Donut Shop Mystery 25 - Devil's Food Defense Read Online Free PDF Page A

Grace! Hang on!”
    The second, louder, shout caught her attention. She turned around and started back toward me. “What’s up, Suzanne? Do you need something?”
    “We need to go to Gray’s cabin,” I said.
    “Now? Seriously? What makes you think he’s going to let us in?”
    I pulled the note from my pocket and handed it to her. It was easier than trying to explain it to her. In the dim light coming from the street lamp, she read it in silence, and after two seconds, she nodded and handed it back to me. “I’d better tell Stephen what we’re up to, and then we can go. We’re taking your Jeep, I assume.”
    “If you don’t mind,” I said. “Who knows what the road to the cabin is like once we get past the gate? You don’t want to take any chances with your company car, do you?”
    “No, ma’am, I do not. I’ll meet you at the donut shop in one minute.”
    “Thanks for allowing me to volunteer your services,” I said as she started to leave.
    “Are you kidding? I would have been upset with you if you hadn’t. I’m not celebrating the fact that Jake is out of town, but it’s going to be kind of nice doing something important and mysterious with just you again.”
    “What makes you think it’s going to be either one of those things?” I asked her.
    “Really? How can it not be? You have to admit that whenever we get together, trouble never seems to be very far away.”
    “For once, I hope you’re wrong,” I replied.
    “I do, too, but neither one of us thinks I am, do we?”
    “No. I’ve got a feeling something bad is going on with Gray Vincent. I just hope we can help.”
    “There’s only one way to find out.”

    “What do you think is really going on with him?” Grace asked me as we drove to Gray’s cabin in the woods. It was full-on dark now, and quite a bit past my bedtime, but I wasn’t at all sleepy. Maybe it was the adrenaline rush about what we might soon learn at Gray’s place.
    As promised, the gate was unlocked, though it had still been pulled shut.
    “Do you want me to get it?” Grace asked.
    “No, I don’t mind,” I said as I put my Jeep into park, got out, swung the gate open, and then got back in.
    As I drove through, Grace asked, “Should we close it back behind us?”
    “I don’t see why we should. After all, we won’t be here all night, and we’ll just have to open it again to get back out later.”
    “We hope,” she said. “I just realized something. If this takes too long, you’re not even going to get a nap before it’s time to make donuts again.”
    I glanced at my watch and knew that she was right. I’d gone two days without sleep before, but it was never anything I embraced willingly. The older I got, the less I was able to stay awake for extended periods of time. I didn’t have much choice now, but I did find myself wishing I’d taken that nap earlier when I’d had the chance.
    There was a source of light up ahead, and as we took the last bend of the rough road before we got to the cabin, I realized that Gray had left the outside lights on for us. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but it certainly wasn’t what we found. The place was a wonderland, landscaped beautifully with plantings, paths, lanterns, and a host of too much to take in with one glance. A series of precious little fairy houses were spread throughout the plantings, making the place look as though it were ready for a photo shoot for a gardening magazine. I was beginning to see what Gray did out there all by himself during the day.
    “This place is absolutely magical,” Grace said. “Are you seeing the same thing I am?”
    “I can hardly believe it, myself,” I said as I swung the Jeep toward the parking pad. Gray’s battered old truck was there, and I wedged my Jeep in beside it.
    As I did, I caught a glimpse of an odd feature that I hadn’t noticed earlier.
    There was a scarecrow with its back to us, looking out into the woods.
    Why would Gray need a scarecrow there,