River Bones (Sara Mason Mysteries Book 1) by Mary Deal

Author:Mary Deal [Deal, Mary]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Creativia
Published: 2017-10-16T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter 37

The hospital released Pierce the next day. Sara went to retrieve him and brought him a gift. Pierce opened the end of the package and out slid a new walking stick. His expression was humorously solemn. He lifted the stick high as he raised both arms in the air, like a conjurer about to cast a spell. The edges of his hospital gown flapped out like a magician's cloak. It was good that his gown opened at the back.

Sara drove as Pierce pulled on his seatbelt and leaned eagerly toward the windshield. They headed south through Freeport, the Gateway to the Delta. Tall leafy trees lined Hwy. 160 that hugged the foot of the levee. A long row of weathered, wooden single-story buildings lined the road. “Slow down,” he said, pointing ahead. “Just… about here.”

Sara pulled up in front of the Coffee Oasis. “Yeah, we can do this,” she said as her stomach growled.

“You know who owns this?” Pierce asked. He didn't wait for an answer. He was already slipping his weak body out of the SUV.

The front door stood open inside. The flimsy screen door lazily slapped shut behind them as they entered. Inside the cafe, patrons consisted of two women couples with one couple holding hands under the table. Johanna walked in through the back door wearing men's work clothes. Now Sara understood. Johanna acted masculine that morning at Talbot House when she arrived in uniform.

Johanna saw them and came straight over to hug Pierce for a good long while. “They turn you loose on the world again?”

“Yeah,” he said, smiling out of the corner of his mouth. “I'm a real terror.”

“I guess we shouldn't be here since Pierce is considered a suspect,” Sara said.

Johanna shrugged. “Hey, I can't control who walks through the door.”

“So this is your second job?” Sara asked.

“Sorta,” Johanna said. “Xena and I own it.” She gestured to one of the women behind the counter. “This is where you can find me when I'm not in uniform.”

“You still haven't changed that name,” Pierce said, flopping into a chair at one of the tables.

Three men sauntered in and ordered coffee and a load of pastries-to-go, but talked more about bait and tackle.

“Probably won't,” Johanna said. She turned a chair backwards and straddled it and waited till the men left. Then she turned to Sara and snickered. “My lover and I wanted to name this place Les Beans, but, Ha! They'd have my badge.”

Sara and Pierce polished off a delicious home-style breakfast. Pierce's stomach seemed to have recovered nicely. A constant stream of coffee drinking farmers, and fishermen and women, kept the place in motion to the tune of the screen door squeaks and slaps. Two deputies made a quick trip in and out for their usual. One seemed to recognize Pierce. He glanced from Pierce to Johanna and back to Pierce again. He said nothing, but his eyes contained a look of suspicion that all law officers get.

“The other deputies support you?” Sara asked.

“All except Xavier.

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.