Homicide at the Hospital (Senoia Cozy Mystery Book 8) Read online

  Homicide at the Hospital

  Senoia Cozy Mystery, Book 8

  Susan Harper

  Fairfield Publishing

  Copyright © 2017 Fairfield Publishing

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Except for review quotes, this book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, without the written consent of the author.

  This story is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual people, places, or events is purely coincidental.

  Contents

  Message to Readers

  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

  Thank You!

  Thank you so much for buying my book. I am excited to share my stories with you and hope that you are just as thrilled to read them.

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  FairfieldPublishing.com/cozy-newsletter

  Chapter 1

  Felicity and Jefferson finished loading up the event van, eager to head out and get going on their first party since changing the company name to Overton and Scott’s Events. Jefferson was really proud of the new paint job he had done on the side of the van to incorporate his name, and he had put in a lot of extra effort for this party now that his name was on the line as well. Frankly, Felicity felt like turning Overton’s Events into a partnership was the best decision she had made.

  Jefferson had been working for her small event planning business since it was run out of her parents’ garage. Now, they had a building and a legitimate business. This party was also a big deal because it was the first one with their new employees: Trixie and Fix. The young pair of recent high school graduates were seated in the back of the van, both looking very excited. The two of them had come into the shop looking for work, and Jefferson had made his first executive decision since becoming an owner.

  It had been a great idea—especially since Felicity often found herself leaving the shop, causing Jefferson to have to run essentially everything by himself whenever she was absent. Having some hourly paid employees to do the legwork had been a great idea. Trixie was a sweet girl, and the perfect blend of cheerleader and former chess club champion. Felicity ate that contradiction up. Her peppy attitude made slow days at the shop twice as entertaining, and her input was something worthy of the title childhood prodigy. Trixie was attending college—mostly online—and she was hoping to become a wedding planner, so working at an event shop was a great opportunity for her.

  Fix was on the other end of the spectrum. Felicity was almost certain the two of them were a couple and had simply not let their employers know that just yet, or they were on their way to becoming a couple, and Fix was obviously only working at the shop because he wanted to work where Trixie did. Fix, though they had only known him a little while, had surprised Felicity. She had thought he had been a bad hire since he was only there chasing a girl, but he took the job very seriously. Plus, he had pretty much taken over as the bag carrier and heavy lifter—a job Jefferson was glad to put behind him.

  “I am so excited!” Trixie exclaimed as Jefferson backed the van out of the parking space. “I can’t believe we are hosting an art gala!”

  “Don’t get too excited,” Felicity said. “The group is really awesome, but they do tiny, localized events.”

  “Actually,” Jefferson said. “The group has really grown since that Valentine’s party we did for them. This art auction is pretty huge.”

  “It is exciting, isn’t it?” Felicity said and grinned.

  “Totally,” Fix said, and Felicity glanced in the rearview to see him looking at Trixie with googly eyes. The relationship those two had was actually adorable to watch as it unfolded.

  Soon, they were in Peachtree City pulling up to the Wyndom Hotel. It was a slightly fancier location than the last one they had done for the group. Plus, this event was taking place in the hotel lobby and through three separate ballrooms, compared to the makeshift ballroom they had been in earlier that year at another hotel.

  The Hornsbys, the young couple in charge of the group, met them out front to help. Felicity loved working with this pair. They were always willing to do some of the work themselves. “Whoa,” Jefferson said as they climbed out of the van. “Is that a baby bump?”

  Felicity smacked Jefferson’s arm, hoping that he was right and had not just insulted her. Stephanie, the Missus, laughed and touched her stomach. “Yes, actually.”

  “No heavy lifting,” TJ, her husband, said. “If you want to help just grab something light.”

  “I’m not disabled, TJ,” Stephanie said with a wink.

  “You still don’t need to pull your back out trying to pick up something too heavy,” he said.

  “Pull my back out? How old do you think I am?” she asked.

  Felicity laughed. “Don’t worry. We’ve got this.”

  Everyone grabbed something from the van—mostly sound equipment—and headed inside. Stephanie and TJ had already done a lot of the setting up. The halls and ballrooms were already full of artwork—paintings, sculptures, and several other elegant forms of sellable art. They planned to set up two different musicians who were part of the group in each ballroom to provide some background music.

  “This is so elegant,” Felicity said, smiling.

  “So, our jobs are to basically dress up like fancy waiters and hand out the finger foods, right?” Fix asked.

  “Pretty much,” Felicity said with a laugh. Fix sure had a way of phrasing things.

  It didn’t take long before guests started to arrive. Felicity watched in amusement as Jefferson taught Fix how to tie a tie. This was a new side of Fix; she had certainly never seen him in dress pants and a white button-up. “He looks cute,” Trixie said with a laugh. “Sure does clean up nice, him and Jefferson both.”

