Read Online Ellen McKenzie 04-Murder Half-Baked by Kathleen Delaney - Free Book Online Page A

call — is it Ida? — and tell her his location.”
    There was silence in the kitchen. Margaret was already in her car, waiting. Nathan stood in the kitchen door, his car keys in his hand, also waiting. Anne looked at me expectantly. Janice just stood there, with her kids and her duffel bag, giving an occasional little shiver. Unfortunately, Anne’s plan made sense. I tried not to let anyone see how scared I was as I picked up my cell phone and headed for the living room. I gave myself a little pep talk. After all, this guy wasn’t after me. He didn’t even know I existed. It was Janice and the kids he wanted. All I had to do was stand on the front porch and see if he drove by . Somehow, it didn’t help.
    “What’s going on?” Marilee sat on the sofa, pillows stuffed behind her back. Leona sat upright in the red chair, the ottoman pushed to one side, watching everyone closely. The expression on her face was grave, but I got the impression that it was a front, a mask. Leona was excited by all the drama, the tension. Marilee, on the other hand, looked pasty white, her eyes huge, her mouth pinched. The poor kid was scared to death.
    “Is it Grady? Gina, is that who you saw driving around out there?”
    “No, sweetie. It wa s Janice’s husband. We’re going to move them. Now.”
    “Does he know they’re in here?”
    “No. And he’s not going to find out. We’re going to whisk Janice and those babies off to San Luis Obispo right under his nose. So don’t you worry. ”
    I didn’t think it was Janice’s husband Marilee was worried about. As soon as she heard that Grady — whoever he was — wasn’t patrolling the street she relaxed. “This is so awful. Poor Janice. And those children.” Marilee dropped her hand onto her stomach again and stroked it, as if comforting her unborn child. “At least Grady never hit me. Well, only when he was drunk, and he never tried to kill me. Even when he learned I was pregnant.”
    Grady? Her husband? Probably. Father of her baby, in any case. How nice he didn’t hit her when he was sober. I wondered, briefly, how often he got drunk.
    “Ellen, you better get out there. Where’s your cell?”
    I held it up and gave an audible gulp. Gina grinned at me. I couldn’t make myself grin back.
    “You’ll be fine.” She turned to the other two with much too much enthusiasm. “Ellen’s going to be our lookout.”
    “Yeah?”
    Leona looked at me as if she didn’t share that enthusiasm. I couldn’t have agreed with her more . B ut Gina was at the door, holding it open . I went through it.
    I’ve never wanted to be an actress, but never as badly as at that moment. What on earth was I supposed to do? I stood on the porch, very aware of the closed front door, held my cell phone to my ear, leaned up against a skinny pillar and tried to look natural. My mouth was so dry I couldn’t even croak.
    Nothing happened. Finally a green Honda Van turned into the street. It pulled into the driveway of the house across the street. A woman got out and opened the back door. Two kids and a dog jumped out. They all trooped into the house without a glance in my direction. After a few minutes the woman came back out, removed two bags of groceries from the van, glanced in my direction, and nodded. I nodded back. She went into the house.
    What seemed like hours passed. I shifted my weight from foot to foot, let my head swivel from right to left, all the while pretending to talk. My hand and arm were starting to protest. I was tempted to give in and drop my arm down when a car turned the corner. A tan colored Lincoln Town Car was headed slowly my way. I could see the driver clearly, checking each house, each parked car. There was no mistaking that head of silver hair, that leading - man profile. It appeared nightly on the six o’clock news. He slowed a little when he saw me on the porch. I could see him lean over to get a better look, and the driver’s window started to slide down.
    It was panic,