Venue of Vultures (eBook)

Book 1, The Rancho Exotica Mysteries

Patsy Stagner (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2024 | 1. Auflage
272 Seiten
Bookbaby (Verlag)
979-8-3509-4800-4 (ISBN)

Infos

'The Golden Girls' with a dead body. Sexagenarian sisters, Claire and Avery, excitedly retire to Rancho Exotica, a gated community in rural East Texas where exotic wild animals roam. But instead of finding peace and tranquility, they're led by a flock of vultures to the body of a dead bowhunter murdered in their forest

Patsy Stagner is the author of 'A Venue of Vultures: Book 1' of her new series 'The Rancho Exotica Mysteries.' Born and raised in Texas, Patsy lives in a Piney Woods hamlet not dissimilar to Rancho Exotica. She loves to travel to the phenomenal National Parks of the United States, the best thing our country has ever done. An award-winning writer of short stories and novels, she's a member of the East Texas Writer's Guild and the Writers' League of Texas and has attended seminars in Texas, California, and Florida. She's never met a dog she didn't like. Or, for that matter, a cat, a rabbit, a pig, a gerbil; well, you get the idea. Her monthly newsletter advocates for senior citizens and animals, as well as her addiction to mystery, whether it be in books, movies, or TV. Check out her website at www.patsystagner.com.

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"e;An engagingly witty whodunit brimming with inventive twists and turns."e;-Kirkus Reviews"e;Stagner excels at contrasting aging personalities with wicked wit, social observations, and savvy that arrives with not just growing older, but defying convention in different ways."e; Midwest Book ReviewTwo sexagenarian sisters, Claire and Avery, must solve the murder of a bowhunter in their exotic animal sanctuary or risk spending their retirement in a hardcore Texas prison. When the police learn Claire threatened the dead hunter for trespassing, she becomes the prime suspect. Avery fears the small-town police force can't find the real killer and insists the sisters solve the murder themselves. Despite stern warnings from the local homicide detective, Claire and Avery dig deeper into the investigation. The neighborhood rumor mongers inform them that the dead hunter is the most hated man in Rancho Exotica, and the suspect list grows longer than a homeowners' association meeting. Feeling overwhelmed, Avery enlists the aid of the community's handsome Head of Security, Jay Vidocq, who conveniently volunteers at the local police department. Avery struggles to stay focused on the investigation while grappling to ignore her growing attraction to Jay. A page-turning ride, the sisters race to unmask the killer before he strikes again, or they end up locked behind bars.

Textauszug

1

Thunderous sounds like a rousing game of bowling reverberated from the metal roof and shot Avery out of her comfortable chair. Spilling coffee onto the area rug, she stepped over the stains to stare out floor-to-ceiling windows. Her sister rushed from across the room.

“What’s that godawful noise?” Claire asked.

They stared with dismay into the backyard.

“Am I seeing what I think I’m seeing?” Since her health scare eight months ago, Avery needed to check with her sister to make sure the elaborate tableau before her was real and not an illusion supplied by her brain’s faulty electrical wiring.

“What do you think you’re seeing?” Claire said.

“Birds… really big birds?”

A billowing black blanket of turkey vultures spread across the backyard. Although a common sight in the forest surrounding their home, the number of vultures in the yard was exceptional. Towering over the birds, a buckeye tree held its own among the loblolly pines in their rivalry for a place in the sun. It was the only tree in the thick grove whose leaves had begun to turn and fall in the early Texas October.

As senior citizens, the sisters had retired to their gated community in the Piney Woods of rural East Texas and expected to live out their lives in peace and tranquility. Based on the vultures—legendary as harbingers of death—settling in the grass outside, that dream wasn’t panning out too well.

“Hush, Bodhi. Lie down!” Avery feared the high-pitched bark of the cocker-shepherd mix the sisters had adopted from the local shelter might incite the vultures. Being a good boy, he flopped to the floor but continued to whine and squirm with excitement.

Avery ventured one step out the back door, and a tentative Claire followed. Neither dared move farther for fear the amassing birds would rouse and suddenly attack. Nonsense. Avery knew turkey vultures did not stalk and kill their own prey. They feasted on whoever might have died of natural causes—which in Texas meant being squashed by a speeding vehicle on a state highway.

“Something’s dead,” she whispered. “Something nearby.” The sisters took two more tentative steps onto the patio.

“Something big, judging by the number of buzzards,” Claire said. More steps revealed scores of vultures on the metal roof. One skid-landed like a skydiver making a shoddy touchdown. Others drummed their wings and clacked their claws performing a bird war dance.

“Vultures,” Avery said. “Turkey vultures. Not buzzards.”

“Whatever. Guess we need to check it out. The Wildlife Committee wants us to report the death of any animals.” Claire hesitated. “I’m not eager to find a rotting deer carcass.”

“Cheer up. Maybe it will be something small, like a squirrel or a possum. Then it won’t stink as bad.”

Back inside, Avery beckoned the dog. “Come on, Bodhi. Let’s go chase some birds.”

Bodhi leaped up and bounced around the sisters. Avery wished she had half the dog’s energy. Still in pajamas, they donned hoodies to guard against the cool morning mist. Avery pulled her long hair into a loose topknot, proud that she only had a little graying around the temples. In a royal blue hoodie she’d color-coordinated with her pajamas, Claire preceded her sister outside with an excited Bodhi dashing after them. When the trio advanced into the yard, the startled vultures rose into the sky with a susurration of wings that whispered an unknown language.

