Autumn Blue Read Online Free PDF Page B

teacher?”
    “Mrs. Gilbreath.”
    Sidney gently pushed Sissy behind her. Rebecca peered curiously around the doorjamb. “Will you girls please go back in and
     let the deputy and me talk in
private
?” She emphasized the last word, hoping old Mr. Bradbury’s hearing was good enough to take the hint. It was dark enough now
     that he was probably plucking off perfectly good blooms just for an excuse to stand out there within earshot.
    Sissy called out a friendly “’Bye” as the door closed.
    Deputy Estrada ran one hand across his jaw. He would have been a strikingly handsome man without the pinched forehead and
     squinty eyes. “Something tells me they’re not afraid of me.”
    “Just the same, I’d rather you not come in.”
    “You know, Mrs. Walker, if you’re knowingly possessing stolen goods . . .”
    “I am not doing any such thing!” Now she was indignant, outraged. How dare he insult her like that? She felt branded, as if
     someone had burned the letter
L
for
loser
on her bare arm. Like she was one of those pathetic, dysfunctional women on
COPS
, only she still happened to have good teeth. It was as if he knew all about the past, all those sordid situations that Dodge
     had dragged her through. But her ex-husband was gone now. Cut off. She was making a new life for herself and the kids.
    Maybe it was the shards of truth that sliced into her from his comment that enraged her so. Like the shattered bottle hidden
     inside Ty’s jacket. She was guilty. Guilty of being an idiot. Believing that Dodge had really won that big-screen TV in a
     poker game. That all the nice things he brought home had been gifts from friends or incredible deals that he just couldn’t
     pass up. The first time a pair of officers from the Bellingham Police Department had shown up at their door, she had been
     shocked. Ty was a baby on her hip then. And now, it was like déjà vu, standing out there on her porch and staring into a badge,
     only this time Ty was the suspect. The phrase “Like father, like son” popped into her mind uninvited.
    “Look, Deputy . . .” She sighed, rubbing one temple that was beginning to throb. “If you had a search warrant, you would have
     pulled it out by now. Whether you believe me or not, I’m not hiding anything. I’m just tired. Please, go away now. I have
     to get my kids to bed.”
    He nodded curtly, glaring. “Have it your way, Mrs. Walker.”
    She watched him turn and walk to his car, head high and shoulders back like a marine. He glanced up at her again before ducking
     his head, sliding in, and slamming the door. The official green sedan accelerated quickly once on the road, and Sidney stood
     there massaging her hammering chest until the car’s red taillights disappeared around the bend.
    “Good night, Mr. Bradbury!” she called, adding “You nosy old coot” under her breath.
    He looked up as if startled to see her there. “Oh, good night now,” he stammered almost inaudibly, then turned and headed
     down the path to his front door.

5
    I T WAS A TERRIBLE SHOCK , catching Millard Bradbury so off guard that he stumbled backward several steps and caught the front doorjamb for support.
     The
Winger County Herald
lay forgotten at his feet.
    A mole. Dad-blasted blind-as-a-doorknob mole! It had pushed up a string of mounds from the picket fence that bordered the
     grassy field on the west halfway to the center of his immaculate lawn, where the tunnel was punctuated by a pile of rich brown
     earth.
    His breath became short as he strode down the concrete steps. Stopping abruptly at the bottom, he detoured to his left toward
     the garage, which was set back at the end of the driveway, and emerged from it with shovel in hand. As he approached the scene
     of the crime, he tiptoed, holding the rough, wooden handle like the shaft of a spear, ready to send the mud-sucking rodent
     to its maker the moment it showed its snout.
    He waited. The mound of dirt was still. Birds trilled and