Maltese Vulture Murder by Leslie Langtry

Author:Leslie Langtry
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: fbi, cia, romantic suspense, comedy, assasin, dark humor
Publisher: Gemma Halliday Publishing

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

"Delaney!" I shouted as I tried to dodge the poison ivy that seemed to be rampant here. This was a city park for crying out loud! Little kids played here! I guess I should talk to the mayor about that. Once I found his kid, that is.

I cupped my hands around my mouth. "Delaney! Come on back!"

The girl had gone into the woods and hadn't returned. Tammi had wrung her hands and begged me to go get her. Pam said she wasn't going in because there were animals in there. The girls wanted to form a posse, but for some reason, Kelly volunteered me for the job.

I didn't mind the woods. I just liked to be prepared with enough Deet to bring down an elephant, something I hadn't thought I'd need for a simple picnic. I slapped a mosquito who'd had the misfortune of alighting on my forearm.

"Delaney!" I shouted. "If we have to call the police to come find you, your daddy is going to be upset about the added expense!"

No reply. In hindsight, that was probably the wrong thing to say.

I'd always thought this was a small copse of trees. Apparently, it was more like unexplored wilderness that went on for miles. Where had that girl gone to—and in a dress, no less?

"Delaney!" My voice took on a different tone. "You need to stop this and come back! This isn't how a Girl Scout behaves!"

That didn't work either. I'd tried reason and anger and had begun with pleading, so what was left?

And why couldn't I see her through the damn trees? She was wearing a white dress! How hard was it to track something like that? And why weren't there any trails in this forest?? The trees seemed to be thicker here, and I could no longer see the end on either side of me. In fact, I couldn't hear the girls back at the shelter anymore.

She had to be hiding. It was the only explanation. We'd been the only people in the park. No one else was here. Where would a little girl with no experience in the woods hide? I started moving slower, checking inside rotted trees and behind fallen logs. But the woods had gotten larger, and I was zigzagging back and forth. Frankly, it was exhausting.

"DELANEY!" I screamed.

A cold lump formed in my stomach, and I realized something was wrong. Maybe she'd fallen and gotten hurt! Or a cougar got her! It wasn't unheard of. For the last two years, Sheriff Carnack had told me there'd been repeated sightings of a mountain lion, a black bear, and Bigfoot.

I needed a better vantage point than the forest floor. After walking about fifty yards, I spotted an oak tree where the branches were so close it was practically a ladder going straight up. I looked back toward the picnic but was too far to see everyone.

Kelly would insist I shouldn't climb the tree. I'd once climbed a tree, only to fall out of it, hitting every branch on the way down.

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.