Borrowed Crime: A Bookmobile Cat Mystery by Laurie Cass Read Free Book Online

her head. “You’re a braver woman than I am, driving that big bookmobile beast all over the county. There’s not even cell-phone reception in a lot of places, you know.”
    Beast?
I puffed up a little at hearing my beautifulbookmobile called a beast. The only beastly thing about the bookmobile was Eddie, and he slept a lot of the time. Maybe hiring Kelsey hadn’t been such a wise decision.
    “Hey,” she said, snapping her fingers. “I keep meaning to tell you. A friend of mine lives over in Peebles—you know, one of those little towns where Stephen shut down their library a couple of years ago? Anyway, you have a bookmobile stop there, and my friend says that getting the bookmobile is the best thing that’s happened to that town since the grocery store reopened. Pretty cool, right?”
    Then again, Kelsey wasn’t so bad.
    I had dreams that night of freezing rain and howling winds, and woke up to the smell of bacon cooking.
    My shower was fast, and I hurried down to the kitchen just in time to see Aunt Frances filling two plates with eggs and bacon and hash browns.
    “Wow,” I said, bumping Eddie to the floor and sitting in my chair. “What’s the occasion?”
    Aunt Frances nodded to the wide kitchen window. “Thought you could use a hearty breakfast before going out in that.”
    I half stood so I could see outside. Nothing but white and more white. “Huh,” I said, sitting back down. “That’s, um, a lot of snow.”
    “More than six inches,” she said cheerfully. “Let’s eat.”
    While downing crisp bacon glazed with maple syrup, my aunt regaled me with tales of winters long, long ago. “And then there was the blizzard of 1978,” she said almost wistfully. “Remember?”
    I didn’t, since that had been two years before I was born, but I nodded anyway, figuring it counted if Iremembered seeing the pictures Mom had stuck into the photo album.
    Our plates were soon empty. I thanked Aunt Frances for the wonderful breakfast, and as soon as the table was clear, I fetched my cell phone and dialed the sheriff’s office.
    “Deputy Wolverson,” said a male voice. “How may I help you?”
    “Oh, uh.” I hadn’t expected someone I knew to answer the phone, let alone a man who was about my age, with a muscular build, short brown hair, and a squarish jaw.
Hot
was what Holly called him, and I supposed she was right. “Hi. This is Minnie Hamilton. From the library. I didn’t expect you to be answering the phones.”
    “Hey, Minnie,” he said. “I don’t usually, but I’m covering for someone this morning. What can I do you for?”
    The old-fashioned phrase made me smile. “Today is a bookmobile day, and I was wondering about the road conditions.”
    “Hey, that’s great that you called to check,” he said. “Not many people think to ask. Where are you headed?”
    I gave him the road names and heard the click of a few computer keys. “You should be fine,” he said. “Those are primary roads, so they’ll be clear by nine o’clock.”
    I thanked him and hung up. Aunt Frances was at the sink, doing the dishes against my objections. “We’re on,” I said, and looked around for Eddie. He was nowhere to be seen. “Hey, Eddie,” I called. “Ready for a bookmobile ride?”
    Though he hadn’t been in the kitchen half a second earlier, there he suddenly was, sitting in the middle of the floor as if he’d been there the entire time.
    “Mrr,” he said.
    *   *   *
    Half an hour later, the bookmobile was out of the garage, warming up while I made sure all was ready for the day’s adventure.
    I’d run through the outside checklist and was halfway through the inside list when there was a knock on the door. This was strange, because people rarely knocked at the door at stops, let alone while the bookmobile was sitting in the library’s back parking lot, but maybe the handle had frozen shut with the snow and Denise couldn’t get it unlatched.
    Mentally shrugging, I went to open the