He's Got Her Goat Read Online Free PDF Page A

pillars were vinyl, and the siding had moss growing in the creases. On the front door a lockbox, the kind realtors use, lay at an angle. Paige hadn’t been this close to the house since she'd met Blanche.
    “Not looking good.” Dunn peered in the windows. “Nobody’s lived here in forever.”
    She swallowed as she took in the unmowed lawn and weeds pushing through cracks in the sidewalk and driveway. “I’d lost one of my goats and thought it might have wandered over here. She was standing right over there and told me all her plans. But I never saw her inside.” A walk around the side of the house confirmed her suspicions. The top rim of the emu pens sagged like telephone lines after a hurricane, and waist high weeds had taken over the yard.
    She’d never felt so foolish. “Why would someone do this? She was at my place almost every day for the last two months.”
    Dunn looked as confused as she felt. “I’ve got to admit it’s strange, but if she had money, she was probably aiming to get more of it. Aren’t you Bill Lindon’s niece?”
    “Yes.” She blinked back the emptiness at the sound of her uncle’s name.
    “Didn’t you get a good insurance payout at his passing?”
    She shook her head. “It barely covered the medical bills. Except for the house, I’ve got almost nothing but student loans.”
    Dunn’s chin wrinkled. “But she wouldn’t have known that. Could have found your name in the obits to pick you as a target. Should we head back and see what evidence she left behind? We still might find her.” He marched that direction.
    Paige wanted to salute him. “Yes, sir.”
    As Deputy Dunn slid back the large barn door, he whistled. “Might have known Bill’s niece would keep her establishment ship shape. Carrying on the Lindon tradition?”
    “Well…” Paige was about to explain, but Petunia started braying at the sound of their voices. The nanny lifted up on her hind legs as high as she could, so her head was peeking over the top of the stall.
    Dunn went to pet the waiting goat. “Looks like she’s going to be a momma soon.”
    “A few more weeks.” Paige’s smile dimmed. “She’s carrying the last of King’s seed. He’s the stud I was looking for when I met Blanche. I never found him.”
    “Must have been hard to lose so much at once.” Dunn lowered his head for a moment and then raised it, looking more determined. “So who all do you have helping around here? Maybe they could tell me more about Blanche, and we could get to the bottom of this.”
    Thinking back over the last months, she was surprised that no one had been there but Blanche. “I’m sorry.”
    “Maybe Jim from the farm store saw her when he dropped off feed or the farrier when he clipped the goats’ hooves last or the vet when you had ‘em wormed?”
    She usually did all those things herself. “I’d been hoping to hire someone, but for now it's been just me. That’s why I was so grateful when Blanche offered to cover the morning milking,” Paige said.
    Dunn’s brows furrowed. “So you invited her on the premises, and she was still here when you left?”
    “In the barn, but never in the house, does that make a difference?”
    “It could on the breaking and entering charge.” His face seemed to fall. “Is there a bathroom in the barn?”
    “No,” Paige admitted.
    “She could use that as a defense for entering the home, and if she’s older, who wouldn’t let her off? Unless she stole something. Let’s see.”
    They rushed back to the house, and he took out a handkerchief to turn the knob. His whistle was louder than before. “Ms. Lindon, she did a number on this place."
    Paige could feel the color rising in her cheeks. “No, I’ve have a lot of orders lately. It’s been hard to keep up.” She shuffled through the invoices on the couch, counted the tins on the chairs and checked the packaging on the counters to make certain it was all there. “Nothing is missing.”
    Dunn was kneeling in