The Gift of Grift by Dixie Davis

Author:Dixie Davis [Davis, Dixie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: mystery, North Carolina
Publisher: Dusky Cove Books
Published: 2020-04-27T16:00:00+00:00

Ray reached the door to his shop and stopped, staring at his transparent reflection in the shop door. He looked old. He looked tired. He looked worn through.

He was too old to be doing this, involving himself in other people’s problems. Murders.

But people like Pammy seemed to need help, too, and she’d looked to him for it.

If only Lori were here. She would know what to do. She’d sorted out seven murders over the last couple years.

Ray glanced back at the bed and breakfast. They were lucky they were in the off-season, and he’d only have to tend to one guest tomorrow.

A sudden movement from his other side made Ray whip around. A sharp pain shot through his neck and he cradled the whiplash with a groan. He turned more carefully in the direction of the movement.

“Are you all right?” The woman with the kind eyes, Lori’s friend from her hometown, Gail, offered a reassuring smile as she rounded the steps up to the porch.

“I didn’t see you there, and it surprised me.”

What was she doing here at this hour? That was actually a very good question, so Ray posed it to Gail.

“Oh, I just saw this adorable little squirrel run by your porch, and I was trying to feed it.” She held up a bag of popcorn, the kind that was perpetually stale and painted yellow to try to trick you into thinking that powder coating was butter.

“You were . . . feeding a squirrel?” Who in their right mind would feed those tree-rats?

Gail shrugged. “Silly, I know. He was just so cute, and he looked hungry.”

Ray laughed, but Gail didn’t. She wasn’t joking? Here in North Carolina, everyone regarded those pests as about as cute and cuddly as street rats in New York City. You didn’t feed them. You tried not to, even though they’d gnaw a hole in your garbage bin to get to any goodies you’d thrown out.

Gail waved goodbye to him. Ray turned to watch her go, walking away. “Oh, is your car still in the shop?” he called after her. He didn’t know a lot about cars but from what she’d said, it sounded quite likely unrepairable.

“Unfortunately,” Gail called. “But they said they should be done soon.” She waved again and continued on her way.

It was a wonder she’d been able to stay in town this long waiting for the repair. Didn’t she have somewhere to be? Bus fare? A family or a job that needed her?

Ray turned to survey his own community that needed him. A small white figure in the distance to his right drew Ray’s attention this time. Someone walking on the narrow spit of sand they called a beach?

The beach where someone had been murdered just a couple days ago. Ray decided to take it upon himself to investigate. Didn’t the criminal always return to the scene of the crime? Or this could become another victim. Either way, he was going to find out. After all, nobody casually walked along the not-really-a-beach after sunset in December.

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.