Deviled Ham by Paisley Ray

Author:Paisley Ray
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: chick lit, beach read, humorous fiction, mystery books, art mystery, romance book series, american girl books, funny fiction books, mystery books read, mystery books series
Publisher: Paisley Ray

CHAPTER 18

Paddy Wagon

Hands hanging limply at his sides, Callahan assessed his surroundings. His gaped mouth closed and then opened before shutting again and settling his facial features into a contorted, wonky expression. I assumed that snippets of a slide reel from some of the more memorable moments aboard Rilda’s ramshackle Love Boat had begun to surface. Tempted to call him Captain Stubing, I had to bite my lip to refrain from letting that zinger loose. A little dazed, he got his legs in his pants and zipped up his fly. “What now?”

The rough water pitched and dipped the vessel’s only door in a synchronized clatter to the swaying sea. Shackled to Rilda, I shifted backward, as far as I could go, to glance out into the night. I was hopeful that Mitch, Patsy, and Katie Lee had waited for me in whatever boat they’d latched onto Rilda’s but didn’t see any signs of them.

Sugarcoating a throaty tone, Rilda said, “We go as you please once you remove da cuffs.”

Although she spoke to me, she aimed her arsenal at Callahan. Chest out, pouty lips, and the way she batted her eyelashes was a sharp-pointed arrow that she fired at his weakened emotional state.

His eyes swayed from Rilda to me, and he asked me nonverbally if I would unlock the cuffs.

When my back had been turned toward the two, I’d slipped the handcuff key in my front pocket and now felt it press against my thigh. Calm, cool, and collected, Rilda held herself in a nonthreatening Zen-like state. Without anywhere for her to easily disappear, the old me might’ve caved in to her request. But the smarter me, now wiser from being manipulated, and learning a few lessons the hard way, wasn’t about to let a misstep thwart my game plan. It had been a long time since my life’s pendulum swung on an uptick, and I was determined to keep it there.

“No deal. Rilda and I stay together until we arrive at the police station.”

“Are you sure you know what you’re doing?” he asked.

“Being on the run isn’t for me. With Rilda’s testimony, the authorities will drop the charges.”

“The law doesn’t always work as you expect it to,” he said.

“Maybe not where you come from, but this is the US of A.”

Rilda tugged my arm toward her and dragged me to the corner of the kitchen galley. With her free hand, she plucked the handles of her oversized hand-sewn bag from inside a cupboard, threw in a powdery substance contained in a mesh sachet, and then gathered her keys.

“Do you know how to steer a boat?” I asked him.

“I can manage.”

Callahan began turning off the wall lanterns, and the three of us made our way out the flimsy door at the stern of the houseboat where the skiff bobbed in the black water. Callahan climbed in first and offered his arm to Rilda. She took her time lowering into the rocking boat, while I clambered at her heels. I patted my

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