the mirror. Her pink and blue striped ponytail swung across her shoulder. She pushed her pinky finger at the arch of her eyebrow and blinked hard.

  “If you want me to, I can put on a bunch of makeup and make myself look like a prostitute. Would that make you feel better? I'm sure Craig would get a good kick out of it.” Robyn rolled her eyes and turned, leaning her butt against the bathroom counter. She crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. “I haven't dressed like a prostitute in a while. It might be fun.”

  I couldn't help laughing, even though the movement ached in my lower jaw, another spot David had laid one on me. “Do you think he'll be here?” I hadn’t asked all week.

  Robyn wasn't only my best-friend, she was also my assistant and an aspiring author herself. I hadn't told her I was thinking about not showing up at the writers’ group, because David might be there.

  I knew better than dating another author, especially when he and Kami broke up two years before. I knew better, and yet I was taken in by his smooth talking, his flattery, and his quick wit. The controlling aspects of his personality didn't show up until I thought I was in love. They didn't manifest themselves as warning signs until he’d pushed my family away and manipulated himself into my writing world.

  He pushed me until it was too late for the rest of my life. I sought solace in my work. I’d brushed my family off because he’d convinced me it was the best thing.

  Nothing could’ve been further from the truth.

  When I missed the information that my mom had died because he’d deleted the voicemails on my phone and I didn’t make it to her funeral, I knew it’d gone too far. Robyn had smacked some sense into me.

  But my dad wouldn’t speak to me. He blamed Mom’s death on me. Said she died from a broken heart.

  I ignored the cracks in my heart and focused on Robyn.

  Robyn leaned over and waited until I met her gaze. “If that jerk shows up? If he's here? I'll kill him. Like string him up dead. I will plunge a pencil into his eyeball, and then I will hammer it in with a —”

  I held my hands. “Okay, okay.” I laughed. “I get it. One of the best murder scenes I can envision. Do not tell Tesha. She’ll take it from you.”

  Our laughter faded, but didn't return us to our uncomfortable silence. Instead, I didn't feel quite so alone. I knocked into her softly with my shoulder. “Thanks.”

  She didn’t reply other than to toss a long-lashed wink my way.

  I knew if anyone would kill for me, it’d be her.

  Robyn straightened up and ran her hand over her ponytail. “Well? Should we get in there? I think I saw Ka
mi and Craig show up before I came in. I'm not sure about Tesha, but I'm sure the others will be here soon, too.”

  I glanced one more time at my horrible makeup job and heaved a sigh. “Yeah, let's go. I want to hear how everyone's been doing this last week.”

  The well-being of the group had become like an obsession for me. Even though we got new members all the time and some of them were transient, the core group was one I’d grown quite attached to. We supported each other through so much, and friends like that were hard to find.

  Robyn and I walked out of the library door and into the conference room the library had reserved for us for every week. Friday nights were our nights. We had signed up for the room as the Writers of the World Date Night. Usually we made jokes on Facebook and in group text messages to each other like, “Are you ready for a WOW date?”

  The group was fun. I didn't go to them for writing craft or publishing advice anymore. I went for moral support and friendship. Nobody understood how it was for me as a writer, except other writers.

  I fell in behind Robyn as she entered the conference room door. Shame kept my normally exuberant self in reserve. Robyn plastered on her excited loveliness and exclaimed, “The party is here! Y'all can be excited now.”

  I giggled, biting my lip as I allowed the discomfort to fade.

  Kami approached me, cautiously, with her arms over her chest. Paler than normal with shadows under her eyes, she spoke as if she wasn’t sure how I would act toward her. “Hey, Olivia, how are you? I've been emailing you and texting you all week. How have you been?”

  Keeping my emotions tight to my chest, I nodded curtly. “Yeah, thank you. I've just been swamped with this deadline and some marketing requests that my PR firm requested.” I put my bag on the top of the table in front of my seat, and made sure my smile was bigger than the bruise.

  Kami and I were friends. I really liked her. She was just one of those girls who wasn't always sure where she stood with people. With my own insecurities over the last week, since David's manhandling got out of control, I didn't want to be the one to inadvertently add to anyone else's insecurities. She waited a moment and then reached her arms around me and hugged me.

  I stiffened for a moment. She had been David's girlfriend before me and the subject was a sore one between us.

  After a moment, I allowed myself to sink into her hold. She understood. Her touch told me she understood why I hurt and where my shame came from. It was nice to be understood.

  Craig approached us with his weather-beaten hands tucked in his front pockets. His salt and pepper hair had been slicked down on either side with a very precise line down to the left. His glasses perched on his nose, as if an afterthought. He cleared his throat and avoided looking me directly in the face. “Did you guys see the email David put on the loop an hour ago?”

  I stifled the wince David’s spoken name triggered, but Kami met my gaze and then glanced at Craig. She spoke for us, still touching my arm as if she anchored me to the ground. “What are you talking about? David was supposed to be kicked off the loop. We decided that last week.”

  I had missed last week’s meeting when they had reacted to the fight between David and me. David had tried following me afterwards, but I’d gone to Robyn’s instead of home. He hadn’t been able to get a hold of me all week – because I didn’t want to be contacted.

  Craig shrugged, a chunk of his hair bobbed on the side like an ill-trained cowlick. He adjusted his glasses and shrugged. “I don't know about all that, but it sounds like he got an agent and the book went up for auction. He sold it for a disgusting price. From what I understood, he sold a whole series of eight books, I think? The pitch said they’re urban fantasy or something. Did you guys even know he was writing? Urban fantasy. That’s nuts.” The older man shook his head. “I can’t believe it.”

