A Deadly Bone to Pick by Peggy Rothschild

Author:Peggy Rothschild [Rothschild, Peggy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780593437094
Google: qjUtEAAAQBAJ
Publisher: Penguin
Published: 2022-02-22T12:02:20.983238+00:00

CHAPTER 14

I put the dogs in the backyard, then studied the pantry. Even a mouse would starve trying to scrape together a meal here. Grocery shopping couldn’t wait any longer. Grabbing my wallet and keys, I detoured through the backyard and kissed the dogs before heading to the garage’s side door. Both ran after me. “Harlow, Noodle, stay.” I led them back to the grass and kissed them again. “I’ll be back soon.”

After turning out of the alley, I traveled along the main beach access road. I passed Pier Point’s small business section and continued on to the shopping center near the freeway. The parking lot was jammed. I cruised several rows before I found a spot. Unfortunately, a seagull sat in it, beak deep in a potato chip bag. The bird turned. Appearing unimpressed, he returned his attention to the bag. “Really?” Losing patience, I leaned on the horn. After giving me one more blasé look, the bird flapped off.

The two-story bank stood out as the tallest building in the complex and the grocery store as the largest. In between sat a range of shops: cards and gifts, dry cleaning, ice cream, and, of course, coffee. Fifteen minutes after I entered the sprawling grocery store, its layout still made no sense. I ended up wandering each aisle, tossing items into the cart as I found them: paper goods, dog chow, produce, frozen foods, dry goods. I picked up a jar of peanut butter and two extra bags of dog treats for Ava to use. When I headed toward the checkout, I remembered I was almost out of root beer. Backtracking halfway across the store, I located the soda section next to the bleach and detergents. I added a twelve-pack to the basket before pausing at the wine aisle. Should I buy a good bottle in case Beau dropped by and wanted to talk once more? No. I grabbed two bottles of inexpensive California chardonnay, then rolled my way to the front of the store and got in line.

Ava canceling today’s lesson still bugged me. Did Jemma really have a conflicting appointment like the girl said? Or was her mom avoiding me because I’d read her the riot act? Considering the way she’d made herself scarce yesterday, it felt like Jemma was building toward ending my classes with her daughter.

“Bags?” The checker’s voice snapped me back to the present. Head cocked like an inquisitive sparrow, the thin woman stared, obviously waiting for me to say something.

“I’m sorry?”

“You wanna buy some bags for your groceries?”

“Oh. Sure. Thanks.”

By the time I turned into my alley, I couldn’t stop yawning. I desperately needed a nap. The unmarked car parked in front of my house told me that wasn’t going to happen. Clenching my jaw, I pulled into the drive. Vasquez climbed from the sedan. It took a couple minutes before Wright managed to shuffle his bulk from behind the wheel.

What now? I doubted they simply wanted to look at my travel receipts again.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.