Read Online Trawling for Trouble by Shelley Freydont - Free Book Online Page B

didn’t you let me leave a message?”
    â€œBecause if they’re at home and if the guys who did this are already there, we don’t want them to know we’re on our way. They might get nervous.”
    He tossed her phone back, and she almost dropped it; she was suddenly fumble-fingered and frightened.
    He pulled out his own cell. Made a call. “Bill.” Chaz explained what had happened. “Do you still have Seamus and Gus?”
    He listened. “Damn. Meet us at the sisters’ house, bring backup, but don’t use a siren.” He hung up. “Come on.”
    They raced to the car. Chaz jumped in and started the motor. They were careening up the rutted road before Liv finished buckling her seat belt.
    â€œYou don’t think Gus and Seamus wrecked their own boat, do you?”
    â€œI don’t think they’re that crazy. But they may be going after whoever did.”
    Liv groaned. “But what do they have that the others want?”
    â€œWhatever Jimmy the Snail stole.”
    â€œBut why come here? Would they have trashed the
Truth
, too, if we hadn’t been gone?”
    â€œProbably. I wonder . . .”
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œHuh?”
    â€œYou can’t just say ‘I wonder’ and stop.”
    â€œYou’re getting hysterical.”
    â€œI’m worried about Miss Ida and Miss Edna.”
    â€œMe, too. If Gus and Seamus got into something over their heads, whoever is looking for them won’t be far behind. It’s not looking good.”
    Liv’s phone rang. “It’s Bill.” She answered, then listened. When she hung up, she told Chaz, “Seamus’s cabin has been trashed, too, and there’s no sign of Seamus or Gus. Bill thinks the two of them went after whoever trashed the place.”
    â€œI’m afraid they’ll all converge at Edna and Ida’s,” Chaz said and floored the accelerator, only slowing down when he turned the corner and drove past the Zimmermans’ house. “Looks like a party.”
    Two beat-up pickup trucks were parked on one side of the street, Gus and Seamus’s and Manny’s, and across from them—a black sedan with tinted windows.
    â€œOh no,” said Liv.
    Chaz slowed as they passed the sedan. “See if there’s a driver in the car.”
    Liv pressed her nose to her window and peered at the driver’s side.
    Chaz yanked her back. “What are you doing, do you want to get shot?”
    â€œYou told me to look. I couldn’t tell for certain. It’s too dark.”
    â€œSort of the point of tinted windows,” Chaz snapped.
    Liv flinched.
    â€œSorry.”
    â€œIt’s okay.” Actually, it was good to see Chaz, the imperturbable, unnerved for a change. She knew it was because he was worried about the sisters. He drove on. “Where are we going? We’re not going to wait for Bill, are we?”
    Chaz turned at the next corner and parked. “No. But we’re going to hope he arrives with backup before we get there.”
    Liv started to get out. Chaz leaned over and shut her door.
    â€œDon’t tell me to stay here and wait for Bill.”
    â€œNot here, but wait outside to direct him where to go. I’m going to put my cell phone on speaker. Hopefully, you’ll be able to hear some of what’s going on inside and clue Bill in.”
    â€œYou can’t go in by yourself! What if they shoot you?”
    â€œYou care?” Chaz said.
    â€œOf course I care, damn it.”
    He leaned over and kissed her, hard and fast, and jumped out of the car.
    She could only stare after him. What the heck was that about? He’d just— he was leaving her in the car. Now she got it. Fluster her so she would stay behind. Not happening. She jumped out of the car and followed him through the backyards of three houses to the Zimmermans’ garden.
    She kept her distance. She knew it was important for