Murder of a Cranky Catnapper Read Online Free PDF Page B

so old my birth certificate expired, so I sure as hell can handle Lynch without you getting involved,” Charlie retorted. Then, seeming to realize that Skye wouldn’t give up, he said, “Fine. He’s got the booster club believing he’ll back their request for a bigger budget for sports. And he’s convinced the religious nuts that he’ll make sure their values are the ones that are taught in the curriculum.”
    â€œSo he’s playing everyone?”
    â€œExactly.” Charlie smiled meanly. “And all I have to do is make sure the various groups know it. Once they’re aware that he’s promising everyone everything, none ofthe board members will dare vote for him because they would piss off their constituency.”
    â€œBut there’s nothing he’s doing that you can’t neutralize.” Skye noticed a flicker of something in her godfather’s eyes. “Right?”
    â€œRight.” Charlie got up, lumbered over to her, and gave her a one-armed hug. “But you could do me a little favor.”
    â€œWhat?” Skye tried to back away, but Charlie held on to her.
    â€œLet me know what you hear in the teachers’ lounge about Lynch.”
    â€œYou want me to be your mole?”
    â€œDon’t think of it as spying. Think of it as being a good listener and observer. Kind of like the job description of a psychologist.” Charlie walked her to the door.
    â€œI guess that I can do that.” Skye was willing to be Charlie’s secret agent if it meant that Palmer Lynch wasn’t elected president of the school board.
    â€œBut don’t let Lynch know that you’re involved,” Charlie cautioned. “He’s a vengeful son of a b.”
    â€œOkay.” Skye bit her lip.
    Charlie’s words reminded her of Virginia’s warning. Maybe she should mind her own business.
Nah!
Charlie had always been protective of Skye and her brother, Vince, and since Skye had gotten pregnant, his concern was edging into the realm of paranoia. He wouldn’t ask her to do anything that put her at risk.
    Palmer Lynch was just another small-town politician. He might threaten her job, but it wasn’t as if he would physically harm her.

CHAPTER 4
    Dogs believe they are human. Cats believe they are God.
    â€”ANONYMOUS
    T he rest of the week passed uneventfully. Skye had texted Caroline that Charlie wasn’t worried about Palmer winning the election for board president and the principal had been relieved. The e-mails Skye had received in response to her message to the parents of the boys in her group had all been positive. The second pet therapy meeting on Wednesday had gone extremely well. And when Skye described the session to the principal, she was pleased with the students’ progress.
    Dr. Quillen was a sweetheart and Skye wondered why the handsome veterinarian was unmarried. Even though Virginia Elders was a bit older than Dr. Q, Skye would have been tempted to try to arrange a blind date between the teacher and the animal doctor if she wasn’t already involved with the odious Mr. Lynch.
    Heck!
She might still fix up those two. Virginia deserved a nice guy, not a control freak like Palmer.
    Skye and her best friend, Trixie Frayne, the high school librarian, had spent Saturday afternoon at Eastland Mall in Bloomington. While Trixie tried on cute little size 4 shorts and T-shirts, Skye looked for maternity clothes totake her through to the end of this school year and the first couple of weeks of the next one.
    There hadn’t been anything that made her feel remotely pretty, but Sunday morning as she got ready for church, Skye was thankful she didn’t have to go through her entire wardrobe to find an outfit that wasn’t too tight. Even if it felt as if she were putting on a tent.
    Sighing, she slipped the navy and white knit dress over her head, tied the belt, and smoothed down the striped knee-length skirt. After