Read Online The Cemetery Club (Darcy & Flora Cozy Mystery Book 1) by Blanche Day Manos, Barbara Burgess - Free Book Online
Authors: Blanche Day Manos, Barbara Burgess
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at,” my mother retorted. “I should be the one in danger since
supposedly Ben told me about the gold, not you. I just can’t figure out why
anybody would shoot at you.”
“Maybe the bad guy thinks
that you told me where the gold is hidden or maybe he just wants to scare you
into being cooperative because you fear for my safety,” I said.
The only sound in the
kitchen for the next few seconds was the old yellow coffee pot working its
magic. At last, Mom stopped pleating her place mat and smiled. “I have an idea!
We’ll just take a trip, a short vacation to somewhere or other, maybe back to
Bet in Fayetteville.”
Getting up from the table, I
took two cups from the cabinet. “No, that’s not far enough. We’d only put Aunt
Bet in danger too. If Drake is watching us, we should go farther than Fayetteville.”
“Well, where, then?
Timbuktu? Honolulu?”
Pouring steaming coffee into
our cups, I said, “Sounds good to me.”
Mom paused with her cup
almost to her lips. “Is Grant any closer to finding the murderer?”
“He didn’t say. He was too
busy being mad at me to say anything else. He wants us to stay out of any
investigation, but I don’t know how to do that. We are not asking to be
involved; we just are.”
“Darcy, I think the only way
we are ever going to be safe again is for that killer to be brought to justice.”
“I agree. But how long is
that going to take?”
Mom gazed at the rose bush
outside her kitchen window. “I keep thinking about the antiques dealer in
Oklahoma City, Jason Allred. I’m wondering if Ben went to see him and maybe
told him where the gold is. Do you think Mr. Allred could be so greedy that he
killed Ben, in order to recover the gold for himself?”
That was an angle I hadn’t
thought of. “It seems unlikely. Dealers in antiquities are used to priceless
items. Integrity and discretion are their stock and trade.”
“But what if we talk to Mr.
Allred, and find out what Ben told him? Now that Ben is dead, I don’t think
Allred would be sworn to secrecy, would he?”
I put down my cup. “And you
want us to go see Allred.”
Mom smiled. “I like Oklahoma
City. That would be a mini-vacation. We could stay for several days, and maybe
while we’re gone Grant will arrest the
killer and find Ben’s body and get this whole thing cleared up!”
Catching some of her
enthusiasm, I said, “If we could leave before daylight, Drake wouldn’t know we
were gone. He has to sleep some time, just like normal people! And we would be
together so I could keep an eye on you.
Let’s pack tonight and leave bright and early in the morning.”
“Good idea,” Mom agreed.
Sunrise was only a rosy
promise in the soft, gray east when we drove out of Levi the next morning. Mom
and I were in a holiday mood. Maybe the trip out of town, seeing different
sights, having lunch in a nice restaurant, would be good for her. She had
looked tired since finding Ben’s body.
Leaving Levi with its dark secrets behind us was a relief.
We headed west. The sky was
cloudless and promised a perfect day. A niggling memory of another day that
began much like this one passed, like a shadow, through my mind. The day we
found Ben started out sunny and warm too, full of promise. Mom had predicted a
storm the morning we left for Goshen, but the weather had seemed to belie that
and I hadn’t believed her. Glancing at my mother, I asked, “You don’t have any
warnings or premonitions this morning, do you? Any aches and pains in arthritic
joints?”
She wrinkled her nose. “Not
a one! Besides, I listened to the weather forecast last night and rain isn’t
predicted.”
Her confidence reassured me.
This little jaunt would be what we both needed. People were already stirring in
the farms and ranches we passed. What would their morning chores be, I
wondered. What particular defeats or victories would fill the days of the
strangers along the way?
Each person was a walking
story with his or her own
supposedly Ben told me about the gold, not you. I just can’t figure out why
anybody would shoot at you.”
“Maybe the bad guy thinks
that you told me where the gold is hidden or maybe he just wants to scare you
into being cooperative because you fear for my safety,” I said.
The only sound in the
kitchen for the next few seconds was the old yellow coffee pot working its
magic. At last, Mom stopped pleating her place mat and smiled. “I have an idea!
We’ll just take a trip, a short vacation to somewhere or other, maybe back to
Bet in Fayetteville.”
Getting up from the table, I
took two cups from the cabinet. “No, that’s not far enough. We’d only put Aunt
Bet in danger too. If Drake is watching us, we should go farther than Fayetteville.”
“Well, where, then?
Timbuktu? Honolulu?”
Pouring steaming coffee into
our cups, I said, “Sounds good to me.”
Mom paused with her cup
almost to her lips. “Is Grant any closer to finding the murderer?”
“He didn’t say. He was too
busy being mad at me to say anything else. He wants us to stay out of any
investigation, but I don’t know how to do that. We are not asking to be
involved; we just are.”
“Darcy, I think the only way
we are ever going to be safe again is for that killer to be brought to justice.”
“I agree. But how long is
that going to take?”
Mom gazed at the rose bush
outside her kitchen window. “I keep thinking about the antiques dealer in
Oklahoma City, Jason Allred. I’m wondering if Ben went to see him and maybe
told him where the gold is. Do you think Mr. Allred could be so greedy that he
killed Ben, in order to recover the gold for himself?”
That was an angle I hadn’t
thought of. “It seems unlikely. Dealers in antiquities are used to priceless
items. Integrity and discretion are their stock and trade.”
“But what if we talk to Mr.
Allred, and find out what Ben told him? Now that Ben is dead, I don’t think
Allred would be sworn to secrecy, would he?”
I put down my cup. “And you
want us to go see Allred.”
Mom smiled. “I like Oklahoma
City. That would be a mini-vacation. We could stay for several days, and maybe
while we’re gone Grant will arrest the
killer and find Ben’s body and get this whole thing cleared up!”
Catching some of her
enthusiasm, I said, “If we could leave before daylight, Drake wouldn’t know we
were gone. He has to sleep some time, just like normal people! And we would be
together so I could keep an eye on you.
Let’s pack tonight and leave bright and early in the morning.”
“Good idea,” Mom agreed.
Sunrise was only a rosy
promise in the soft, gray east when we drove out of Levi the next morning. Mom
and I were in a holiday mood. Maybe the trip out of town, seeing different
sights, having lunch in a nice restaurant, would be good for her. She had
looked tired since finding Ben’s body.
Leaving Levi with its dark secrets behind us was a relief.
We headed west. The sky was
cloudless and promised a perfect day. A niggling memory of another day that
began much like this one passed, like a shadow, through my mind. The day we
found Ben started out sunny and warm too, full of promise. Mom had predicted a
storm the morning we left for Goshen, but the weather had seemed to belie that
and I hadn’t believed her. Glancing at my mother, I asked, “You don’t have any
warnings or premonitions this morning, do you? Any aches and pains in arthritic
joints?”
She wrinkled her nose. “Not
a one! Besides, I listened to the weather forecast last night and rain isn’t
predicted.”
Her confidence reassured me.
This little jaunt would be what we both needed. People were already stirring in
the farms and ranches we passed. What would their morning chores be, I
wondered. What particular defeats or victories would fill the days of the
strangers along the way?
Each person was a walking
story with his or her own
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