Read Online All Natural Murder by Staci McLaughlin - Free Book Online
Authors: Staci McLaughlin
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my back pocket, I heard a rustling sound coming from the direction of the house. Probably a squirrel galloping through the bushes.
I headed back, but stopped when I heard another noise ahead of me, one that didn’t sound like a squirrel. Were those footsteps? As I rounded the corner of the trail, I heard louder crackling, followed by a giant splash. I picked up my pace, looped around the redwood tree, and came out on the patio.
Crusher was back in the pool, water marks on the cement indicating the splash I’d heard. Practicing his cannonballs? Or running back and jumping into the pool so I wouldn’t know he’d been listening to my end of the phone call?
I watched Crusher touch the far wall, flip around, and cut through the water for another lap. A monster truck deal that involved sponsors, fame, and a large paycheck might be important enough to kill for. Maybe Crusher had decided to eliminate the competition to guarantee his success.
Definitely worth looking into.
I just hoped my theories weren’t all wet.
7
I hurried past Crusher in the pool and went around the corner. Esther was working in the second-to-last vacant cabin, so I grabbed some cleaning bottles and rags from the maid’s cart and made short work of Crusher’s bed and bath, followed by a quick vacuum. At the last second, I grabbed one of the flags from a stack on the cart and laid it across a pillow.
The D O N OT D ISTURB sign no longer hung from the other cabin door, so after a knock and a pause, I entered. The cover on one side of the bed was smooth, while the other side was rumpled. A pillow rested at one end of the couch, the imprint of a head still obvious. I knew the room belonged to a married couple, and I’d taken to calling them the Bickersons, though the name didn’t really fit. You had to actually talk to each other if you wanted to bicker.
I finished cleaning their room, added a flag to the bed and one to the couch, and pushed the vacuum back out the door. Esther was draping her dust rag over the side of the cart outside.
“I can take the cleaning supplies back to the house,” I said.
Esther mopped her face with a fresh towel, then added it to the bag of dirty linens. “Thanks. That’ll give me a chance to see those giant green worms Gordon was complaining about. I can’t imagine they’re as awful as he says.”
A shudder ran through my shoulders as I remembered the plump, horned worm. “They’re pretty bad. One look was enough for me.”
Esther patted my arm. “You lived in the city too long. You’ll get used to all these creepy crawlies now that you’re outside so much of the day.”
“No, thanks. If you need me, I’ll be in the nice, air-conditioned house.”
I attached the vacuum to the front of the cart and pushed the whole thing down the path as Crusher came around the corner.
My heart did a double-beat. Did he know I’d returned to his room to finish cleaning? Would he accuse me of snooping again? But rather than grill me like a hot dog, he scrubbed at his hair with the towel as he walked by, pretending not to see me. Either he was embarrassed by his earlier behavior or he felt guilty about eavesdropping on my phone call to Ashlee. I really wanted to know which one it was.
I wheeled the cart past the pool and patio, the picnic tables still empty, and entered the kitchen. I nodded at Zennia as she hovered over a large plastic bowl at the counter, then pushed the cart down the hall and wedged it in a corner of the laundry room.
Back in the kitchen, I peeked in the bowl and saw that Zennia was cleaning an octopus. I didn’t even want to know where she’d found such a thing to feed the poor guests. After more than two months of helping prep and serve meals, my stomach still shrank when I saw most of Zennia’s cooking. Why couldn’t she use normal ingredients, like something without so many legs? But I knew Zennia prided herself on opening people’s minds to unusual foods.
She thrust her knife into the
I headed back, but stopped when I heard another noise ahead of me, one that didn’t sound like a squirrel. Were those footsteps? As I rounded the corner of the trail, I heard louder crackling, followed by a giant splash. I picked up my pace, looped around the redwood tree, and came out on the patio.
Crusher was back in the pool, water marks on the cement indicating the splash I’d heard. Practicing his cannonballs? Or running back and jumping into the pool so I wouldn’t know he’d been listening to my end of the phone call?
I watched Crusher touch the far wall, flip around, and cut through the water for another lap. A monster truck deal that involved sponsors, fame, and a large paycheck might be important enough to kill for. Maybe Crusher had decided to eliminate the competition to guarantee his success.
Definitely worth looking into.
I just hoped my theories weren’t all wet.
7
I hurried past Crusher in the pool and went around the corner. Esther was working in the second-to-last vacant cabin, so I grabbed some cleaning bottles and rags from the maid’s cart and made short work of Crusher’s bed and bath, followed by a quick vacuum. At the last second, I grabbed one of the flags from a stack on the cart and laid it across a pillow.
The D O N OT D ISTURB sign no longer hung from the other cabin door, so after a knock and a pause, I entered. The cover on one side of the bed was smooth, while the other side was rumpled. A pillow rested at one end of the couch, the imprint of a head still obvious. I knew the room belonged to a married couple, and I’d taken to calling them the Bickersons, though the name didn’t really fit. You had to actually talk to each other if you wanted to bicker.
I finished cleaning their room, added a flag to the bed and one to the couch, and pushed the vacuum back out the door. Esther was draping her dust rag over the side of the cart outside.
“I can take the cleaning supplies back to the house,” I said.
Esther mopped her face with a fresh towel, then added it to the bag of dirty linens. “Thanks. That’ll give me a chance to see those giant green worms Gordon was complaining about. I can’t imagine they’re as awful as he says.”
A shudder ran through my shoulders as I remembered the plump, horned worm. “They’re pretty bad. One look was enough for me.”
Esther patted my arm. “You lived in the city too long. You’ll get used to all these creepy crawlies now that you’re outside so much of the day.”
“No, thanks. If you need me, I’ll be in the nice, air-conditioned house.”
I attached the vacuum to the front of the cart and pushed the whole thing down the path as Crusher came around the corner.
My heart did a double-beat. Did he know I’d returned to his room to finish cleaning? Would he accuse me of snooping again? But rather than grill me like a hot dog, he scrubbed at his hair with the towel as he walked by, pretending not to see me. Either he was embarrassed by his earlier behavior or he felt guilty about eavesdropping on my phone call to Ashlee. I really wanted to know which one it was.
I wheeled the cart past the pool and patio, the picnic tables still empty, and entered the kitchen. I nodded at Zennia as she hovered over a large plastic bowl at the counter, then pushed the cart down the hall and wedged it in a corner of the laundry room.
Back in the kitchen, I peeked in the bowl and saw that Zennia was cleaning an octopus. I didn’t even want to know where she’d found such a thing to feed the poor guests. After more than two months of helping prep and serve meals, my stomach still shrank when I saw most of Zennia’s cooking. Why couldn’t she use normal ingredients, like something without so many legs? But I knew Zennia prided herself on opening people’s minds to unusual foods.
She thrust her knife into the
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