Read Online A Candidate For Murder (Old Maids of Mercer Island Mysteries Book 2) by LYNN BOHART - Free Book Online Page B

out a yowl.
    “Shhh,” Rudy said. “Now someone could hear you.”
    We huddled in fear as the squad car passed by. A strong flashlight beam lit up our windows, flashing squiggly rain shadows across the interior. That made Blair squeal. Rudy shushed her again, and then the flash was gone.
    Count to five.
    I peeked over the steering wheel. The police car had passed and continued its slow progress down the street.
    “Damn,” I said. “They’re patrolling the neighborhood. Probably because of Dana. I never thought of that.”
    The squad car disappeared around a corner.
    “We’ll have to be careful,” Doe said, sitting up. “Maybe we should just go now, before they come back.”
    “What do you think, Rudy?” I asked, glancing back at her.
    She was adjusting a heavy, padded vest she’d worn under her coat. “Can we do it quietly?” she asked, throwing a skeptical glance at Blair.
    “I can be quiet,” Blair whined loudly.
    “Shhh!” we all shushed her.
    “I thought you said no one could hear us,” she said in exasperation.
    “If we’re talking in regular voices,” Rudy chastised her. “Not yelling at the top of our lungs. Half the neighborhood could hear you.”
    “Fine,” Blair said in a pout.
    “Okay, how are we going to do this?” Doe said. “There’s a compost bin, a trash can, the recycling can, and the bag she just brought out.”
    “No need to go through the compost bin,” I said with disgust.
    “I agree,” Rudy said. “But everything else should come with us.”
    “Even the garbage?” I asked. “That’s most likely just empty potato chip bags. She likes her potato chips.”
    “But we don’t know that for sure,” Rudy retorted. “We can’t take a chance.”
    I sighed. “Okay. So who gets what?”
    Both Blair and Rudy were leaning forward, looking out the front window. The way everything lined up at the curb, the recycling bin was on the left. The small trash can sat in the middle next to the compost can, and Dana’s trash bag sat at the right end.
    “It will take two of us to lift the recycling can to dump everything in the back. How about Doe and I do that?” Rudy said.
    Doe nodded.
    “I’ll get the trash bag,” Blair offered quickly.
    That left the garbage can for me.
    “Great! I’ll take the garbage can. But I swear, she better have everything tied up nicely into individual bags because I am NOT reaching in there and pulling out Dana Finkle’s snot rags by hand. Even with rubber gloves.”
    Chuckles from everyone but me.
    “All right,” Rudy began. “Pull up right next to the curb, Julia, but don’t turn off the engine. Then on the count of three, we all jump out. Blair, you get the back doors open. Then we all grab our stuff, toss it in, close the doors, and we’re gone.”
    Sounded simple enough.
    “Okay, on with the rubber gloves!” Rudy ordered.
    We all donned the gloves. I started the engine and released the emergency brake. The van rolled forward. We were only two houses away and across an intersection, so it didn’t take long to arrive at our destination.
    I did as Rudy instructed. I put on the emergency brake and left the engine running. On the count of three, we threw open the doors.
    I jumped out and rounded the front of the van, coming up to the passenger door. My goal was to cut in front of the recycling bin and go for the garbage can in the middle.
    Bad choice.
    Doe had just come out her door with her hood up and we collided. I rebounded back against the van, slamming the passenger door shut and falling to my right. I got wedged between the curb and the van. Doe lurched forward, falling against the recycling bin and knocking it over, which in turn knocked over the small compost bin. Rudy was just coming out of the van’s sliding door as I fell. She tripped over me and flew forward, landing face down in some compost, taking the small garbage can with her.
    Meanwhile, as the rain pelted us, Blair had come out the back of the van and just stood there