Dead in a Pickup by B. L. Blair

Author:B. L. Blair
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: romance, mystery, female sleuths
Publisher: B. L. Blair

Chapter 14

After assuring the manager of The Burger Coop I was fine, I returned to my apartment to shower and change. On the way, I called Griggs. I was fuming when he answered.

“Not a good time, Leah,” he said.

“I want to press charges against Leon Hollins. He attacked me!”

“Are you hurt? Where are you?”

His voice was full of worry so I quickly explained. There was a long pause. I waited impatiently. When I heard a soft snort, I almost screamed.

“Don’t you dare laugh!”

“I’m not laughing,” he said. Although I heard the trace of humor in his voice, it was gone, and something cold had replaced it when he spoke again. “I’ll have a talk with Hollins. He won’t bother you again.”

It soothed the anger, and I relaxed a little. I was still furious with Leon, but I couldn’t tell how much of that was because of the milkshake or left over from the gun episode. There was a lot of anger still simmering from the gun episode.

“I still want to press charges,” I repeated.

Griggs sighed softly. “I guess you can, but he’s likely to claim self-defense. By your own admission, you were chasing him.”

“He shouldn’t even be out of jail. He threatened Aaron and Myra. Held them at gunpoint.”

“I know, Leah. It sucks. I agree. But he has a good lawyer and no criminal history. I’m not surprised the judge allowed bail.”

“I hate him!”

“He’ll get what’s coming to him. When his case goes to trial, he’ll serve time,” Griggs said. “In the meantime, you should stay away from him.”

“He needs to stay away from me,” I muttered.

“Tell me about the busboy. Do you know him?”

I frowned as I pulled into the parking space in front of my apartment. Why was Griggs asking about the busboy? Sometimes I admit I’m a little slow to recognize something. This time I had an excuse. From the minute Leon had walked into the restaurant, I had been fighting my emotions. Now that I could think back without the haze of anger, I saw what Griggs had seen from the start.

“You think he was selling?” I asked.

“You tell me.”

Leon went directly to a table covered with dirty dishes. All the other unoccupied tables had been clean. The table he chose was toward the back and in a corner. The dishes had been sitting there when I had walked in. It was the one table that hadn’t been attended to immediately. And why sit down at all before placing a to-go order?

“Probably. He moved the dishes the busboy picked up. He could have easily deposited a small package on or near one of the plates.”

“And the busboy scooped it up.”

“I didn’t see anything, but I’ll bet that’s exactly what happened.”

“Do you know the busboy?”

“No. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him before. I don’t remember him working at The Burger Coop any other time I’ve been there. The manager didn’t have him clean the table, and they weren’t that busy. It was as if Leon was expected.

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