  “I agree,” Felicity said. She smiled and breathed in the atmosphere. Everything, for once, was going well in Felicity’s life. Business was great. She had just started renting a room out of Jefferson’s home, and they were getting along fabulously. Her parents were in marriage counseling, and the last time she spoke to them, it sounded like divorce had at last been taken off the table. She had been talking more with her sister Iris, who was away at college. And plans for Dawn and Monte’s wedding were going great, and the thought that her friend’s wedding was so close was exciting in and of itself. The pain from losing her fiancé, Brian, back in February was slowly starting to dwindle. She was still sad, of course, but she was getting back on track. She could hold her head up high again.

  Just when Felicity thought the event could not possibly go wrong with how smoothly the first half of it had gone, a young kid not paying any attention ran right into an easel holding up a painting that was going for nearly $700. Felicity jolted; the painting was right in front of a chocolate fondue fountain, so she was not about to let it take a dip. She managed to keep the painting upright, but her ankle rolled in the process from her high heels and the shooting pain sent her to her knees.

  Trixie was there in an instant to take the painting away and place it back on the easel. “Nice save,” Trixie said and reached down to help Felicity stand. “Are you okay?”

  “No,” Felicity said with a slight whine and waved Trixie’s hand away. “Ow!” she le
t loose a slight shriek. “Oh, geez, that really hurts.”

  Jefferson hurried over upon seeing Felicity on the ground. As always, Jefferson appeared incredibly concerned for her well-being. He knelt beside her to take a look. “Aw, man, Felicity. Your foot is really swollen. How bad does it hurt?”

  “Bad,” she admitted. “Can you help me take my heel off?”

  “Hold still,” he said and very gently coaxed her foot out of the shoe. She gritted her teeth the entire time.

  “Whoa,” TJ’s voice called from behind, and Felicity glanced back to see that he too had come to her rescue. “You should probably go to the hospital.”

  “We’re in the middle of an event,” Felicity said.

  “What are you going to do? Hop around the rest of the day?” TJ asked.

  Felicity sighed. “I guess not. It’s my right foot… I don’t think I can drive myself.”

  “I’ll drive you,” Jefferson said, and Felicity’s eyes widened at the thought of leaving Trixie and Fix in charge with this being their first event.

  “We’ve got this,” Trixie said. “Fix left his truck here last night so that he and I could drive home after the event together. So long as the weather stays decent, which I’m sure it will, we can load up the equipment when the event is over and take it back to the shop and lock up. You and Jefferson can take the event van to the hospital.”

  “I don’t know…” Felicity started to protest.

  “Steph and I are here,” TJ said after they walked over to see what happened. “We’ve done plenty of events before on our own, and I am familiar with the sound equipment. Let Jefferson drive you to the hospital. You just saved us from having to pay that artist seven hundred dollars for letting his painting get ruined. I think we owe you one.”

  Felicity sighed. “Okay, fine,” she said. “I’m really sorry about this, TJ.”

  “Sorry?” he laughed. “I saw you take a dive to save one of our artist’s paintings. No reason to apologize. You guys always have our backs with these events. Go. We’ll be fine.”

  Jefferson helped her stand. She couldn’t put any weight on her foot, so both he and TJ walked her out of the ballroom and through the parking lot to the event van. Felicity handed over the event shop keys to Jefferson so that he could run them inside to Trixie. TJ stood with her by the van while they waited. “How’s it feeling?” he asked.

  “Not great,” Felicity said. “Ugh, I hope it’s not broken. My friend is getting married in two weeks, and I don’t want to be the bridesmaid with crutches.”

  “Yikes,” TJ said. “And, knowing you, you’re also the wedding planner that day, am I right?”

  Felicity laughed. “You guessed right.”

  “Yeah, we’ll pray for just a sprained ankle then,” he said.

  Jefferson returned and thanked TJ for waiting with her. The two men shook hands, and TJ headed back inside to help Stephanie, Trixie, and Fix oversee the rest of the event. Jefferson hopped in the driver’s seat and chuckled slightly. “You should have seen Fix’s face when I told him he was in charge.”

  “You told him he was in charge?” Felicity asked.

  “Yeah, but I was just messing with him. I put Trixie in charge,” he said. “The kid turned ghostly at the thought of being in charge of this event.”

  “That was mean,” Felicity said and laughed. “Ooh, this really hurts!”

  Jefferson pulled to the front of the building where Fix was now waving them down. He had managed to get a hold of a baggie to fill with ice; he handed it to Felicity through the window. “Thanks, Fix,” Felicity said with a smile. “That was thoughtful.”

  “Which hospital are you going to? Newnan or Fayette?” he asked.

  “Probably Newnan,” Jefferson said.

  “Okay, let us know what the doctor says,” Fix said and then nervously made his way back inside.

  “Something like this would happen the first time we have those two working an event,” Felicity said.

  “Think of it as a blessing,” Jefferson said. “If we hadn’t have hired them, you would have had to sit in a corner and wait for someone else to come pick you up to drive you to the hospital because I wouldn’t have been able to leave.”

  “Good point,” Felicity said. “Ugh, that would have been awful. I don’t know how much longer I can wait to get some pain medication. This better not be broken! If my ankle is broken, these heels are going in the trash!”

