Killer Honeymoon (13 page)
Authors: Traci Tyne Hilton
Killer
Calling
: A Plain Jane Mystery
“This is a tricky one.” Flora handed Jane a slim
file folder. “The client is panicking.”
Jane sat across from Flora in the cluttered
office of the Senior Corps of Retired Investigators. Driving rain outside
smeared the drafty window. The heater had clicked on moments before with the
dusty but cozy odor shared by all old buildings. She pulled her sweater around
her a little tighter and opened the folder. It held a one-page dossier and an
itinerary from Travelocity. At first glance, she saw nothing shocking. “What’s
the problem?”
“Teenagers.” Flora chuckled, but after the last
case, Jane wasn’t so sure teenage problems were funny.
“Are you familiar with the Trives family?”
“The name’s familiar.” Jane scanned the dossier
again.
“It should be. The Trives family runs an
investment bank, and their name is on several buildings. Also, they participate
in most of the major ministries in town. Victor and Lorraine Trives are
passionate about the gospel.”
“Yes! I know who you mean now. The little
library at my old Bible school was the Trives Room.”
“That sounds about right. The Trives have one
daughter, Tory. Tory, for the last three years, has been outright hostile to
anything having to do with God.”
“Ouch.” The single sheet of information about
the Trives family also said Tory’s volleyball team were state champions and
that she had early acceptance to Pepperdine.
“It’s to be expected. The poor girl is under a
lot of pressure in this town. Everyone expects her to follow in the family
footsteps, making and giving a lot of money. In my opinion, she’s handling it
fine, but my opinion doesn’t matter.”
“So what’s the problem?”
“She has a new boyfriend, and they are going on
a missions trip to Mexico next week.”
“But that’s great news!” Jane flipped to the
itinerary. Two round-trip tickets to Los Angeles.
“I agree, but Mr. Trives doesn’t. This new
boyfriend has a Mohawk, tattoos, and he plays bass in a rock band.”
“So…he’s a youth pastor?”
Flora laughed. “No, he’s a professional musician
in a band. And he’s a little older.”
A little older. That hit a nerve with Jane. She
could see, Mohawk aside, why daddy Trives might worry.
“Mr. Trives believes completely that the only
reason a tattooed Mohawked thug—his words, not mine—would go to Mexico for a
week is to smuggle drugs under the innocent guise of missions work.” She
sighed. “I think there’s a high probability that he’s worried over nothing, but
as always, we need to treat the case with the same level of concern that the
client does.”
“Is that why it’s tricky? Because odds are she’s
met a nice boy who has gotten her interested in Jesus again.”
“Exactly. Odds are there is nothing going on
that anyone has to worry about. Nonetheless, Mr. Trives has hired us to catch
the boyfriend in action and protect Tory. It’s impossible to prove a negative,
Jane, so if this punk isn’t smuggling drugs, the job is a whole lot harder than
if he is. And if he is smuggling drugs from Mexico, you have the cartel to
worry about.”
Jane stared at Flora. All she could think of
when she heard Mexican drug cartel was kidnapping, murder, and mass graves.
“The mission trip is a high school and college
group from their church. They’ll be gone for fall break. You’ll fit in better
than I would, so we’re sending you.”
“But it’s really not likely to be drugs, I mean,
the odds are just super against it.”
“I agree. If I thought there was any risk of you
confronting a drug cartel, I wouldn’t send you.”
Jane exhaled. “Okay.”
“But like I said, if they aren’t there to
smuggle drugs, you are going to have to prove it. Mr. Trives is a good man, but
a hard one. It won’t be easy.”
“I see a ticket for Jake, too.”
“Mr. Trives was very generous with the expenses.
If Jake can’t go, it’s okay. But if he can, I think he’d be a real asset. You
make a good team.”
“I expect he can, but I’ll ask.” Jane was already
giddy. Flora was right. There wasn’t much chance that the lovebirds had hitched
a ride with a missions trip so they could smuggle drugs. She and Jake could
buddy up with Tory and the new boyfriend, get to know them a little, and find
out what had changed Tory’s heart. That part would be simple. Then they could
all focus on the ministry work and escaping the November rain.
It was like the world’s perfect case. There was
no way things could go wrong.
***
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Author
When not writing, Traci accompanies her mandolin-playing
husband on the spoons, and knits socks.
She is the author of the Tillgiven Romantic Mysteries, the
Plain Jane Mystery Series, the Mitzy Neuhaus Mysteries, and
Hearts to God,
a
Christian historical romance novella.
She was the Mystery/Suspense
Category winner for the 2012 Christian Writers of the West Phoenix Rattler
Contest, and has a Drammy from the Portland Civic Theatre Guild. Traci serves
as the vice president of the Portland chapter of the American Christian Fiction
Writers Association.
Traci earned a degree in history from Portland State
University and still lives in the rainiest part of the Pacific Northwest with
her husband, their two daughters, and their dogs, Dr. Watson and Archie.
Traci’s photo by Jessie Kirk Photography.
Find all Traci’s books at
tracihilton.com
Connect with Traci at
Facebook.com/TraciTHilton
or
Also by Traci Ty
n
e
Hilton
The Plain Jane Mysteries
Good Clean Murder
Dirty Little Murder
Bright New Murder
Health, Wealth and Murder
Spoiled Rotten Murder
Killer Honeymoon
Killer Calling
The Tillgiven Romantic Mysteries
Hard to Find
Dark and Stormy
The Mitzy Neuhaus Mysteries
Foreclosed
Eminent Domain
Buyer’s Remorse
Frozen
Assets
Killer
Honeymoon: A Plain Jane Mystery
Copyright
2015 Traci Tyne Hilton
All rights
reserved. This book or any portion thereof
may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever
without the express written permission of the publisher
except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Proverbs
31 House LLC
tracihilton.com
proverbs31house.com
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
Coming Soon
About the Author
Table of Contents
