SURVIVE THE NIGHT: HARMONY GROVE SERIES, Book 4 by Post Carol J

Author:Post, Carol J.
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Carol J. Post
Published: 2021-05-16T00:00:00+00:00

Alan drove slowly down Main Street, window down and arm resting in the opening. The sun sat low on the horizon, staining the western sky vibrant shades of orange, pink and lavender. Another sunny spring day coming to a close, another uneventful shift ended.

As he rolled past Pappy’s Pizzeria on his way to the station, enticing aromas drifted to him on the early evening breeze. His stomach rumbled an impatient response. It was tempting. But Pappy’s was better shared. Tonight, it would be iced tea and a frozen dinner for one in the company of evening sitcoms.

He cast a glance to his left where a huge oak occupied the vacant space between Dani’s Bakery and Westbrook Insurance Agency. Two sets of legs dangled from one of the lower branches.

He frowned. Dani’s had closed an hour ago, Westbrook two. No one had any legitimate reason to be hanging around either business. Probably a couple of kids up to no good.

He eased to a stop in one of the parallel parking spaces. As he stepped from the car, the legs disappeared. Yep, definitely up to no good.

And he was reasonably sure he could identify one of the culprits. Whenever there were any kind of shenanigans going on, Duncan Alcott was usually at the center of the mess.

As Alan stepped onto the sidewalk, sounds came from the tree—a whisper, followed by a harsh “Shh.” Whoever they were, they weren’t being very stealthy.

He crossed the sparse lawn and stopped at the base of the tree. Two sets of eyes looked down at him. He zeroed in on the instigator, who had apparently tried unsuccessfully to hide a crinkled paper bag in a crook of the branch above him.

“Whatcha got there, Duncan?”

“Nothing.”

“Doesn’t look like nothing to me. You wanna toss it down here? Otherwise, I’ll have to climb up there and get it, and that won’t make me very happy. You don’t wanna see me unhappy, do you?”

Duncan shook his head and reached for the bag. Alan waited. A moment later, it dropped into his hands with a thunk and a muffled slosh. He didn’t have to look inside to know that he wasn’t holding Kool-Aid or Pepsi.

“Where’d you get this?”

“It’s my dad’s.”

“Correction. It was your dad’s.” He unscrewed the lid and poured out the pungent substance.

“Aw, man. My dad’s going to be ticked that you dumped out his booze.”

“Your dad needs to keep his booze out of the hands of minors.”

He focused on the other occupant of the tree, this one female.

“You don’t look twenty-one, either.”

“No, sir, I’m sixteen.”

“So you’re too young for this stuff, too.”

She shook her head. “Oh, no, sir, I don’t drink.”

Right. No one ever admitted guilt, even when caught red-handed. Except for some reason, Alan was inclined to believe her. Maybe it was that clean, wholesome girl-next-door look. Maybe it was the sincerity and innocence in her eyes. That wasn’t likely to last long, hanging with Duncan Alcott.

Which was a shame. She seemed like a nice girl. With blond hair and wispy features, she sort of reminded him of Lexi at that age.

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.