Frogs floods and fraud t.., p.1
Frogs, Floods, and Fraud (The Tenacious Librarian Book 2), page 1
Frogs, Floods and Fraud
The Tenacious Librarian Series
M K Scott
Frogs, Floods and Fraud
M K Scott
Copyright © 2023
Kindle Edition
This eBook is licensed for personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person. If you’re reading this book and did purchase it, or was not purchased for your use only, then please return it and purchase your own copy. Many thanks for respecting the hard work of this author.
All characters in this book are fictional and figments of the author’s imagination.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Epilogue
Frogs, Floods and Fraud Recipes
Excerpt from Movies, Monsters, and Marmalade
Author Notes
Chapter One
The autumn afternoon sun slipped through the parted gingham curtains, warming the late lunch crowd and those who chose to indulge themselves with one of Almost Home Café’s delectable desserts. Silverware clattered against sturdy stoneware plates as customers gorged themselves on chicken fried steak, apple dumplings, and local gossip. Even when a person chose not to pass along idle chatter and rumors, it failed to stop ears from hearing. Tenny, Emerson’s newest resident and official bookmobile owner, picked up her fork and used it to test the flakiness of her apple dumpling. After her Aunt Cinnamon passed, the thirty-ish former reference librarian found herself comparing every morsel she consumed to the delicious dishes her aunt made. Her aunt’s award-winning cinnamon rolls earned her aunt her nickname. Cinnamon had even contributed desserts to the café. Although no other cooks even came close, the crust on the dumpling did flake nicely. She speared a bite, sampled it, swallowed, and sighed. “This is really good. Did they get someone new in the kitchen?”
Blue, Tenny’s best friend and current companion, tucked a lock of her chin-length blonde hair behind her ear. “You bet. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have suggested dropping in for a treat.” She patted a rounded hip. “I can’t afford any wasted calories on a tasteless concoction. Heard it was Philomena’s grandson. You probably don’t remember him. He was about ten years behind us in school, which makes him about twenty-two now.”
“Whoever it is, he knows his way around a pastry cutter.” Tenny loaded her fork with the glistening apples and feather-light crust. Her nose scrunched up and she lowered her fork to her plate, the delicious forkful uneaten at the first hint of overheard nasty gossip since it contained her first name.
The woman’s voice carried loud enough for everyone in the small diner to hear. “I’m just saying, Dallas only went out with Tenny out of pity, ya know? With her aunt dying and all. Trust me, I have the details.”
Blue reached across the table, nudging her friend’s arm. “Ignore her. Shadow’s only carrying out Rita’s bidding. As far as Dallas dating people to cheer them up, you’d be the first.” She smirked and then winked.
“Yeah.” If anyone should know the machinations of the town’s self-appointed queen, Tenny should—especially since she’ stepped out with the queen’s ex enough times to cause speculation. Once, a new girl showed up at school named Rita, wearing a necklace with her name on it. The story was that hometown Rita snatched the necklace off the girl and declared she couldn’t use the name since it had already been taken and the town could only have one Rita. As for the girl, she disappeared. Maybe country life wasn’t for her family. Shortly after that, Rita showed up wearing a silver necklace with her name in cursive script.
That’s the type of person she was dealing with. While she wanted to chalk it up to malicious gossip, it did make her wonder. What if Dallas only asked her out of kindness? “Ah, let’s talk about something else.”
“Ready to do your first bookmobile run?” Blue asked as she finished up her apple dumpling and gave Tenny’s uneaten portion a speculative glance.
Noticing her gaze, Tenny pulled the plate closer. “I intend to finish it, even if I do it at home.” She inhaled deeply and then spoke. “As for the first run, technically I’m ready, but…” She sucked in her lips and shook her head. “…I’m a little worried. Sure, I know this was my aunt’s dream and all. I’m not even all that good at driving an extra-long van, especially on all those narrow, winding country roads.”
“Practice.” Blue bobbed her chin with a touch of certainty. “We’ll take the bookmobile for a dry run of sorts.”
Before she could ask for more details, their server swung by with a coffee carafe and topped off their cups. The server, a middle-aged woman sporting gray streaks that resembled the zig zags in the Bride of Frankenstein’s hairdo, or at least it drew that comparison around Halloween, delivered food and drink with a side of chatter. “Did you hear,” she started, “that Rivertown has to move? Turns out flood insurance stops paying out after so many floods. Personally,” she propped her free hand on her waist as if settling in for a lengthy conversation, “they should have called the place Floodsville.” She barked with laughter at her own comment. No one else chuckled.
Tenny noted her friend’s furrowed brow and pinched lips and then remembered. “Don’t you have relatives in Rivertown?”
“Yes.” The normally gregarious Blue’s one-word answer hinted at much more, better told in another place.
Not deterred by the monosyllabic response, the server cleared her throat and added, “You had better get the spare room cleaned out because you’re probably having company.”
