Read Online Graveyard Games by Sheri Leigh - Free Book Online Page B

of his pipe. “But I
wonder if maybe, just maybe…it's neither one.”
    "Yeah? Me, too."
    "Whole town is wondering, my friend.” She
heard Will pausing to puff on his pipe. “The whole world gets
turned upside down when stuff like this happens and nobody seems to
have any explanations.”
    It was quiet for a moment and Dusty
contemplated just putting her stuff down and going quietly out the
door. Then Cougar started talking again.
    "Mike, I’ll tell you something…”
    Dusty smiled. That’s what Cougar always said
when he was about to pontificate.
    “ I've lived in this town
all my life, and I've never seen anything like this. A bear won't
usually attack unless it's threatened. It's possible to have an
isolated incident of bear attack, say, after disturbing one from
sleep, but they're really not very smart. They would've caught a
bear by now, with all the traps they've set up.”
    “ Uh-huh,” Mike
agreed.
    Dusty nodded, listening, and waited.
    “ A cat, on the other
hand—a cat’s pretty sharp. And they're predators, there's no doubt
about that. I could see one coming across Joe Wilson passed out in
the train station and thinking he’d found himself the feline
version of a McDonalds Happy Meal just waiting for him."
    “ Sure,” Mike
replied.
    “ And overpowering a
twelve-year-old wouldn’t be too hard for a big cat,” Will went on.
“And from what Deputy Matt says, Nick Chandler was pretty wasted
that night. A bobcat sounds like a plausible explanation in all
those cases, doesn’t it?”
    “ Yeah.” Mike actually
sounded a little relieved.
    Dusty knew better. She was too used to
Cougar’s set-ups. She held her breath.
    “ But I still don't think
it was a cat."
    “ Why?” Mike asked, walking
just the path Cougar wanted him to.
    “ Did you know that Joe was
found hidden under a porch in the train station, covered up with
boards?” Will puffed on his pipe again and the smell wafted toward
Dusty. “Can bobcats do that, Mike? Even smart ones?"
    Dusty didn’t hear any answer. Her own mind
was racing.
    "If we didn't have kids who like to play out
there and explore the great unknown, we never would've missed old
Joe. Probably would've even forgotten him. What do you think about
that, Mike?"
    “ The papers didn’t mention
that.” Mike sounded angry, and Dusty knew how he felt.
    Will chuckled. “Come on, now. Buck Thompson
is up for re-election this year, and we’ve got that new mall going
in near the south end of town. Supposed to be as good as the Second
Coming, right? Bad publicity, Mike. No one wants that, do
they?”
    Dusty was cold. She was beginning to feel
sick again, and it was getting worse. Part of it was cramps, but
most of it was just all the bells and whistles going off again.
    "And what about Nicky Chandler?” Will
asked.
    “ What about
him?”
    “ You know where they found
him?”
    “ Cemetery,” Mike replied,
stating the obvious and taking another step down Cougar’s well-lit
path.
    “ Uh huh.” He puffed on his
pipe again. “But they might not have found him at all, you know, if
the Clinton Grove boneyard didn’t have such a tidy
caretaker.”
    “ What do you mean?” Mike
sounded impatient now, growing tired of Cougar’s game.
    “ John Evans told Deputy
Matt he found Nick while he was sweeping out one of the
mausoleums,” Will said. “Those doors are shut tight, Mike. You know
a bobcat who can open doors?”
    "Well.” Mike cleared his throat. “Maybe Nick
ran from it? Opened the mausoleum door himself, went in there to
hide?”
    “ Could be,” Cougar agreed,
puffing on his pipe again. “Sure could be.”
    For some reason, Dusty found herself
thinking about Shane.
    It was quiet for a moment, and then Mike
said, "Well, thanks for the ammo, Will. I appreciate it."
    "No problem," Will replied. "Just remember—
sometimes it’s better to be safe than sorry."
    "I get you," Mike said. "Take care,
Will."
    Will responded, "You take care, too—living
all the way out