A Crumby Way to Die by Georgiana Daniels

Author:Georgiana Daniels
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Cozy Cove Press

Chapter Fourteen

I sprinted across the front yard after Kai, my heels kicking up dirt behind me. At least I’d worn the two-inchers, which gave me a fighting chance. When I reached the sidewalk, I increased my speed and tried to ignore the back of my dress, flipping around with every step.

Kai dashed down the sidewalk. For a shorter guy, he moved fast. His headstart afforded him a ten-yard gap, but I was gaining quickly despite my throbbing feet.

He passed the neighbor’s house and leaped over a tricycle on the sidewalk. Moments later, I slowed down to skirt around the toy, allowing Kai to widen the distance between us. Then we ran past the second house, where an elderly couple watched us from chairs on their porch.

“Kai, stop! I just want to talk!” My shouts seemed to inspire him to move faster.

I pumped my arms harder and willed myself to catch up. My heart jack-hammered inside my chest, and my lungs burned. But I couldn’t let Kai go. He was my first real lead and could very well be the killer.

A dark car slowly rolled up beside me, and a dog barked. It sounded like Pooh Bear, but I didn’t dare take the time to look.

“Why don’t you hop into the car?” Polly asked as she crept along to match my pace. Perhaps I wasn’t moving as fast as I thought.

Then Kai peeled around a driveway and darted between two houses on a narrow path.

“Because you can’t go…” I pointed, too out of breath to talk. I left the sidewalk and followed Kai down the small alley.

He pulled farther ahead, no doubt because he was in sneakers. I tried to keep pace, hoping I didn’t lose my footing on the gravel. Ahead, a brick wall blocked his way. Kai glanced over his shoulder, his unkempt hair momentarily covering his eyes.

“There’s nowhere…for you to go!” I huffed, my lungs crushed.

Fierce barks pierced the air behind me. Then beside me. The sound of paws on gravel accompanied the barks. Suddenly, Pooh Bear blew past me, focused on his target.

Kai sprinted, then launched himself on top of a trash bin. He grasped the top of the wall and hoisted himself over just as Pooh Bear caught up. Pooh jumped and barked until I got there to calm him.

I ruffled his fur. “It’s okay, boy.” I glanced at the trash bin Kai had used to help scale the wall and weighed my options. The odds of me making it over the top and landing on the other side in one piece were pretty small.

My phone rang inside my pocket. Verity. “Hey.”

“I’m on a break now. Just wanted to see if you’d turned anything else up.”

I bent over, bracing my free hand on my knee. “I’ve been chasing a lead down Vine Street.”

“Like actual chasing?”

“Yeah.” Huff, puff.

“Well, don’t let me stop you. Keep going!”

“I can’t.” I panted and wiped the sweat from my eyes. “I’m out of gas.”

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