Both Blue and Tenny shot each other befuddled looks before turning back to their waitress. “Um…” Tenny tried to remember her name and then noticed her neatly printed name tag. “…Sally. Are you doing psychic readings along with delivering pie?”
“Ha! Ha!” She barked out the laugh. “I don’t remember you being funny, but people change, I suppose.” Sally pursed her lips as if she doubted the possibility of Tenny ever coming up with a funny or two.
It didn’t seem like that needed a comment, but she did need to know where Sally was going with her conversation. When it came to getting information, Blue usually jumped in feet first, but not today. This morning it would be up to Tenny. “How did you get all this information? Online?”
“Mercy, no. You can’t believe what all these kids are putting online. They make up half of that stuff. My second cousin married a man from Rivertown. He’s got people there.” She leaned forward and put up a flattened hand to the side of her mouth as if to shield her words from possible lip readers. “Story is, the town council presented its case to both the state and federal governments for assistance in moving higher up. They both ponied up some funds. I even heard the self-appointed mayor started a Go Fund Me account on the Internet that raised a lot. Anyhow, everything was falling into place. Seems like folks felt sorry for Rivertown’s citizens—people contributing twenty dollars, sometimes fifty. One big spender even gave thousands. So much money. Heard it was millions. Basically, from strangers with no stake in Rivertown.” A sigh and then a head wag announced Sally’s feelings. She lowered her voice. “Then the money from all that online begging just vanished!” She placed the coffee carafe on the table and snapped her fingers. “Like that. It’s gone! That’s why I said you’d better plan on company. I imagine your relatives will be headed this way soon.”
A town moving should be relatively big news, but a town losing all its money in one fell swoop should be even bigger news. Odd she hadn’t heard about it. To be fair, she hadn’t been watching the news due to spending all her time fixing up the bookmobile. “How come I haven’t heard of this?”
Using three fingers, Sally tapped her own chest. “I just found out about it. No worries. As soon as they catch that Jess Singleton, they’ll have their money back.”
“Jess?” A paler than usual Blue squeaked out the name.
“Yep!” Sally concurred. “The money vanished about the same time she did. It had to be her.”
A customer behind them grumbled, “What does a person have to do to get a cup of coffee around here?”
Sally sniffed and picked up the carafe while muttering, “Some people.”
“Okay.” Grateful for the interruption, Tenny stood, scooping up her apple dumpling. “I’m going to get a box for this and pay. We’re getting out of here. I’ll meet you outsi
Blue wordlessly exited the booth and diner. Weird, her normally perky friend went all moody and silent. She read once on a T-shirt that good friends are ones who help you hide the body. Nope. Good friends are the ones who help you turn an aging camper van into a bookmobile, which required much more work than hiding a body. It was her turn to be the supportive friend. After what felt like twenty minutes, Sally took her money and boxed her dessert while implying that Tenny should eat more pie to fill out her skinny frame.
Bolting out the door with her to-go box in hand, she spotted Blue texting on her phone next to a dusty pickup truck. A few long strides brought her abreast of her friend. “What’s up?”
Blue glanced up, bit her bottom lip, and then spoke. “You know that Jess is my cousin.” She stomped one foot. “I know for a fact she wouldn’t have taken the money. As for vanishing, I’m not surprised. That’s been her only goal in life—to leave Rivertown. We have to find her. She has no clue she’s being framed for a crime.” She brandished her phone. “She’s not replying to my texts either. We have to do something!” Sure, her bestie’s wide eyes and climbing color denoted her outrage, but Blue stayed loyal to the end. Maybe her cousin helped herself to the funds, or maybe she didn’t. A good friend would help clear the cousin’s name until it became obvious Jess was as dirty as a pig in a mud puddle. “Why not make our bookmobile dry run to Rivertown? That way we might unearth some actual facts as opposed to relying on Sally’s questionable tales from her cousin.”
Chapter Two
The bookmobile waited in front of Tenny’s house as the two women crunched through fallen leaves, planning their fact-finding mission and enjoying the respite from the summer heat and humidity. The side of the vehicle depicted children reading outside on a green, grassy slope and the blue sky coming alive with dragons, horses, and mythical characters. Even though she received a generous inheritance and stock portfolio, Tenny’s financial strategy included dipping into it as little as possible. So far, she didn’t have a clear idea about how much money would be needed to make the bookmobile business self-sustaining. A smile stretched across her face as she took in the professional wrap mural done for the bookmobile—so totally worth it.
Technically, Tenny could have parked it in the narrow driveway on the side of the house, but that meant backing up all the way to the road. At this point in her bus driving experience, she avoided anything tricky, such as backing up or parallel parking with anything larger than her subcompact car. Roundabouts designed for smaller vehicles could prove difficult, or they would if Emerson had any. “Do you think the way to Rivertown will be a straight shot?”
