Jessica Beck - Donut Shop 17 - Old Fashioned Crooks Read Online Free PDF Page A

that he’d been murdered on the spot.   After all, there was no way the killer could drag the body very far
without being discovered; Rick was a pretty big guy.   Did that mean that there was a bullet hole,
or maybe even a stab wound that no one had found yet?   It wasn’t even out of the realm of
possibility that he could have been poisoned and had fallen into the fire’s
wooden stockpile himself when the toxin finally struck home.   I knew that we’d find out sooner or
later, but I wanted to know now.
    “Suzanne?   Are you still there?” Jake asked,
bringing me back to the present.
    “Sorry.   I was just thinking about something.”
    “That makes
sense.   I thought I could hear the
gears turning from here,” he said with a dull laugh.  
    “It’s just
frustrating how much I don’t know.”
    “Well, at least
you know the victim’s identity.”
    “That’s it,
though, Jake.   I have a ton of other
theories about what might have happened to him, but there’s nothing that I can
confirm.”
    “Is there anything
in particular that you’d like to run past me?   Who knows?   I might even be able to help.”
    I considered
telling him about the possibilities I’d been contemplating, but then I realized
that this man had enough on his mind without me adding to it.   “Thanks for the offer, but there’s nothing
just yet.”
    “Well, keep me
posted.”   There was a moment’s pause
as someone away from the phone spoke to him, and he returned to me as he said,
“Sorry.   I’ve got to go.”
    It was so abrupt
that I didn’t get a chance to say good night, or that I loved him, or repeat that
I wished he was in April Springs with me, but I was used to it.   When Jake was on a case, he had unbelievable
focus, and anything personal got left on the periphery.
    I should be able
to recognize it, since lately I’d become the same way myself when I was
investigating a murder.
    Maybe it was an
occupational hazard of the job, and I had it, even though for me, this was
still a hobby; a deadly serious hobby, but a hobby nonetheless.
    I started to head
for the master bedroom downstairs where I slept these days, but for some
reason, I found myself climbing the steps to my old room instead.   I changed into a spare set of jammies I
kept up there, and then I settled in for the night in my old familiar spot.   From the window near the bed I could see
part of the park clearly outside, though I couldn’t make out the outline of the
unburned bonfire anymore.   Still,
the second-story view of the familiar surroundings gave me comfort on a night
where it was in short supply, so I curled up into my bed and found myself
falling asleep before I knew what was happening.
    Tomorrow would
come soon enough, so I embraced the slumber, knowing that I’d get precious
little rest before it was time to get up again.

 

 
    Chapter 5

 
    “Sharon, what are
you doing here?” I asked Emma’s mother the next morning after I answered the
knocking on the back door of the donut shop an hour after I’d arrived.   “I thought you’d be home with your
daughter, or at the very least, still asleep.”
    “Honestly, that
was my original plan, but Emma wouldn’t go to sleep last night until I promised
I’d come by and offer you my assistance this morning,” the older woman said as
she smiled at me.   “If you don’t
want me here, just say the word and I’ll be on my way, but I promised Emma that
I would at least try.”
    “How is she
doing?”
    “I’m worried
about her, if you want to know the truth,” Sharon said gravely.
    “Is she falling
apart?” I asked, envisioning all sorts of meltdowns.   It had to be tough losing someone so
close.   Even if Rick hadn’t been the
perfect boyfriend, they had been in a relationship, and she’d lost him.
    “It’s just the
opposite,” Sharon said.   “Emma keeps
insisting that she’s fine, but I know better.   If anything, she’s in complete denial, but
I don’t know