Dang Near Dead (An Aggie Mundeen Mystery Book 2) Read Online Free PDF

tadpoles, frogs, and fish.”
    “If we need life jackets,” Stoney said. “I was a lifeguard.”
    Rat didn’t respond. “Tadpoles will get used to the water in shallow areas,” he said. “You’ll slip in, jackets on, and swim to various points. I’ll swim with you.” He smiled.
    I hoped he had a life jacket big enough for Jangles. Maybe her boobs would float.
    “Frogs swim with and without jackets. Fish try out the canoes and kayaks.” He pointed to boats lying on the grass by the river.
    Meredith, Sam and I were good swimmers, so we “fish” would probably learn to steer watercraft. I had swum with Sam and his wife Katy at the exercise club in Chicago. Meredith and I had used the health club pool in San Antonio, but swimming in a river would be different.
    Sam whispered, “I’m glad I can swim. He probably saves only women.”
    Eyeing the grin on water god’s face, I decided that steering a canoe would definitely be preferable to frolicking in the water with River Rat.
    Selma Tensel piped up, “Are there any endangered species in there, like the Texas salamander?”
    “What’s a salamander?” Millie squeaked. “Is it big?”
    “For Pete’s sake, Selma,” George muttered to his wife. He turned to Millie. “It’s a brown thing five inches long that lives in caves and eats whatever flows in because it’s blind.” Selma glared at him.
    “Those little guys prefer the pools in the San Marcos River,” Rat said. “We have ordinary critters here.”
    Millie paled. “What kinds of critters?”
    “Nothing to hurt you, Sweetheart,” said River Rat. Millie appeared too panicked to appreciate his attempt to flirt.
    Sam leaned toward me and whispered, “Good thing he didn’t mention water snakes, western cottonmouths, rose-bellied lizards...”
    “Shush, Sam. She’ll hear you.” With all the noise and splashing we’d make, I didn’t think a snake or lizard would get anywhere near this crowd.
    Jangles flashed a Cheshire Cat smile at River Rat. “We’ll be just fine with you helping us and all, won’t we, Sweetie?”
    He grinned. “Sure thing. Any more questions? No? Then I’ll see y’all in the morning.”
    While Jangles heaved herself and her parachute up from the dock, Stoney dried her foot and stuffed it back into her boot. Vicki pointed the way to the stables.
    “Walk to the right,” she said, “behind the lodge. You’ll see glimpses of the firing range in the distance on your left and the corrals straight ahead.” She looked irritated but was apparently trying to hide it.
    I let everybody walk on ahead and waited for her. “River Rat sure knows how to charm the ladies.”
    “Yeah.” Vicki lowered her voice. “I can’t believe the women in cabin six go nuts over him. They can hardly wait to get him in the water. ‘River Rat’ fits him, the big creep. His last name isn’t Harding. He’s my sorry brother, Trey Landsdale,” she whispered. “Nobody here knows that, so don’t say anything.”
    With Trey’s dark skin and hair, and Vicki’s fair skin and strawberry-blond hair, nobody would guess they were siblings.
    “My parents stashed him here to spy on me,” Vicki said. “What a joke. They don’t realize what a screw-up he is. He’s the one who needs to get his life straight. When I caught him forging a check on my account, I told him there’d be no more smoking weed and drinking on my dime. I wonder what he does with guests in that river. Maybe he shares his booze and marijuana.”
    “Good grief. Won’t Bertha find out?”
    “Eventually. He’s pretty smooth, but one of these days, he’ll make a guest mad. I’d like to be around when Bertha finds out about his doping and drinking. When our parents shipped him here, he figured he had them fooled, and he could mooch off me easier. He has his own trust fund, what’s left of it. I couldn’t believe they sent the creep to watch me! That was the last straw. How was I supposed to trust him or my parents?”
    She