Blue stopped walking and directed a curious look at Tenny, who also halted. Her eyebrows arched as she asked, “You’re not afraid of driving?”
“I don’t know.” She swallowed and then tapped two fingers on her lips before answering. “I’ve driven up and down the roads here. Let’s face it, we almost never get traffic. What will I do if I run into a combine?” Around harvest time, combines, mammoth tractors, and semis packed full of grain crowded the roads. Anyone in a normal sized vehicle darted into a nearby driveway or backed off the road.
“Same thing you’d do if you were in your car. For Pete’s sake, it’s just an extra-long van. You’re more like a soccer mom than a cross-the-road trucker.”
“You’re right,” Tenny half-heartedly agreed as they drew closer to the bookmobile. “I have a longer than average learning curve. However, once I learn how to do something, I’m okay.”
Her friend had calmed her down when her actual intention was to ease Blue’s anxiety. Blue and her husband, Griffin, ran a small dairy called Moo Town. The day-to-day operations fell to the couple with some seasonal help. “Won’t you need to be back in time for second milking?”
“Nope.” Blue managed a grin with the word. “Strangely, after our ruckus with Rupert being cow-napped, Griffin decided we needed more dependable help with the girls.”
Most of the locals knew when Blue referred to the girls, she meant their dairy cows. As a couple with no children, they doted on their cows, naming each one of them, and claimed they had specific personalities. This made the idea of hiring outside help surprising. “Griffin is okay with outside help now. He’s doing background checks on potential employees online. It cost about thirty dollars, but you’d be amazed at all the stuff you can discover. To tell the truth, I’m glad I have some free time. Sure, it’s supposed to be spent writing advertising for our dairy shop.” She grimaced, then shrugged. “Today though, I need to get ahold of Jess. She’s about ten years younger than me. I remember back when she was twelve, and she confided her goal to leave Rivertown. As far as I know, her goal never changed.”
Even though Tenny knew her friend tended to side with the underdog, she felt the need to point out the obvious. “I imagine she could get very far away with all that money.”
“Shame on you!” Blue delivered a smart rap to Tenny’s arm. “You’re talking about family.”
“What about Rufus, who took a hay baler for a joy ride through town and ended up parking it inside the front wall of the IGA grocery?”
“Rufus is Griffin’s family. I always said my hubby was the pick of the litter. I know Jess. She has a good heart.” She crossed both arms and pursed her lips. “I know you don’t know her. When she was sixteen, around Christmas time, a neighbor’s house burned down. At the time, she’d been working at the local fast food joint, saving money for a car. Once she heard the family wouldn’t have any Christmas, she withdrew her money from her savings account and bought them presents. Even bought them groceries, too. She borrowed her dad’s truck and delivered them anonymously on Christmas Eve.”
“How do you know about that?”
“Her father told me. Come on, parents are never as unaware as kids think they are.” She parked one hand on her hip. “Does that sound like someone who would steal from their own town?”
“No.” Tenny, a big fan of mystery novels and police dramas, knew often the least likely person often was the culprit. “Still, she could have changed. People do.”
“Not that much. She once rescued a snapping turtle that was hit by a car. You know those turtles are as ugly as sin with a personality to match. Who would rescue such a creature, but a truly kind individual?”
On that note, a furry, masked face peeked out from the colorful mums lining the sidewalk to her aunt’s house, which was now Tenny’s. “You got me there. I certainly wouldn’t nursemaid a snapping turtle.” She directed her attention to the raccoon, Precious, that her aunt had raised from a kit and had inadvertently passed on to Tenny. “Not me. I wouldn’t even take care of a hurt raccoon.”
“Oh please.” Blue gave her friend a slight shove. “I’ve seen you cook for Precious.”
“It’s not an everyday thing. Eventually, he’s going to return to the woods and become a wild creature.”
“You keep telling yourself that.” Blue chuckled. “No way will he give up the sweet life. Enough about Precious. We need a reason to be in Rivertown, especially since I haven’t been there in years. With everything that’s happened, we will need to look like we haven’t come by to gawk.” Blue cocked her head, resembling a white silkie bantam chicken with her blonde hair ruffled by the breeze.
“How about we stopped by when we heard the news about your town and nothing cheers you up like a good book?”
“Has promise,” Blue concurred. “I would have to say nothing cheers you up like getting the money back that was stolen from you. We need to stop by the farm and pick up Sir Moolah.”
“Should I ask? Calf? Better yet, why would we take a cow—small or otherwise—with us?” Blue loved fancy names for the cows and Tenny hoped she didn’t expect to push a calf into the newly furbished van.
“Oh, no. He’s a stray pup I found when I went into Beechnut for new muck boots. He followed me around, looking so sad that I had to bring him home. Anyhow, he’s a bayer and a howler, which doesn’t agree with the girls. They produce sour milk. I think Griffin’s words when I left were something about taking that creature with you. The two haven’t bonded yet. I’m sure the pup would love a road trip.”
