Mo's Motel: Miss Fortune World: Wholly Moses!, #4

By Kamaryn Kelsey

While Mo prepares to move into her newly cleaned room at the Sinful Inn, the unexpected happens. Construction workers at the other end uncover a body buried under the concrete. Five years ago, a rich and influential couple, Clyde and Lovena Lane, tried to buy the Sinful Inn. Eugene turned them down, and Clyde disappeared. Everyone thought he died fishing on the bayou. But now Clyde's back, as a corpse and Eugene's is the prime suspect.

In a series of events that make Mo's head spin, she finds herself running the Sinful Inn, while Eugene awaits trial. To get Eugene off the hook and save herself from the fiasco at the motel, Mo enlists the aid of her Sinful friends.

• Language: English
• Publisher: J&R Fan Fiction
• Release date: Aug 17, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386863373

Book preview

Author's note:

This is Book 4 in the Wholly Moses series and is not intended to standalone.

This is a work of fiction. Other than Jana DeLeon's original story elements, the characters and names are creations of the author's imagination.

CHAPTER 1

Eugene, how many times do I have to tell you? The bedding HAS to be washed in a commercial size washer. Your wife, mama, or nephew can't just shove it into a small machine. Moses May Murphy was in Eugene Mooney's face. Hopefully, this would be the last showdown over the laundry, but Mo was sure there would be different issues to come, as she cleaned the smoke infiltrated rooms at the Sinful Inn.

Eugene looked intimidated when Mo put the full force of her body into the effort. An overgenerous chest, Grannie Annie's sprinting thighs, and hips to match? Eugene wasn't up to the challenge. He swallowed hard and agreed to pay for the big machines, as long as Mo didn't tell his wife, Shirlene. She promised behind her smile. Shirlene wore the family pants and apparently liked moonshine and men. The more moonshine she consumed, the more she liked men. Ida Belle joked that the town was going to put up an emergency siren to warn the men of Sinful when Shirlene came to town on a bender.

Mo had Gertie drop her off at the public laundromat, and Ida Belle drove her back when she was finished. Once back in her room, Mo made the bed and stood back with a sigh of relief. Finally, a clean place to call her own again, humble and small though it be!

Of course, she didn't confess to Eugene that the new mattresses probably weren't strictly necessary. But Mo figured she deserved something better than the saggy, disgusting things that had been pulled out of the rooms. And the adjuster wasn't adverse to a little mental persuading when Mo described how painful it was for a woman with her size of chest to try and roll on the old mattress. He took a look at Mo's chest, sighed, turned red, and agreed the old mattresses had to go.

She spent the next several days cleaning the units between hers and the motel office, which was in the middle of the long building. A construction crew was working at the other end, removing a section of concrete that was damaged in the fire.

Yelling and commotion from that end of the motel sent Mo running to see what was wrong. The foreman was on his cell phone and the rest of the crew had abandoned their jobs. They were huddled together in a small group, so Mo stepped over to ask what happened.

Benny was working the backhoe, and he dug through some bones.

Surely it's just a dog or other animal, Mo said.

Benny shook his head. That was a human hand I pulled up. Once I saw that, I stopped and had the boss call off the crew. No way we're interfering with a crime scene!

Mo's jaw dropped. A crime scene? At the end of the Sinful Inn, under a slab of five-year-old concrete?

You're sure? she asked. All the crew nodded, and Mo had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. A very bad feeling.

It got worse when, later that day, the police showed up with a warrant for Eugene's arrest on suspicion of murder. They showed up quietly and had Eugene whisked away before Mo had a chance to talk with him.

A crime scene crew had been on site since the discovery, and the construction crew went home. How on earth did they get a warrant that fast? And why did they suspect Eugene? Something didn't seem right with the whole situation. She asked the officers on site, but they brushed her off. Mo understood why, but she was frustrated with the lack of answers, so she called Tony.

She heard him sigh. You realize I'm not supposed to be talking about this? he asked.

Tony, I wouldn't have called if I wasn't desperate! Who'd be stupid enough to think Eugene capable of murder?

Everyone who heard him publicly argue with Clyde Lane five years ago, Tony replied.

Who's Clyde Lane? Mo didn't recall hearing that name from her years growing up in Sinful

Apparently the guy who's buried on the construction site. They found a wedding ring with an inscription and used that to make a preliminary ID.

You're joking, Mo said, stunned. That's pretty flimsy evidence. And a darn quick 'jump the gun' warrant, isn't it?

Tony hesitated. Mo, I'm sorry, but I'm just not comfortable talking about it. I have a duty to uphold.

I get it, Tony, and I don't mean to put you on the spot. It's just such a shock, and no one would speak to me.

I'm afraid that's all I can do for you, Tony said.

Mo thanked him and disconnected, wondering what to do next. There wasn't much she could do for Eugene in custody. Mo sighed. What would happen to Eugene and his family? What would happen to the motel... and her?

She needed to work off some frustration! She was tired of cleaning and, frankly, it might be pointless to continue. She wouldn't mind giving shooting lessons a try, but it was rather last minute to expect Fortune, Ida Belle, or Gertie to drop everything on her account.

Oh, goodie! That left a brisk walk in the hottest part of the day. But she knew she had to do something, and there weren't a lot of options. She put on a light, flouncy skirt that allowed air movement, and a sleeveless blouse. Thanks to an unexpected bonus on her last job, she'd been able to buy a few more clothing items. Low cut socks and her walking shoes didn't really complete the look, but she wasn't taking a brisk walk in sandals. Blisters on her feet would only upset her more. Hair up in a clip (what would stay), water bottle, hotel key, cash, and cell phone. Scrap the cell phone. She didn't want to talk to anyone. Yell, yes, but talk, no. Now she was ready.

CHAPTER 2

Mo returned one hour later, minus a few gallons of sweat, but plus a bag of cough syrup, courtesy of a detour to Walter's General Store. The bonus was that Walter always made her smile, even when she felt like kicking people and small animals. When she got into her room, she tossed her bag in the fridge and peeled off her clothes to take a much needed cold shower. She belted out a few verses of AC/DC's Highway to Hell in the shower. Wrapped in a towel, she bounced out of the bathroom still singing. She let out a shriek