Deadly Greetings (Book 2 in the Cardmaking Mysteries) by Tim Myers

Holding the drawer like a weapon, I
crept up on him and swung at his head. There’d be plenty of time to
ask questions later after he woke up. There was a loud crash as I
swung, and, I knew he wasn’t getting up any time soon. I searched I
frantically for a light switch so I could find the telephone to
call Bradford. Finally, my fingers brushed against the switch and I
flipped it up.
    Somehow, in the darkness, I’d managed to
kill one of my new lamps.
    As I gathered up the remnants of the broken
shade, I had to laugh about what I must have looked like. Of course
no one could get in my place, but that still hadn’t deterred my
imagination one bit. I laughed as I worked, proud of myself for
downing an innocent floor lamp. Hey, I hadn’t known it was
harmless. I’d seen a threat and had taken action. Still, I doubted
I’d I tell anyone about that particular confrontation. After I was
finished, I turned off the lights and went back to bed. If Oggie or
Nash had moved, I couldn’t prove it. “You both missed all the
excitement,” I said.
    They didn’t respond, and I was tired of
talking to myself, so I went to sleep, too.

    It took me a few seconds to realize what was
happening the next morning, but I finally figured out that someone
was pounding on my front door. I glanced over at my alarm clock and
saw that it was nearly eight. I’d slept in for the first time I
could remember in the recent past. While I knew I had a robe in one
of my boxes, I wasn’t about to spend five minutes looking for it. I
did find my coat from the night before, so I threw it on instead.
“Who is it?” I asked without opening the door.
    “ It’s Ethan York. Your
brother sent me.”
    “ With breakfast, by any
chance?” I asked, his laughter filtered through the door. “Sorry, I
would have picked up a few doughnuts for you if I’d known. I’m a
locksmith. He said you needed me first thing.”
    I undid the dead bolt and opened the door.
“Well, I’ll tell him you’re a man of your word. It certainly is
first thing, isn’t it?”
    Ethan was a tall, skinny man with a hawk’s
nose and a mop of unruly gray hair. He took in my disheveled
appearance, then said, “I’m sorry, Ms. Shane, but I had to squeeze
you in when I could. This is it, but I could come back next week if
you’d rather.”
    “ No, that’s crazy.” I added
with a smile, “Besides, you’re already here. I’d offer you a cup of
coffee, but I don’t have the vaguest idea where my coffeepot
is.”
    “ Thanks for the offer, but
I’m going to have to jump on this pretty quick. Don’t you worry,
now; I’ll be out of here in ten minutes.” He retrieved a brand new
lock set and his toolbox from the hallway, then got to work. I
needed a bath, or at the very least a shower, but I wasn’t about to
take it at the moment, There was only one thing I could do, so I
started unpacking. Ethan was a chatty fellow, so I wasn’t without
entertainment as I worked.
    “ You’ve got a good solid
door here,” he said as he started dismantling my lock. “Oak like
they don’t make anymore. Once I’m through here, it would take an ax
to get through to you.”
    That particular sentiment sent chills
through me, and he must have seen the expression on my face. “Not
that somebody’s going to be coming after you with an ax. Or
anything else, I mean. Come after you, that is. Hey, I’ve got an
idea: why don’t I just shut up and focus on the job at hand?”
    “ You can keep talking, but I
wouldn’t mind if we changed the subject.”
    Ethan laughed, and it was a lot more potent
when we were both on the same side of the door. “You’ve got
yourself a deal.” He chatted aimlessly as he worked, fortunately
avoiding any further discussions about potential attacks, for which
I was eternally grateful. Ethan was as good as his word, and
finished the job quickly. “What do I owe you?” I asked as I scanned
the room for my purse.
    “ Your brother’s covered it
already,” he said,