“They’re so big up close.” Claire, the normally calm sister, sounded
nervous.

As if he could fly, an exhilarated Bodhi charged after them. Avery followed, flapping her arms and chasing the departing birds like a lunatic. Claire lagged behind, laughing. Avery knew she looked ridiculous but didn’t care. Having control of her own body, no longer being at the mercy of the medical system, elated her.

After they had expunged the birds, Avery and Bodhi joined Claire. They followed the vultures’ flight toward the 15-acre forest on the opposite side of the sandy-bottomed creek. An arched wooden bridge straddled the stream and connected the five-acre lot on which they’d built their house to the adjoining woodlands.

After Avery’s illness, she had attempted to persuade Claire to retire from their stressful jobs as legal assistants. An unconvinced Claire argued that their 401(k) account balances were a bit shy of retirement ready. But her sister’s charming description of the reasonably priced 20 acres of heavily wooded East Texas property, the lure of the quiet safety of a gated community, and the worsening of downtown Dallas rush hour traffic convinced Claire it was time to go.

Halfway across the bridge, Avery stopped.

“The smell’s stronger,” she said. The unique yet familiar odor of death permeated the close atmosphere of the dense trees. Sniffing the air, Bodhi wrinkled his nose.

“We’re getting close,” Claire said.

Beyond the bridge, the creek continued to flow and reflected the tall surrounding hardwoods. It snaked through their property, serving as a jagged border between their acreage and the adjoining lot upstream. After following the stream, the sisters stopped when the stench grew overwhelming.

“There it is!” Avery froze, trying to comprehend what she saw. On the embankment, a dark, undulating shroud of feeding fowl covered a carcass, each vulture politely sharing their bounty with the others. In the surrounding trees, newly arrived birds awaited their turn as if cueing up for a popular concert.

For a moment, Avery thought the buzzing in her brain had returned. The fuzzy state she and Claire jokingly labeled “brain fog.” She closed her eyes and massaged her temples.

“What’s that called?” Claire whispered, as though not wanting to disturb the birds. She gripped her sister’s arm.

Avery shook her head—recovering from what had been nothing more than a fleeting disorientation. “A wake of vultures,” she told Claire. “Nature’s undertakers servicing the animal world.”

Her sister shuddered. Bodhi threw himself into a barking frenzy, the black and white fur around his neck standing up like a starched collar. The shroud lifted to reveal a figure clothed in camouflage. Face down, his features disappeared into the soft sand. An army-green hat fell back from his forehead, and his booted feet sunk into the murky water.

“Bodhi, sit.” Avery snapped her fingers and pointed at the dog. He hesitated for a second, then sat. “Do you think he’s dead?” she asked Claire.

“Based on the presence of the buzz… uh, vultures… I’d say yes.” Claire shot her sister a look that suggested she too feared the return of Avery’s brain fog. When Avery met her stare with a straightforward gaze, Claire turned back to the body. “Definitely dead.”

A shiver ran up Avery’s spine in response to the autumn chill. Or finding a deceased person in their forest, more likely. Probably a hunter, but what was he—if indeed it was a he—doing on their property?

“I’m calling 9-1-1.” Claire pulled her cellphone from a pocket and punched in the numbers.

“Wait a minute!” Avery snatched the phone from her sister’s hand. She canceled the call, then moved closer to the corpse, staying downwind to avoid the smell. Claire plodded behind her. “He’s dead in our forest, and we discovered the body. That makes us immediate suspects. Are you sure we want to report it to the police?”

“Suspects? We don’t know what killed him.” Claire frowned. “Right now, it’s just an unexplained death. We must report it. What choice do we have?”

“We could move him across the creek. The Johnsons own the lot next to our forest. We can drag him over there. Make sure he’s on their property. That way, it would be somebody else’s responsibility.”

“Don’t you think the police will realize he’s been moved?”

“We can cover the drag marks like they do in the movies. Sweep a leafy tree branch across them.”

Claire rolled her eyes. “What about the fact that his feet are wet from being in the creek? Or there isn’t any blood where we dragged him, but they find his blood on our creek bank? You watch enough of the Investigation Discovery channel to know better than that!”

“Well, crap!” Avery’s breath came in labored bursts. “Something like this isn’t supposed to happen in a small-town gated community. That’s why we retired here. To get away from Dallas crime and traffic and stressful jobs. And now this!” She tried to suck air into her lungs, but it felt as if her chest had collapsed.

“Are you okay? You’re not having a panic attack or… something else—”

Avery caught a deep breath. “No, no, just some minor anxiety. I’m fine.” Of course, Claire was right. They had to report the body. Her fear had clouded her thinking.

Claire’s phone pealed. Both sisters jumped at the loud jangling tune she had set for her smartphone. A startled Avery dropped it into the creek embankment’s soft sand.

“It’s 9-1-1 calling back.” Avery brushed off the phone and tossed it; Claire caught it against her chest. “Okay, report it. Looks like we don’t have any other choice.” They were doing the right thing, if not necessarily the convenient one.

Claire gave Avery a relieved nod. At least her responsible sister looked
happy.

“I’m going to the house to call security.” Avery...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 15.4.2024
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Krimi / Thriller / Horror
• ISBN-13: 979-8-3509-4800-4 / 9798350948004