Ghost On Duty (Destiny Bay Cozy Mysteries Book 2) by J. D. Winters Read Free Book Online Page A

be unhappy about seeing? Oh shoot. I’d been down this road too many times. Where could I find a guy who came without old relationships attached?
    And what the heck was I going to do with a parrot? Maybe feed it to the cats….

Chapter Six

    Bebe was having a friendly breakfast with Gary in the kitchen, so when her land line rang that next morning, I went out into her office to answer it at her desk.
    “Miyaki Farms,” I said, knowing Bebe answered it that way herself. “What can I do for you?”
    “Can I speak to that young woman who is Activities Director for the pageant?”
    “That’s me.” I frowned. Where had I heard this voice before?
    The tone lowered and became almost conspiratorial. “Oh. Good. I’m the one who sent you that message at the meeting last night. Sorry I got hung up and couldn’t meet you at the fountain.”
    “Oh!” My hand tightened on the phone and I looked back toward the kitchen to make sure no one was going to overhear this conversation.  
    “Who is this?”
    “You don’t know me.”
    I frowned, thinking, “ You want to bet ?”
    But she went on. “I need your help. You’ve got to find the person who killed Ned Barlow. I’m going to get framed for that murder if you don’t.”
    Hmm. That put a new spin on it. “Why would you be framed?”
    “Because I’ve wanted the man dead for years and I said so at the coffee shop the other day. Somebody told the cops about it.”
    I felt a little shiver down my back. I wanted to say, It wasn’t me ! But then, that would only make me look more guilty.  
    “Have you been arrested?” I asked her.  
    “No. But I’ve been questioned and I can tell the way the wind is starting to blow.”
    “Well, listen Peg…”
    “Hey! How did you know it was me?”
    I grinned. “I’ve got a sixth sense about these things. Anyway, you said in your note that you knew who the killer was. So go ahead. Let me in on it.” I held my breath and waited.
    But it was a no go.  
    “No way. Not yet. It’s my ace in the hole and I’m hanging on to it.”
    “And yet you want me to help you.”
    “Damn right I do. You owe it to me.”
    “No kidding? And how did I manage to rack up that debt?”
    “I told that cop, the captain, to leave you alone. I told him there was no way you had anything to do with it. You didn’t even know Ned for long enough to start to hate him like the rest of us.”
    I was clutching the phone. “Wait a minute. The captain told you I was a suspect?”
    “Oh yeah. He was trying to worm his way into my good graces, of course. So I laughed in his face.”
    I was outraged, but I kept my cool.  
    “So what exactly is it that you want me to do?”
    “You’re a pretty girl. That’ll get you places I can’t go.”
    “And?”
    “Here’s what you do. Go see that Australian boy, that Bobby fella. Find out what he was doing that day and where he was. I know he was involved, I’m just not sure how.” She hesitated. “In fact, I know he went out to Ned’s house that morning. So see if you can prove it for me.”
    “Oh sure. And just how do you know that?”
    “I’ve got spies, honey. And I ain’t sayin’.”
    “Did you tell the captain?”
    “No. Like I said, it’s my ace in the hole. Just when they think they’ve got me, I’m going to come out with the info and then they’ll all have egg on their faces.” She chortled, happy to think of it.

     
    So she thought Bobby was the killer. Interesting. I hadn’t heard that from anyone else. Was she grasping at straws, trying to find a way to hide her own involvement?
    “Listen, if you go out there to his house again, take protection.”
    “Do you mean a gun?”
    “That, or a cop. How about that cop that’s sweet on you?”
    “No one is sweet on me,” I said, sounding more bitter than I would like, but I changed the subject quickly. “Peg, tell me something. Did you really try to kill Ned before? Back in the old days, I mean.”
    She stopped dead. “Who told you