Death Takes a Holiday by Elisabeth Crabtree

that’s such a pretty color of lipstick.”
    Kyle grinned. Nice and straight to the heart of the matter.
    Sara turned her attention away from Steve and smiled up at Grace. “Thank you.”
    “I wish I could wear that color,” Grace said wistfully as she filled Sara’s glass with water. “I look horrible in plum.”
    She’s such a bad liar, Kyle thought, affectionately.
    “Oh, it’s not a plum,” Sara said quickly and with some confusion. “It’s red. Rapture Red, I think it’s called.”
    “Oh really, do you mind if I see it?”
    Sara’s eyebrows rose at Grace’s unexpected request. “Um, sure,” she said, opening her purse and fishing through the contents.
    Feeling Steve’s elbow pressing against his ribs, Kyle turned toward the other man. Steve hid part of his face and mouthed , “can you believe this” at him. Kyle gave him an annoyed glance before turning back in time to watch Sara hand Grace a gold lipstick case.
    Kyle watched with interest as Grace opened the lipstick.
    Virtually new and definitely hadn’t been used for writing any messages on mirrors, he thought, slightly disappointed. Although it occurred to Kyle that Sara could have more tubes of lipstick in her compartment.
    “Excuse me.” Meredith tapped Grace on the shoulder. “This is my section. I’m sure Robert Kirby,” she said, using her chin to point at the man sitting near the bar, “would like to eat at some point—as soon as you’re done exchanging makeup tips, of course.”
    Capping the lipstick and muttering something nonsensical about how pretty the color looked, Grace quickly moved over to the other table.
    “All right, which one of you wants the fish?” Meredith asked with a scowl.
     
    *
     
    Grace set the cup of coffee down in front of Robert. He didn’t seem to notice. He jabbed a finger at Parker who was seated in front of him. “Look, I don’t want any problems tonight.”
    “What can I do?” Parker asked with a whine. “You know Felicity. Once she gets these ideas in her head, you can’t stop her.” Slightly embarrassed, Parker glanced up at Grace and murmured a polite “thank you” as she placed another cup in front of him.
    Reluctantly, Grace stepped away from the table and walked toward the dining car bar. She was still close enough to hear Robert say, “I don’t care what you have to do. Lock her in her room, tie her up, whatever—just make sure she doesn’t cause a scene. I don’t want Tracy upset tonight. If anything happens, it’s all over for you, buddy. You can kiss the gravy train good-bye.” He looked up suddenly as his wife and brother entered the dining car together. “Here comes Tracy. You’d better go.”
    Picking up his coffee cup, Parker pushed back his chair and stood up.
    Robert grabbed his arm. “I mean it Parker, don’t screw this up.”
    Parker jerked his arm away, spilling the coffee all over his hand. He wiped the liquid on his trousers before walking to the other end of the car and sitting down at the table behind Kyle and Steve.
    Grace poured hot water into a cup and picked up a small basket of special teas. She walked over to Asa Wellington’s table and set the cup and basket in front of him.
    “Thank you.” Grace watched as he made lazy circles on the dinner table cloth with his carefully manicured fingers. “Three creams. No sugar, please,” he said. Grace detected a slight British accent in the way he pronounced certain words.
    She was about to rattle off the night’s special when she noticed something white and furry disappearing between the man’s feet. Her gaze flew back up to his face.
    No reaction. He continued to stare at the menu in his hand.
    Maybe she imagined it. Abry couldn’t be on the train. It had to be her imagination. She looked back down at his feet.
    Nothing.
    She backed up a little and tilted her head to the side.
    “I’ll just have the soup,” he said laying the menu to the side of the table.
    Grace nodded politely while bending down