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    The Color of Fear: Kelly O'Connell Mysteries, #7
    The Color of Fear: Kelly O'Connell Mysteries, #7
    The Color of Fear: Kelly O'Connell Mysteries, #7
    Ebook81 pages1 hour

    The Color of Fear: Kelly O'Connell Mysteries, #7

    By Judy Alter

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    About this ebook

    The Color of Fear marks Judy Alter’s return to mystery fiction and the Kelly O’Connell series after an absence of more than a year. This time, the indomitable Keisha narrates the short tale wherein Kelly and her family live under the threat of infant Gracie’s kidnapping. The story serves as a reprise of many of the previous novels in the series, as Keisha, in her search for the kidnapper, recalls Kelly’s earlier adventures. And the fear for Gracie colors the overall story,

    Keisha remains outspoken and independent as she balances her need to protect Kelly and her family with her love for new husband, José Thornberry. Some but not all of Kelly’s friends and foes from previous stories appear here, along with such new characters as Clyde, the guard dog, and Cowboy, the homeless guy with a soft heart.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAlter Ego Publishing
    Release dateMay 16, 2017
    ISBN9780999037119
    The Color of Fear: Kelly O'Connell Mysteries, #7
    Author

    Judy Alter

    An award-winning novelist, Judy Alter is the author of six books in the Kelly O’Connell Mysteries series: Skeleton in a Dead Space, No Neighborhood for Old Women, Trouble in a Big Box, Danger Comes Home, Deception in Strange Places, and Desperate for Death. With Murder at the Blue Plate Café, she moved from inner city Fort Worth to small-town East Texas to create a new set of characters in a setting modeled after a restaurant that was for years one of her family’s favorites. She followed with two more Blue Plate titles: Murder at the Tremont Inn and Murder at Peacock Mansion.

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      Book preview

      The Color of Fear - Judy Alter

      Chapter One

      Cynthia Grace Shandy. There never was a child so well loved. And I swear I’ve never seen a child bring such joy to a family as that little Gracie. She’s got her mom’s brown hair but without the curls—Mike’s straight hair with one curl on her forehead. Remember that old saw? And when she was good, she was very good/And when she was bad, she was horrid. Only even I got to say Gracie is never horrid.

      She’s Cynthia Grace for her grandmothers—Cynthia is Kelly’s mom, who lives near all of us and has blossomed in ways Kelly never expected, but that’s another story. Grace was Mike’s late mother. Kelly couldn’t see saddling the child with Cynthia for her everyday name, so she’s Gracie.

      Kelly’s my boss. She owns O’Connell and Spencer Real Estate in the historic Fairmount District in Fort Worth, Texas. But Kelly’s on an extended vacation to play mama to her baby. Who knows if she’ll ever come back to the office? We meet daily, and I tell her what’s going on, what houses we’ve listed or sold, what house Anthony, our carpenter/construction manager, is renovating. Kelly likes Anthony to take an old Craftsman and restore it—she usually picks the house, but I’m getting pretty good at deciding which ones are possibilities and which have been neglected for too long. What I’m trying to say is I really am running that office without her. And I love it! Shhh. Don’t tell Kelly.

      I may even move to Kelly’s ex-husband’s desk and leave my desk vacant but looking occupied, so I can pretend the receptionist has just stepped out.

      But I got off the subject. I was telling you about how baby Gracie has brought such happiness to the whole family. If I go of a morning to talk business with Kelly, she’ll have Gracie on her tummy, doing her strength exercises, and Mom will be down on the floor cooing and giggling. I might as well talk to the wall. Every once in a while, Kelly will say, Good, or What does Anthony say? or something, but her attention is clearly not on me or business.

      When he comes home of an evening, Mike heads straight for the baby. He’s the captain for the downtown district of the Fort Worth Police Department. After all, we live and work in an inner-city neighborhood. Mike sees a lot of stuff I don’t even want to talk about, but he never has got jaded. He picks that baby up, puts her on his lap, and has these serious talks with her about politics or the weather or her sisters, and she just stares at him wide-eyed. Occasionally, her face breaks into a huge grin like he’s the funniest thing she’s ever seen, and then Mike throws back his head and laughs with happiness.

      Oh yeah, Gracie’s got two older sisters—much older. Maggie is fifteen, with a new boyfriend and a new learner’s permit to drive. I ain’t sure which one will send Mike Shandy, her stepfather, over the edge first. And then there’s sweet, soft-hearted Em, just twelve. Each girl wanted Gracie to sleep in her room, but Kelly decreed that, for the first six months, Gracie will sleep in the upstairs bedroom with her and Mike. Then they’ll decide, though Lord knows what they’ll decide—they haven’t got another bedroom, and they’ve already added on to that house as much as I ’spect Kelly’s sensibilities to Craftsman architecture will allow.

      So far, the girls have taken turns babysitting, but only while Kelly is busy in the kitchen or getting a much-needed nap. They think of it as a privilege—I ain’t predicting how they’ll feel in five years. But those older girls do love their new little sister, and she lights up like a Christmas tree for them.

      Yeah, you guessed it. When I see Gracie and then go home to my sweet husband, José, I am full of wanting a baby. José is pretty much okay with whatever I want. For years, I wanted the wedding of my dreams, and I finally had it. I’ve wanted to run my own business since I was a kid. With Kelly so besotted with Gracie, I’m doing the next best thing. Babies are on down the line—my time clock ain’t ticking that loud yet.

      Before I think more about a baby, I know that Kelly and Mike are going to need me real bad, and I got to be here for them. Oh, you didn’t know? I have the sixth sense, and I’ve got Kelly out of more scrapes than I care to tell you, rescued her when she tangled with everything from a serial killer to a psychopathic televangelist.

      * * * *

      I dressed special carefully that morning. I had a list of things to discuss with Kelly, and then I was taking a client to lunch. You have no idea how grown-up those words make me feel. Yes, I’m twenty-eight years old, but I still don’t feel grown-up half the time. Me? A high-school dropout who lucked first into an alternative school and then into this job as Kelly’s assistant or whatever—yes, me. Taking a client to lunch? The idea tickled me and sent me into giggles. José looked at me as if I’d taken leave of my senses.

      I thought I’d take this client to Lili’s Bistro. She was a woman of maybe forty, newly divorced and on her own for the first time in her life. She was looking for a modest home for herself, and, while she knew Fairmount’s few new constructions fit her budget best, she longed for a picturesque Craftsman cottage. I had some ideas for her.

      To go to Lili’s, I chose a royal blue squaw skirt—those skirts are my signature piece of clothing, even if most ladies consider them passé by this time. This one has yellow and green zigzag stripes hidden in the folds of pleats, so that the colors swirl when I walk. A bright yellow loose top and green tips in my short hair, and I was ready. Even drew a wolf whistle from José. ’Course, he frowned at my shoes—highest yellow sandals I could find. (I keep moccasins under my desk at work.)

      Kelly appreciated my

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