  I felt like I'd been punched in the stomach. The bastard hadn't even told me he was writing anything. I swallowed, my throat tight with betrayal on more than just a physical level.

  Kami wrapped her arm around my shoulders, like she knew what I was dealing with. She glanced at Craig, her carefully tweezed eyebrows arched. “Eight books? Fantasy? What is he up to?” Her fingers dug into my right shoulder, her nails sharp and piercing, but I didn't care. Somebody else was trying to hold me up, bolster me against what the bastard continued to try to do to me.

  I shook my hair back and asked through clenched teeth, “Craig, is he coming tonight? Did he say anything about that?” I swore by all that was literary, I would leave if that jerk off was coming, and I’d run him over with my car. So, help me, he wouldn't get to live. Robyn wouldn't get to him first.

  I would.

  We sat down as Craig shook his head. “He didn't say anything directly about coming or not. He mentioned being here, but that could've been anything. I don't know. I thought you guys all saw it on the loop?”

  Kami leaned over, blocking me from Craig’s view. She narrowed her eyes and studied my face. Her voice was low. “Are you okay? I remember the first time he hit me. It was one of the last.”

  She winked at me and put her hand over mine. Her cinnamon scent had taken on an Old Spice connotation, and I turned my face away so as not to breathe it in. Old Spice reminded me too much of David. The jerk.

  My smile could’ve cracked. The fact that everybody in that room knew what had happened didn't make me feel any better about being there. I couldn’t help wondering what they all thought of me.

  As vice-president, Tesha called the meeting to order with a funny joke and a pencil as a gavel. I had to ignore the business details and suppress the wave of memories from the week before. My face heated as I clenched my teeth. We had been in the last meeting, and David started yelling at me. We had broken up a while ago, and he wouldn’t stop trying to get back together with me.

  I didn’t want to and I said as much. Not going to happen. No, sir. When I told him to leave me alone, he snapped.

  He hadn’t tried to cover his words or keep it down, like he relished causing a scene and embarrassing me. “You write like a whore. You act like a whore and a tease. I wouldn't take you back for anything.” He’d pushed his finger into my shoulder, and I’d slapped his hand away.

  Somehow, I’d laughed at him. “And where are you? You don't even know what you want to do with your life. You just flip around trying to make mommy and daddy happy. But nothing you do makes them happy because you don't make anyone happy. I know you didn't make me happy.” I flinched just remembering my words. I hadn’t held back, either, and it wasn’t the first time we’d yelled at each other.

  Which is why I’d broken things off. I didn’t want to yell at the one I was supposed to be with.

  His fist had connected with my cheekbone before I’d even finished my last word. When he reached out to wrap his hands around my neck, his thumb had clenched tightly on my clavicle. I’d grunted, unable to call for help.

  Tesha, Robyn, and Kami rushed to help me, screaming at him to leave me alone. The whole incident happened in front of the whole writers’ group and some other library members.

  The heat in my face from being embarrassed hurt with the memories, stinging where the bruises were still healing. As I listened to Tesha discuss budgetary limits for the next year, I tried ignoring the fact that a fine sweat had broken out on my brow. What would they think of me? Could it be worse than I thought of myself?

  Everyone had tried to check on me during the week from the group and make me feel better. I hated to say I had only wanted to be left alone.

  Had he really gotten a huge deal? That just didn't seem fair when everyone else there, who deserved it, struggled to even get their stuff read and rejected, let alone a huge offer.

  The business meeting passed quickly. “Does everyone want to skip the critiques tonight? I didn't get through all of them.” Robyn glanced at me, but leaned forward with her hands steepled on the table. “We could do a double session next week.”

  Tesha nodded, yawning. She cracke
d her knuckles and bobbed her tightly curled ponytail as she moved. “That sounds good to me.”

  I kicked my feet out in front of me and moved to stand up. The clatter of pens and other things falling out of my purse made me close my eyes. “Lovely,” I muttered under my breath. Kami and Tesha knelt down with me under the table. Robyn and Craig rushed to join us and we shoved things back in my purse.

  Tesha pinched a fingernail polish bottle between two fingers and arched her eyebrow. “Green? You don’t strike me as a green nails girl.” She shoved more into the gaping maw of my bag. “Oh, my land, woman, are you packing for an overnighter?” Tesha's southern charm carried off the gentle joke smoothly.

  “Either that, or she's planning something sinister.” Kami giggled as she held up my tube of Carmex Chapstick. “There's only so many ways you can Chapstick someone to death.”

  Tesha grinned, her pink lipstick spotting her front teeth. “I can tell you a few of them. Maybe next week we will go for another few scenes like that.” Tesha was our resident thriller writer. She had an obsession with gore and murder. The rest of us shuddered when she turned in her chapters. The woman knew how to set up a scene.

  I laughed, grateful that the mention of murder didn’t make me cringe, but instead brought a sense of comedic relief. “That sounds good.” Assured everything was returned to my bag, I stood and offered my hand to Tesha to help her up first. “Well, this was fun.” I wasn't looking forward to the long drive home.

  Everyone else stood, dusting off their pants or rearranging clothing that had gone askew. We hadn’t been there more than forty minutes. I didn't want to go home and be alone with the possibility of David showing up. Out in the woods, anything was possible. He had a lot to brag about, and I didn’t want to hear it.

  “Well, I heard Craig and Cindy over there talking about Cindy and some of the other writers going out to dinner at Denny's. Why don't you tag along?”

  I looked at the rest of the group. It wasn't a small group, but it was smaller than most. Most of the writers came from Spokane, Washington and gathered from all over the area.