Hot Roll (Caught Dead in Wyoming, Book 8) by Patricia McLinn

Author:Patricia McLinn
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: traditional western mystery series, female sleuth, mystery romance humor series, cozy mystery dog, western murder mystery series, TV journalist mystery series, mystery novels best sellers
ISBN: 9781944126353
Publisher: Craig Place Books
Published: 2019-08-11T16:00:00+00:00

DAY FIVE

TUESDAY

Chapter Twenty-Three

Mike stayed the night.

His decision to do so — without being invited — set off a dispute between Jennifer, who declared all concerns or precautions ridiculous, and Mike, who talked like we were in for a siege.

I landed in the middle, irking both. But irking Jennifer even more when I insisted she keep my promise about calling her parents.

She was wily enough, though, to use the call as an excuse to avoid the bedding switch Mike and I handled, putting the guestroom sheets Jennifer had used the night before we left onto a pull-out sofa bed in the sitting area of the master suite, so she could join me upstairs, while Mike would occupy the ground-floor guest room … with fresh sheets.

“More strategic having me where I can stop anyone trying to get in,” he said.

I’d have to remember to mention that to my parents when they visited and I put them in the more vulnerable-to-attack guest room.

I also was tempted to comment that he was on the same strategic level as Shadow, since the dog consistently occupied the spot between me and the door. But I didn’t want it to sound like I was dissing Shadow.

Mike wasn’t half bad at making beds, though.

Jennifer meandered in as we finished.

“How are your parents?”

“Fine. Mom’s going to bring a few things I need to the station tomorrow.”

More? In addition to the large suitcase? It sounded like she was moving in … before I did.

If Mike started talking about bringing a few things, this could get out of hand fast.

“Oh, I almost forgot.” Jennifer’s nonchalance rocketed my suspicion from zero to a hundred and ten. “When I was using your phone, you had a few calls. I turned off the notifications to keep doing what I had to do.”

That confirmed why the eerie glow had been the only clue to Tom’s calls.

I pulled out the phone and headed toward the kitchen for water while Jennifer explained to Tom the intricacies of the downstairs shower — which as far as I could tell involved turning on the faucet and not aiming the showerhead out of the bathtub.

Caught by the number of times Tom had called, I hadn’t scrolled farther back until now. I was scrolling back and deleting, when I spotted one and immediately listened to the message…

“Agggghhhhh.”

Mike plunged around the corner from the hallway into the kitchen. And since I hadn’t advanced past that point, he also plunged into me.

He kept me from going down by wrapping his arms around me and staggering us both into the wall. “What? What’s wrong? Is somebody—?”

“No. Nobody’s breaking in. No masked intruders. It’s— Jennifer!”

“What?” She came around the corner sounding and looking aggrieved. “What are you yelling for?”

“You have got to get a replacement phone. You are not using mine anymore. Do you know what came in while you had my phone today?”

She ignored the question and replied to the statements. “That’s okay. Mom’s bringing me one of my backup phones tomorrow.”

“That is not the point.

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