Double Dog Dare by Ellen Riggs

Author:Ellen Riggs [Riggs, Ellen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781990613074
Published: 2022-08-30T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY

“We talked about that,” Edna said, laughing as she climbed into the passenger seat. “Soldiers don’t scream like a girl.”

I glared at her. “Soldiers don’t ambush their friends.”

“Exactly. You were lurking outside the diner for no good reason. Gertie and I decided to beat you at your own game.”

“I was only—”

“Oh, we know what you were doing,” Edna said. “You had a moony look that said you were talking to Chief Fiancé about things unrelated to the current case.”

Keats grumbled agreement. The conversation with Kellan had been a few beats too long for the dog, too.

“We’re right, aren’t we, Chief?” Gertie asked, from the back seat.

“Bye, ladies,” he said, and disconnected quickly.

“Has to have the last word, doesn’t he?” Edna said. “A word he knows we dislike almost as much as ‘old.’”

“Kellan and I talked about the current cases,” I said, pulling an illegal U-turn on the main drag. “Plural. If you’d care to apologize, I might fill you in on the other one.”

Edna pulled off her helmet and patted her curls. “Do we really need to know? Apologies are hard to come by in my world.”

“I’m sorry, Ivy,” Gertie said. “I shouldn’t have let Edna talk me into it.”

Turning in her seat, Edna scowled. “Nice try. This one was your idea and I’m not going to squander an apology when Ivy had no business wasting our time. We’ve been wearing out boot leather for hours looking for her canine niece.”

“Niece? Well, I guess that’s as good a term as any,” I said, pushing the pedal down. “We can forfeit the apology just this once.”

“Can we forfeit the velocity?” Gertie said. “Normally I enjoy a thrill ride but the onion rings I ate at the Busy Bee are arguing with my gall bladder.”

“You still have yours?” Edna asked, patting her abdomen. “That was the first thing to go for me. Left more room for my lungs to expand.”

I waited for them to simmer down then shared Kellan’s news about the grave they’d happened upon that morning. The excitement level in the truck soared. They high-fived each other with gloved hands.

“See, Ivy?” Edna said. “We struck gold and you doubted.”

Gertie leaned between the seats. “I’d hardly call a Thistledown deadbeat gold, old friend. We can do better.”

“Just a beginning,” Edna said. “I wish I didn’t have to hang up my dowsing rod for winter. The chief is going to want us on retainer.”

I let them bask in their success because they deserved a moment of glory. These two were always on the move, learning new skills and defying all expectations for people of their generation—especially women. On top of that, they had spent the day combing the bush for my dog’s sister and would continue in the morning without a complaint.

Well, there would be complaints but mostly for dramatic effect.

“How does the discovery of the Bibb body connect with the missing dog?” Gertie asked, as I pulled into the Gentry driveway.

“We’ve got all night to speculate,” I said. “Maud insisted we stay here and given what’s happened, it seems like a good idea.

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