Jessica Thomas [Alex Peres Mysteries 6] Murder Takes to the Hills

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other wild drug plot he thought he had uncovered.
I was surprised to see who was there. My mother and Aunt Mae were having lunch. With other customers still fairly thin on the ground, they had made themselves comfortable at a table for four and waved us over.
Darlings! What a nice surprise. I hope you can join us?
Of course we could, and as we sat, a waiter appeared asking if we d care for a drink. Cindy ordered a double scotch and soda; I opted for a double bourbon old fashioned and did a credible imitation of Cindy s
eyebrow trick, and Aunt Mae gave us her best myopic stare. Then they both looked at their watches and took a meaningful sip from their iced tea glasses.
It s been a hectic morning, I offered as our excuse.
It s been a hectic spring, Cindy underscored.
What on earth happened to warrant double drinks barely after noon? I assume this is not an everyday occurrence, Aunt Mae asked, her mouth a prim, disapproving little pout.
I remembered what my mom had told me about Aunt Mae and Uncle Frank when they were first married that they were definitely members in good standing of the wild party set. I was in no mood for her rare holier
than thou act, and came very close to telling her so.
Fortunately, the waiter came with the drinks and asked for our food order. Cindy grabbed a menu. I ordered my favorite, a pastrami on rye with french fries and a half-sour pickle.
Cindy handed the menu back to the waiter and said, Just double that. She was really in a recuperative mood to pass up her usual healthy salad for my kind of lunch. I was delighted.
When he left, I looked at Cindy and said, You start.
She sipped her drink and began to tell them the tale of the stalker. She was unaware I had told them a portion of it before we went on vacation, and they fortunately for me were shrewd enough not to let on. Now, at
least, it was presumably history. As we told them of the various events, including this morning s wrap-up, they registered, sympathy, outrage and at the end amusement.
Happily our food arrived then, and we could eat while we mumbled answers to their questions.
Even Cindy had one for me. Are they going to hang the SOB?
No, I replied, and I doubt he ll even walk the plank. Probably he ll technically get maybe six months in jail, but actually he ll get probation and a bunch of community service hours.
What about the three young men? Mom inquired.
Probably just some community service. Frankly, I m not sure they even broke any laws, unless Ptown has some weird antiquated ones on the books which wouldn t surprise me.
I m glad. Cindy finished her highball and waved her glass at the waiter. Obviously the drink was a mellowing influence. They weren t really bad. They just haven t figured out yet that an approach like that gets you
absolutely nowhere with anyone you really want to date anyway.
She shook her finger at me for some reason. But that Travis! I stared at him the whole time this morning and he never would look at me even once! He never even said he was sorry. And I say hang im!
Cindy dear, would you care for some coffee and dessert? Aunt Mae inquired. I managed not to laugh at the look Cindy gave her.
At the same time Mom asked me, Is this Travis a danger?
I think not, I replied. I don t think he really intended Cindy to hear him. I think he is simply a crude man, trying to impress his young workers with the idea that he s a macho man of the world who knows how to handle
uppity broads and make them like it...that he is still a better man than they will ever be. His police record is clean except for parking tickets, Nacho told me, and his work record is all quite normal. He was scared to death
this morning. I chortled, if he owns a van himself, it s on the market by now. I think he s all talk.
Mom nodded. I hope you re right. I know Loretta Wismer& lovely lady. I must call her and see how Larry is, poor boy. She adores him he s really all she has but I give her credit, she hasn t spoiled him. Well. She
checked her watch. We must be going&
Whither bound?
Oh, nothing exciting. Barbara Kincaid is still on a walker with that broken fibula. So we are running her errands and doing some shopping for her& probably all wrong, but she ll be too nice to mention it.
I smiled. Still another star in your crowns.
We ll take all we can get, right, Mae? She gave us each a pat on the head and they left.
And shortly, so did we. After I dropped Cindy, munching on a mint, back at the bank, I circled around and started out toward the airport. I had spoken with Cassie on the phone since we got home, but hadn t seen her. I
thought, if she was there and not busy, a small visit would be nice& I could find out if there was anything new with the Pittsburgh pirates.
As I turned onto the airport road, I glanced back at the town. Green spots were showing here and there, trees had lost their bare look, even the houses looked brighter and some rooftops seemed actually to sparkle in
the sun. There was no season here I didn t love, although if winter were the tiniest bit shorter, I wouldn t complain. Even so, it was home, and I was glad to be here.
Walking into the large hangar where Cassie parked her beloved plane, I thought I was seeing double. I turned my head this way and that in confusion. Two twin-engine Beechcraft planes sat side-by-side, both painted
blue and white, both with their noses in the air as if they were above it all, even on the ground.
Cassie appeared from her tiny office in the corner.
Yes, madam, having a problem with double vision?
Don t be silly. The one on the right is painted a slightly darker blue and kind of an off-white.
Truth to tell, it s just dirty. She laughed.
I see. And have you learned to fly two at a time?
Alex, she said, her tone now serious. I have recently had I think two pieces of absolutely fantastic good luck. Even the timing is just about perfect. I can still hardly believe it is all true. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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