1514121980 by Janel Gradowski

Author:Janel Gradowski [Gradowski, Janel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Gemma Halliday Publishing
Published: 2015-05-30T23:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Amy tossed her cell phone on the passenger seat. According to the text message, Sophie was going to be at least twenty minutes late. And Amy was already parked behind Riverbend, staring at the kitchen door that could possibly have an uninvited visitor on the other side. The pastry chef who used to wake up at 4:00 a.m. without the aid of an alarm clock was always punctual, at least until somebody decided to use terror as a way to earn money. Or maybe her new living arrangement with a sexy, celebrity look-alike boyfriend had something to do with the delay. Amy sighed as she looked around. Why did shadows always have to look like creatures that had stepped out of her worst nightmares? How did fire hydrants turn into ogres and lampposts into spindly aliens?

She started the Mini's engine again and backed out of the parking spot. Was Sophie's attacker roaming around, preparing to ambush another early arriving business owner? There was enough time to take a spin around the neighborhood and see.

At the end of the block, Amy turned toward Main Street but continued across the main road after stopping for the red blinking stoplight. The property adjacent to the Cooley River had once been a narrow park, so there wasn't space to make square blocks like the rest of the district. If the downtown was a wine glass, the section where Riverbend and Finley & Crowe were located formed the stem, with buildings only constructed along Main Street. The alley bisecting the larger blocks turned into a service road edged with a wide median of grass. The seldom-used road stopped at the river then made a 90-degree turn into the residential neighborhood behind the businesses.

Amy turned left so she could pass behind the beleaguered menswear shop. It didn't seem likely that the extortionist would break into the menswear shop after committing a murder there, but irrational people did stupid things. She was relieved to find the employee parking areas tucked behind the buildings empty of both cars and people. When the road turned, she followed it into the residential neighborhood. Most of the houses were dark. A few had lights on. She caught a glimpse of a white-haired woman standing at her kitchen counter, pouring water from a kettle into a mug. The nearby murder surely had rattled many of the residents in the neighborhood, but at the moment it looked peaceful.

She stopped at a crossroad and decided it was time to turn back toward Riverbend. The sky was beginning to lighten from black to a dark navy blue from the impending sunrise. Massive, old trees lined the sidewalk. An occasional lit porch light cast dense shadows that mimicked the gnarly trunks. Amy squawked, a sound that seemed more appropriate coming from a chicken who had just produced an egg. One of the shadows was moving, and she was certain it wasn't her overactive imagination conjuring the effect. She stomped on the brake pedal. In fact, it wasn't a shadow at all.

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