Blackberry Summer Read Online Free PDF

tell us you’ve caught the little bastards?”
    He raised an eyebrow. “Geez, Maur. Your language! And in front of Mrs. Tatum and Councilwoman Thorne, too. Watch it or Ma will wash out your mouth.”
    “That’s right,” Mary Ella said, apparently conveniently forgetting she’d used her own pithy words earlier.
    Maura never cared much about what anybody thought of her, one of the reasons Claire admired her so much. “You saw what they did here.” She gestured to the mess the women were helping Claire set to rights. “What else would you call them?”
    “Point taken.”
    “I guess I’m just lucky they didn’t hit the bookstore.”
    “So have you caught them?” Alex asked.
    “Still working on it. I need to ask Claire a couple of follow-up questions.”
    “Please. We’d like to know what’s going on.” In her quest for information, Ruth had apparently decided to momentarily overlook her dislike of Riley.
    “If you all don’t mind, I’d like to speak to Claire in private. Certain details of the investigation are somewhat sensitive.”
    Ruth didn’t bother to hide her disappointment as Claire rose and led the way to her office. Riley shut the door, then stretched out in her visitor’s chair, rubbing at his forehead. He looked tired, she thought. His day likely had been even harder than hers. She’d only had to deal with one robbery while he’d been faced with a whole crop of them.
    “Would you like some coffee?” she asked. “Or I’ve got tea.”
    “I’m good, thanks. If I have any more caffeine today, I’m going to be jumpier than a grasshopper on lawn-mowing day.”
    “You have information for me?” she asked.
    “I guess you could call it information. For what it’s worth anyway. It’s not much, I’m afraid, but I did tell you I would pass along what I could. We found a possible eyewitness who saw a suspicious vehicle pulling away from the pizza place at an odd time in the early hours of the morning. A late-model dark blue or green or black extended-cab pickup truck. The eyewitness didn’t get a good look and is uncertain whether it was a Dodge or a Ford.”
    “Great. That should narrow it down to, oh, maybe half the town.”
    “I know it’s broad, but at least it’s something. Not all the security cameras in the other businesses were disabled. We’ve got security footage at the bike shop that shows three different individuals at the scene, but they’re all wearing ski masks and cheap disposable raincoats over their parkas to hide any identifying clothing.”
    With some degree of shame, she realized she hadn’tgiven much thought to the rest of the affected stores. “Was the damage serious at the other businesses?”
    “It varies. Computers, a little cash. They took a high-end mountain bike from Mike’s Bikes.” Despite the fatigue still etched into his features, his gaze seemed to sharpen. “Yours was the only store to see actual vandalism.”
    Lucky her. “I still don’t understand why. Maybe they were angry that I didn’t have much for them to steal for their trouble.”
    “Could be. Or maybe it was more personal. I’m sorry, but I have to ask, Claire. Can you think of anyone with a grudge against you, besides Dr. Asshole?”
    She stared at him and then started to laugh. She couldn’t help herself. “Jeff? You think Jeff had something to do with this? That’s completely insane! He would never be involved in anything like this. Anyway, he has no reason to have a grudge against me. If anything it’s…”
    “The other way around?”
    Any trace of laughter shriveled. “Jeff and I have tried very hard to get along, for the sake of our children.”
    “Ah, that rare beast, the amicable divorce.” Although he spoke in a light, mocking tone, she saw something in his eyes, some hint of bitterness, and she remembered the raw shock of his parents’ breakup. She and Alex had just been starting their senior year, so they would have been about seventeen. Riley would have been