Read Online Farmed and Dangerous by Edith Maxwell - Free Book Online Page A

glanced at Cam, as if she wanted company in bad-mouthing Pete.
    Instead, Cam knelt on one knee and extended the back of her hand to Dasha. Ruth had once shown her the correct way to approach a new dog. “Hey, buddy.”
    Dasha sniffed her and then butted her hand. His eyes were a pale arctic blue. The white mask around his face contrasted with the dark gray markings elsewhere. His pointed ears stood up straight. He would fit right in pulling a sled over the tundra.
    â€œI have a plane to catch. Key West,” Alicia said. “I can’t wait to get out of this cold.” She headed around the front of the car.
    Cam stood with her hand on the soft fur on Dasha’s head. She was opening her mouth to thank Alicia when she heard the door slam.
    â€œNot a good-bye for you or a thank-you for me. No wonder it didn’t work out between her and Pete.” Cam patted Dasha on the head and watched the SUV drive away. “Well, we’re off to the farm, big guy. You and Preston are both northern animals. You should recognize each other.” So far, so good. He hadn’t pushed his snout into her private parts or started barking without ceasing.
    Dasha began to bark and didn’t stop. So much for that.
    â€œHey, be quiet, doggy. I’m your babysitter for today. Get used to it.” Cam was surprised when he instantly quieted.
    She led him to the truck and opened the passenger door. He placed his front paws on the seat and jumped in like he’d always been there. She smiled. Unlike Pete’s wife, she certainly didn’t need a plastic sheet to protect the bench. The vehicle had seen plenty of dirt, and even dog hair, in its long life as a farm truck. She shut the door carefully.
    She glanced up at Pete’s windows. He was out working. And had been all night long. Which could mean only that Bev had been murdered. Cam would call Albert when she got home. He might have gleaned some information about the death through the grapevine. Or maybe Ellie knew something.
    A shiver ran through Cam, and not only from the air temperature. If Bev had been killed, that meant her murderer was walking around, free to kill again.
    Â 
    Preston strolled up to the truck after Cam pulled into the barn twenty minutes later. She’d made room in the barn for the Ford before winter descended in earnest. Cleaning snow off a truck after shoveling wasn’t her idea of a good time.
    â€œWe have company, Preston,” she said, climbing out of the cab. She went around to the other side and opened the door for Dasha, Preston at her heels.
    Dasha bounded out. Preston took one look at him and split out the door in a blur of motion. Dasha went after him.
    â€œDasha, come here.” Cam used what she imagined a good dog-owner voice would be: a low-pitched, firm tone. She patted the side of her leg.
    He gazed at her, looked at the door, and then trotted to her side.
    â€œGood dog.” She stroked his head and back. “Now what am I going to do with you? That mom of yours didn’t leave me a leash or anything.”
    Cam found a plastic food container left over from a farm potluck and rinsed it out. She filled it with water and set it on the floor in the office in a corner of the barn. She’d had her carpenter add the room the summer before, when the barn had to be rebuilt. The room included a small desk and chair, an electric space heater, which she now switched on, and two tables with grow lights hanging above them. She also kept her seeding supplies—flats, seeds, and seed-starting mix—in the office so she could plant seeds in a warm environment and nurture them along until they were ready to go out into the colder hoop house.
    The main area of the barn stayed warm enough to work in as long as she kept a coat on, thanks to the radiant heat in the poured slab floor. It was provided by an array of solar panels on the roof and a bank of batteries that stored the solar energy. She once again