Hearty Homestyle Murder: Book 9 in The Darling Deli Series Read Online Free PDF Page B

her inhale sharply and wipe the tears from her face. Had someone come to her house? It was late, almost eleven, and she couldn’t think of anyone who would just drop by without calling first. She checked her phone as she stood up in case she had somehow missed a call or a text from Candice or David, but there wasn’t anything. Uneasy, wondering what the dogs could possibly be barking at, she grabbed a flashlight from one of the kitchen drawers and went outside.
    “What’s going on, you guys?” she asked, clicking the light on and shining it towards the edge of the woods, which was about thirty feet away from the fenced-in portion of the backyard where the dogs were. Both of them had stopped barking when she joined them, but Maverick was still upset, pacing the fence line with his hackles up and a low rumble coming from his throat.
    She didn’t see anything at first, but with Maverick still staring at the trees she knew that whatever had caused the barking was still out there. It’s probably just a raccoon, she told herself, trying to fight down the irrational tickle of fear that was making her heart pound. She shone the light along the tree line again, and nearly dropped it when the beam revealed a huge grey creature, its eyes eerily reflecting the light.
    The animal froze, staring directly into the light. Moira’s first thought was that it was a wolf. Did wolves even live in Michigan? She wasn’t sure, but she didn’t think they did. Not around Maple Creek anyway. Then she saw the flash of tags on a collar around its neck and realized that it was a dog—the biggest dog she had ever seen.
    Telling Maverick to hush, Moira slipped through the gate and slowly approached the animal, which was still watching her warily. Now that she recognized it as a dog she wasn’t frightened any more. What had she been worried about? A werewolf? A murderer hiding in her woods? Some sort of ghost? Chuckling at her own overactive imagination, she squatted a few feet away from the dog and held out a hand for it to sniff. The dog, which had wiry grey fur and deep brown eyes, took a wary step back before slowly stretching its head forward. Its wet nose brushed her palm, and she felt the warm flick of a tongue against her skin. She smiled.
    “Come on, you,” she said softly. “Let’s get you inside and take a look at your collar. I’m sure your owners are worried sick about you.”
    Ignoring Maverick’s ferocious barking from the fenced-in yard, she slipped her fingers through the stray dog’s collar, stood up, and led it towards the front door.

CHAPTER SIX
    Once she had the dog inside under the bright kitchen lights she could see that the poor thing was matted and dirty. She still couldn’t get over the size of the dog, whose shoulders came up to above her hips. Luckily the dog seemed to be gentle and calm, and waited patiently while Moira unbuckled her collar to examine the tags.
    “Your name’s Keeva?” she said, glancing down at the dog, whose ears had perked up at the sound of her name. Frowning, Moira turned the tags over in her hands. There didn’t seem to be a phone number or an address on either of them. The second tag, a rabies tag, was so worn that she couldn’t even make out the vet’s name.
    “How am I going to find your home?” she asked. “Maybe you belong to one of my neighbors. I guess tomorrow we’ll drive around and see if anybody recognizes you.”
    She stroked Keeva’s head, then wrinkled her nose. The dog had obviously been outside for a while, and judging from her wet legs and the smell of rotting leaves clinging to her, she had probably been wandering around in the swamp that bordered the back part of Moira’s property. She didn’t want to make the poor pup stay outside, but if she was going to let the huge dog sleep indoors, she would need a bath first.
    “Well, let’s clean you up.” Moira grabbed a box of dog treats and shook it encouragingly, letting the dog follow her up the stairs and