Read Online Dead Man Walker by Duffy Brown - Free Book Online Page B

know the guy. It’s Tucker they want. There was no love lost between him and Conway and Tucker wanted to sell the Olde Harbor Inn to finance his next sailboat. The police need to connect the dots. What are they thinking?”
    â€œThere’re new dots. Conway left Olde Harbor Inn to you in his will.”
    â€œGet out of town.”
    â€œYeah, that’s what you have to do. Tucker’s saying you knew Conway was your dad, that you coerced him into leaving you the inn in his will then knocked him off before he could change his mind.”
    â€œTucker hates my guts that much?”
    â€œFrom what the housekeeper overheard, Conway threw you up to Tucker at every chance for the last four years, ever since his mother died. She spoiled him and with her gone and Conway getting her money he didn’t have to put up with Tucker’s crap. No wonder he hates you.”
    â€œEnough to push me off a balcony.”
    â€œBalcony?”
    â€œIt’s been a bad day.” I shook my head. “Look, this is all circumstantial. The police have to see that Tucker’s setting me up and covering his butt.”
    â€œIt’s not Tucker’s butt that needs covering. The police found your .38 in your desk drawer and it matches the bullet that killed Conway.”
    A cold chill skated up my spine. “Somebody wants me out of the way really bad. Tucker, Mason Dixon, the Gold Diggers, Grayden Russell, and that’s just in the last forty-eight hours.”
    â€œWhat gold diggers?” Sirens sounded in the distance. “Never mind, you got to go.”
    I looked at the Chevy. “Might as well put a target on my back with this thing.”
    Reagan shoved her helmet at me. “Take Princess.”
    â€œA scooter? You want me to ride a pink scooter named Princess?”
    â€œBetter than that being your nickname in the big house.”
    â€œAnd let me guess, you’ll take the Chevy.”
    That got me a toothy grin. “Well, if you insist. Get your leather jacket and a ball cap for me to wear and I’ll take the cops on a wild goose chase and let you get away. No one will suspect you’re on Princess. Hunch over so you look shorter and you got the helmet to cover your hair.”
    â€œThere’s sparkly stuff on this helmet.”
    â€œGlitter. Don’t you love it? It smells like cotton candy on the inside. I had to pay extra for that. I didn’t know when I’d get the car.” Reagan held out her hand for the keys.
    â€œYou’re just doing this to get your paws on my car.” I knew that wasn’t true the minute I said it. “For God’s sake be careful.”
    â€œI won’t hurt your precious Chevy.”
    â€œI’m not talking about the car, Blondie.”
    Reagan stilled, her eyes black and fathomless as the night around us, and for a split second we were the only people on Earth . . . no sirens, no police, no Conway. Standing on tiptoes she kissed me on the cheek, her fingers trailing down my throat. She kissed me on the chin, then on the mouth, hers warm and tender.
    â€œYou got lousy timing, Reagan Summerside.” I snatched her around the waist, her arms around my neck, and I kissed her like a man kissed a woman, slow and easy, memorizing the moment, her scent, the feel of her in my arms . . . then all hell broke loose.
    I set her back on the sidewalk, her mouth wet from mine, cheeks flushed, our bodies still pressed tight. I touched her silky hair one last time, letting it fall through my fingers, then I pulled on the pink helmet and left.

Keep reading for a special excerpt of Duffy Brown’s next Consignment Shop Mystery . . .
    DEMISE IN DENIM
    Coming March 2015 in paperback from Berkley Prime Crime!

 
    The convertible top was down, a crescent moon hung low over the marshlands, and the night sky was filled with a bazillion stars as I drove Walker Boone’s precious red ’57 Chevy