Read Online Deep Fried Homicide (The Donut Shop Mysteries) by Jessica Beck - Free Book Online Page A

was George and Phillip’s idea, and when Stephen found out what they were doing, he insisted on taking a shift himself.”
“That’s very kind of them all,” I said, more than a little touched by the very real gestures of my friends.
“What can I say?  You are loveable enough in your own right, and this town has grown to accept Jake as one of their own.  After all, he put his life on the line and was wounded for it.  We will not stand by and watch either one of you put in danger now.  You can sleep peacefully tonight knowing that good men are watching over you.”
“I’m not so sure how good I’ll sleep, but I do appreciate what they’re doing.”
“No way were we going to just stand idly by,” George said as he approached us coming from the park.  “The perimeter is all clear.”
“Sometimes I forget that you were once a cop,” I said with a smile.
“Once a cop, always a cop,” George said.  “The fact that I’m no longer on active police duty doesn’t mean a thing.  I might be the mayor around here, but I won’t always be.  Somehow it’s not in my blood the way police work is.”
“I think being mayor is more a part of you than you realize,” Momma said.
“If it is, I only have you to blame for it,” George said with a smile.  He was right, too.  Momma had orchestrated a write-in vote for his candidacy, mostly because she didn’t want the job she was running for herself, but she couldn’t stand the thought of her other opponent taking over, either.  Her decision might have been self-serving, but it had been a good one for April Springs nonetheless.
“Well, I have things to tend to,” Momma said.  “Suzanne, you are in good hands.”
“I know that,” I said as I hugged her.  “Thanks.”
“For what?  I told you that I wasn’t involved in this.”
“I’m not so sure that I believe you, but that’s okay,” I said with a grin.
Momma wanted to smile back, but I saw her stifle it at the last instant.  “You know, you always were a stubborn child.”
“Like mother, like daughter, I suppose,” I said as I laughed.
     
After she was gone, George pulled a porch chair over by the door and sat down.  “You know, there aren’t many folks who would talk to your mother like that and get away with it, Suzanne.”
“I like to think of it as a daughter’s prerogative,” I replied.  I glanced in through the window and saw that Jake was still sound asleep, so I pulled up another chair and joined George at his post.
“It’s okay if you want to go back inside.  You know that you don’t have to stand watch with me,” he said.
“I don’t have to, but I’d like a little company, if you don’t mind.”
“In that case, you’re more than welcome to join me,” he said.  The shotgun was across his lap, and though we were chatting warmly, I noticed that his gaze never stopped surveying the land around us. 
“George, are you really expecting whoever broke in here to come back?  It was probably just a random robbery attempt.”
“It very well might have been, but it’s still prudent for us to keep our vigil.  There are some very bad people out there, Suzanne.”
“Are you talking about Heather or this man Rusk?” I asked him softly.
“Yes to both of them,” George answered with the hint of a grin.  “Maybe even a third person, if neither one of them broke into your place this morning.”
“I can’t imagine Heather coming after me if she finally managed to escape,” I said.  “After all, I wasn’t the one who arrested her.  Maybe Chief Martin should be the one who’s afraid.”
“Come on, Suzanne.  We both know that you were instrumental in catching her.  It wouldn’t surprise me one bit that she might fixate on you, and from what I understand, prison time is slow time.  She’s had a lot of time to think about you while she was locked up.”
The thought that a killer would obsess about me behind bars gave me the chills, and frankly, it was something I’d