A Secret in the Pumpkin Patch (Danger Cove) by Elizabeth Ashby

Author:Elizabeth Ashby
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Cozy Mystery, Halloween Fiction, 2017
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER NINE

The next morning, I agreed with Merle that I should leave my car at home and travel with him to the market. It seemed like a reasonable precaution, considering the events of the previous day.

After Detective Marshall had left on Saturday afternoon, Merle and I had been caught up in the market’s end-of-day routine, and then I’d been too unsettled to do anything more complicated than have dinner, take care of some preparations for Sunday, and then crash in Merle’s guest room, since I hadn’t wanted to be quite as isolated as I was in the caretaker’s cabin.

The trip to the market was our first chance to really discuss what had happened on Saturday, but even as we walked from the farmhouse to Merle’s truck, he tried to convince me I should stay home until the police were absolutely certain they knew what had happened to Angela Henderson and that it hadn’t had anything to do with me.

“I’ve got to be there today.” I might have been able to skip a regular market day, but not the expanded Halloween event. “Otherwise, I might as well just hand in my resignation and recommend Jim Sweetwater as my replacement. And that’s definitely not going to happen.”

“I know, but I had to try.” Merle unlocked the passenger door for me. “Will you at least promise me you won’t go anywhere alone for the rest of the day?”

“I’m hopeful that the market will be too crowded for me to be alone while it’s open, and then you’ll be with me afterwards for the bonfires and dancing.”

“I’m definitely claiming all your dances tonight, but I’m more concerned about your safety before that, when I’ll be needed at my stall at least some of the time.” Merle went around the truck and climbed into the driver’s side. He put the key in the ignition but didn’t start the engine even after I’d climbed in beside him. “JT and I could trade off as needed, though, so one or the other of us is with you all day.”

“I don’t need a bodyguard, and unless you can convince JT that I’m somehow a prerequisite for him to be able to continue making perry, I doubt he’d pay that much attention to me.”

“You are a prerequisite. I’d fire him if anything happened to you while he was with you.”

“You need him more than you need me.” I saw that Merle was gearing up to object, so I added, “Okay, maybe not more than you need me, but in a different way than you need me. You’re not going to fire him, and he knows it.”

“What about Cary?” Merle said. “He adores you. Why not keep him near you today?”

“He wouldn’t adore me any longer if I did that,” I said. “He likes to keep busy, not just wander around aimlessly. Besides, I need him to supervise the demonstration grill. He’s probably waiting for me there already and wondering where I am. If we don’t leave right this minute, we’ll be late, and I’ll have to fine both of us for breaking the market’s rules.

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