00 - Murder at Pawprint Creek by Cindy Bell

Author:Cindy Bell [Bell, Cindy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 7

Jean spluttered to the surface a moment later. Then she swam to the edge of the creek without much of a struggle. Nikki crouched down at the edge and helped to pull her out.

“Jean, what were you thinking?” Nikki frowned as she put her arm around her shoulders.

“Don’t fuss.” Jean shrugged Nikki’s arm off. “Don’t judge me either. I want that dam gone before the next person decides to move in. What if they plan to keep it?”

“You’re not going to be able to take it down yourself.” Nikki sighed as she stared into the woman’s dazed expression. “You’re not okay, are you?”

“All of my flowers are dying, Nikki.” She sniffled as a few tears mingled with the water already on her cheeks. “How could I be okay?”

“I’m sorry.” Nikki wrapped her arms around Jean. “I know this is hard. But you can’t take risks like this. What if you had been hurt and I wasn’t here?”

“Enough.” Jean drew away from Nikki’s grasp. “I know what needs to be done, and I’ll come back here every day if I have to until it’s done.” She shot her a brief look of gratitude. “Thanks for caring, Nikki, but this isn’t your problem. It’s not your land that’s dying, it’s not your town that is never going to be the same.”

As she walked away, Nikki was tempted to stop her. She had more questions for her, but this didn’t seem like the right time to ask them. Instead, she took the dogs home, and changed into some dry clothes. Once she was in pajamas she curled up on the couch. Still a bit shaken by the sight of Jean so upset, she invited the dogs up for a snuggle. As the two settled in, well-exercised and content with their temporary caretaker she finally began to relax. A moment later her cell phone rang. When she picked it up to check who it was, there was no caller ID. After a few seconds she answered it.

“Hello.”

“Hi, Nikki. It’s Jackson.”

“Hi, Jackson. How are you?” Nikki’s heart skipped a beat.

“I’m fine, thanks. I just want to check in on Sunny and Stormy.”

“They’re doing well.” Nikki bit into her bottom lip as she considered how to reveal the news about Rocky to him. “Did you make your flight okay? You left here in such a rush.”

“Yes, just in time.” Jackson sighed. “I cut it pretty close there.”

“I’m sorry if I caused you any delay. I was under the impression that your flight was a little later.”

“Something came up and things just got a little mixed up at the last minute. Are you sure everything’s okay?”

“The dogs are just fine, we’ve been having a nice time together. But something did happen that I think you should know about.” Nikki took a deep breath. “Your neighbor Rocky has been killed.”

“Killed?” Jackson chuckled. “Did someone put you up to this?”

“No, it’s true, Jackson. And there’s a police detective, Detective Spade, who is very eager to talk with you about it.

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