Dying for Cupcakes by Donna Doyle

Author:Donna Doyle [Doyle, Donna]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: PureRead
Published: 2018-11-13T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Six

It was difficult to stay in the back when Sammy knew how busy Helen was out front. She had stayed up half the night trying to come up with a plan for this new “investigation” she had unofficially launched, but she hadn’t been able to come up with much. A computer search of recent newspaper articles showed that Helen had been right about Jones. He had done his job as sheriff, but he had never made any big drug busts or hunted down a psychopathic genius. In a place like Sunny Cove, crimes were usually restricted to fender benders or the occasional break-in.

After putting in another batch of dinner rolls—which had become such a hit that they were practically a staple at Just Like Grandma’s—and pouring herself another cup of coffee, Sammy grabbed the trash and took it outside.

The sun was too bright, even in the alley behind the building. It shone down on Sammy’s Toyota, reminding her of just how far she had driven only to land in this mess. She wasn’t sure how much of a friend Heather really was these days, but she had been right about getting her name cleared. Sammy couldn’t hire a private investigator, but she could become an amateur one if need be. Unfortunately, she didn’t seem to be a very good one yet.

The trash bag was heavy, and she shuffled across the gravel to the dumpster. She stopped when she heard something inside it, her heart thumping in her chest. When she had lived in the city, there had been rats galore in places like this. But this was a small town in the middle of nowhere. It was just as likely that she would find a raccoon digging through yesterday’s scraps. When Sammy tentatively peered into the receptacle, two wild green eyes stared back at her.

She leaped back, letting out a little yelp of fear, but she decided she didn’t feel nearly as scared as Austin looked as he peeked up over the edge of the dumpster. His dark hair stuck up in all directions and he wore a bright blue scarf around his neck.

“What are you doing here?”

“Americans throw away over $165 billion dollars worth of food annually,” he replied quietly.

“Are you hungry?” She took a step forward, horrified that this poor man might actually be digging around in the trash for his next meal.

This time, Austin didn’t respond with a fact but simply nodded.

“Why don’t you come inside? I’ll buy you a meal. Even a coffee, if you’d like,” she added, remembering how excited Austin had been to have coffee with Sheriff Jones.

But the man shook his head emphatically. “People don’t like me in there.”

It was the first thing she had heard him say that wasn’t a random fact, and it caught her attention. “What do you mean?”

“People don’t like me in anywhere.”

“Austin, I’m sure that can’t be true. Maybe they just don’t understand you.” She paused for a moment, her heart aching for this poor man. “And I heard that you’re usually stealing food.

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.