  Jefferson grinned. “Too bad. You look good in them.”

  Felicity blushed and nudged his arm slightly. “Thanks.”

  Newnan Hospital was a bit further away than the one in Fayette, but it wasn’t enough of a difference in distance to where they wouldn’t go to the hospital where everyone they knew worked. Felicity gripped the handle of the van door tighter as her ankle started to throb and hurt even worse. It was going to be a long day, she was sure.

  Chapter 2

  They pulled up outside of Newnan Hospital not long after leaving the hotel in Peachtree City. By then, Felicity’s foot had swollen quite a bit, and she was attempting not to be too irritable. “How you holding up?” Jefferson asked as he parked the car.

  “Not well,” she moaned.

  “I’m going to run inside and bring you back a wheelchair so you don’t have to walk to the ER,” he said. “Think you can survive a few minutes without me?”

  “I’ll manage,” she said and sighed.

  Jefferson left the van running so that she could enjoy some AC. Felicity slumped in her seat, replaying twisting her ankle in her head. She felt pretty foolish now, but then again, she did manage to save a painting. This ER visit will probably cost more than the painting, though, she thought. Someone tapped on her window, and she looked up to see Autumn staring back at her. Felicity smiled and rolled down the window.

  “What are you doing here?” Felicity asked.

  “I worked a half-day today at the county morgue,” Autumn said. “But I had to bring some paperwork by the hospital to my former stomping grounds.” Autumn had once worked in the small morgue in the hospital’s basement, but now she headed up the county’s main facility. “Now, why are you here? Didn’t you have an art show today?”

  “I did,” Felicity moaned. “And it’s still going on. I may have broken my ankle trying to save a falling painting.”

  “Oh, geez! You saved the painting, though?” Autumn teased.

  “I saved the painting,” Felicity said. “But my foot is starting to look like a giant, purple potato.”

  “Well, that sounds lovely,” Autumn said. “Is Jefferson here with you?”

  “He ran inside to get a wheelchair,” Felicity explained.

  “So, the newbies are running that event on their own, then?”

  “Yeah, but the event was for the Hornsbys. They practically do everything themselves.” Felicity spotted Jefferson approaching and nodded in his general direction. “My knight in shining armor today.”

  Autumn whispered, “Hey, do you have a date to Dawn’s wedding yet? You should ask Jefferson.”

  Felicity shook her head. “That would not be a good idea, and you know why.”

  “Because he’s totally in love with you,” Autumn said. “You two would make a cute couple.”

  “I don’t know about all that, Autumn,” Felicity said. “Now, shut up before he hears you.”

  Jefferson arrived, and her two friends helped her out of the van and into the wheelchair. “Jefferson, you know you got to watch this girl,” Autumn joked. “She’s clumsy as all get out.”

  “Funny,” Felicity moaned.

  They pushed her to the ER, and evidently, Autumn intended to hang out with them at the hospital all day because she sat down with them in the waiting room. Felicity smiled while Jefferson pushed her up to the counter to fill out her paperwork; Dawn was working the ER that morning. “I guess all of my friends are going to get to see me like this,” Felicity complained.

  Dawn leaned forward to hand Felicity some paperwork. “Bad news, h
on, but Monte and Veronica are both working. I’m sure they’d love to come down here and say hello.”

  “Really? It’s pretty rare for all of you to get the same shift,” Felicity said.

  “I know, right?” Dawn said with a smile. “In fact, Monte and I are both getting off in an hour…which is probably how long you’re going to be stuck here. We should all grab an early lunch.”

  “What about Veronica?” Autumn asked.

  “She’s stuck here for at least another four hours,” Dawn said. “No lunch for her today. Want to hang out for a bit, Autumn?”

  “If it means going to lunch with this crazy crew, sure,” Autumn said with a wink.

  Dawn worked quickly to submit all of Felicity’s information, and thankfully, the ER wasn’t too full that day. Felicity was seen by a doctor and had x-rays taken. Much to her satisfaction, her ankle was not broken and was merely twisted. She was given some pain medication, a prescription, and told to use crutches for a few days and to keep it elevated. By the time she was leaving the back room of the ER, Monte had arrived to meet his bride-to-be for lunch.

  “How ya feeling?” Monte asked as she walked out on crutches.

  “I’ve been better, but those pain meds are helping. I feel a little loopy, though.”

  “I’m driving you,” Jefferson assured her. “And I already called Fix and Trixie. They already loaded up Fix’s truck and are finishing with locking up the shop now.”

  “That’s awesome,” Felicity said.

  “So, you and I are free to grab a bite to eat with these three,” Jefferson said. “You want to?”

  “Sure,” she said.

  The group of five—Autumn, Dawn, Monte, Jefferson, and Felicity—all started to leave the hospital when someone from behind called for Monte. A fellow nurse smiled and waved, saying, “Hey, Edgar asked me to nab you before you left. He needs to speak with you real quick in his office.”