Misty Simon - Frame and Fortune

I dont know what Im going to do, Ivy. A tear leaked out of the corner of her eye, although it didnt ruin her makeup. The police say they have some very convincing evidence I did it, but they need more solid facts before they can hold me.

I let go of the wheel with one hand and held hers. I wasnt always one for touching, but this warranted some reassurance. When I was a suspect a couple months ago, I had been questioned down at the station. Let me tell you, it was no picnic.

That last little warning was more of what Ive been enduring all day, Bella continued, squeezing my hand. The sly innuendos, the outright disrespect. The man found dead was Trev Brewster. Another favorite son in town, second only to my ex. Everyone is convinced I ran off the first favorite after we got divorced, and now they think Ive killed the second one. This is a nightmare. They are going to do everything in their power to put this one on me. I cant help feeling someone is trying to take me down after all these years.

That did not sound good in any way, shape, or form. Cripes!

Praise for Misty Simon and Ivy Morris

I cant seem to read the books in this series fast enough. They are so much fun! Ivy keeps me laughing. Some of the antics of the women in town had me laughing out loud!

~unknown credit

The author has done a great job of intertwining a few mysteries and putting plenty of twists and turns into the plot. I highly recommend this book.

~Dawn Dowdle

Laugh out loud funny, Misty Simon has given us a character to root for. You go Ivy!!!

~Angela Hayes, author

I loved this book. I was laughing during most of it. I enjoyed the characters and I like how they seem like people you would want to be friends with. If you like to laugh and have a bit of mystery followed by a growing romance, here is the book for you. I highly recommend you give this book a try!!

~Rae, My Book Addiction and More (4.5 Stars)

I found it to be an interesting cozy mystery with an odd mystery and enough love for everybody. What more could you want?

~Aloe, Long and Short Reviews (4 Stars)

Frame and Fortune

by

Misty Simon

Ivy Morris Mysteries, Book Four

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales, is entirely coincidental.

Frame and Fortune

COPYRIGHT 2015 by Misty Simon

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the author or The Wild Rose Press, Inc. except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

Contact Information: info@thewildrosepress.com

Cover Art by Debbie Taylor

The Wild Rose Press, Inc.

PO Box 708

Adams Basin, NY 14410-0708

Visit us at www.thewildrosepress.com

Publishing History

First Mainstream Mystery Rose Edition, 2015

Print ISBN 978-1-5092-0343-7

Digital ISBN 978-1-5092-0344-4

Ivy Morris Mysteries, Book Four

Published in the United States of America

Dedication

To Daniel, whos the Ben in my life.

And to Noelle for always being so enthusiastic

about anything and everything I do.

Love you more than anything.

Other Books by Misty Simon

at The Wild Rose Press, Inc.

The Kissinger Kisses series

Whats Life Without the Sprinkles?

Making Room at the Inn

Go Ahead, Make My Bouquet

~*~

The Ivy Morris Mysteries

Poison Ivy (Book One)

The Wrong Drawers (Book Two)

Something Borrowed, Something Dead (Book Three)

~*~

Chapter One

Ivy, I need your help. Right now.

Well, sure, Bella, I said, flipping through the newest lingerie catalog Id received in the mail. There were several things I would definitely be ordering for the back room of my store, The Masked Shoppe.

Ivy! Are you paying attention? Bellas voice rose with every word until I wanted to pull the phone away from my ear.

I threw the magazine onto the coffee table and sat up straighter. Bella Landry sounded desperate, and desperate was not something she ever did. What on earth could be the matter?

No sense hanging out in the dark when the answer was but a question away. What do you need? Dont tell me you forgot another old biddy makeover party. I snickered. When are you going to stop doing those? They drive you crazy and make you crazier, if your tone of voice right now is any indication.

Um, its nothing like that, Bella said, her voice quavering. Immediately, I was even more concerned. Bella was a confident, self-assured woman. Id only seen her once without full makeup and hair perfectly done, and I had never heard her unsure of herself, not like this, anyway.

Whats going on? And why did I have this quivery feeling in my stomach? Bella was normally the one with the freaky premonitions.

The thing is, Im, uh, in jail, and

Jail? Jail! What are you doing in jail? My mind rushed through the possibilities. Id never known Bella to be a violent person. Well, there was that one time that she kept hitting me in the arm after I faced down a woman who was set on killing me, several months ago. Id inherited the costume shop from my great-aunt Gertie, and the woman had thought it was going to be hers. She got violent at what she deemed the unfairness of it all. But thats another story.

Anyway, my poor little mind could not come up with any reason why the police would have arrested Bella. Especially now that she and Officer Jared were so cozy.

If youd listen for a second instead of screaming in my ear, Ill tell you what happened. Now there was the Bella I knew and loved. Did I mention she had a bit of an attitude?

Im listening.

Well, finally! She took a deep breath and then launched into this fantastic tale of a dead body in her beauty shops walk-in refrigerator (one I had no idea she had) and how the only reason she was allowed to call was because the police didnt have enough evidence to hold her but they sure were trying.

Wait, wait, wait, I said, baffled. Bella arrested for suspicion of murder? This was too much to take in without some clarification. So you found a dead guy in a big meat locker in the back of your beauty shop, a meat locker you dont use but never had removed after you bought the store from a caterer. This dead guy happens to be the same guy who invited himself to your table the other night when you were eating alone. You rebuffed him, and now hes dead.

That about covers it.

Why didnt you call me about this dead guy before you ran off to the police?

Oh puh-lease, Ivy. Like that was going to do me any good. I wanted him out of the locker, pronto. You certainly werent going to come over to haul him off.

True, but I could have at least been there with you. Wed been friends through almost three seasons now, and I considered her my best friend. No, I wouldnt have tried to move the bodyId like to think Ive learned my lessonbut at least I could have been moral support.

Besides, Jared was there, she continued. It didnt even occur to me that I would be a suspect. I kept asking them to leave with the body, but no one was paying attention to me. Then all of a sudden I was in this interrogation room that stinks like sweat, with coffee that doesnt taste much better. The tremors in her voice sounded more like rage now. Had Jared been in that stinky room with her too? Or had he finished his duty at her shop and left her alone to deal at the police station by herself?

But I didnt think that would be an appropriate question at the moment. It would probably set her off more. So are they going to keep you, or what?