Sarah Woods Mystery Series (1-6) Boxed Set by Jennifer L. Jennings Read Free Book Online

Lindy? Seeing that she was just three cars ahead of me, I hung back. I didn’t think she’d seen me, but figured I should be careful.  
    Where was she going? And what did I think I was going to do once we got there? Lindy suddenly took a sharp left turn at a set of lights that had just turned yellow and I cursed the cars in front of me for not going faster. Damn it, I was going to lose her. Just as the car ahead of me turned, the light went red.  Determining that I had a small window of opportunity, I floored it and turned just as the oncoming traffic got the green. I didn’t hear a single horn as, hands firmly clenching the steering wheel, I searched the road ahead. Spotting her, I began to accelerate when she pulled off to the right and stopped in front of a coffee shop called Gina’s. I braked and pulled off on the left side of the road.  
    The neighborhood was quaint, a handful of hair salons, art galleries, and cafés along cobblestone streets. A few blocks away, a man was walking a dog along the tree-lined sidewalks.  
    The Subaru’s driver’s side door opened, Lindy’s legs swung out, and her feet struck the pavement. She pulled her bag out of the car behind her, pushed the door shut, and went into the cafe. I was dying to see who was meeting her, but it was outrageous enough that I’d even followed her, so I elected to wait in the car.  
    Five minutes had passed by when my cell phone rang. It was Brian.
    “ Hey, sweetheart. Home from school?” I asked, all the while keeping my eyes on the entrance to the café.  
    “ Yeah. Hey, Mom. Okay if I go to the basketball game later with friends?”  
    “ I guess so. Have you done your homework?”
    “ Did it in study hall.”  
    “ Will you be back in time for dinner?”  
    “ Uh, don’t know.”  
    “ Well, I was thinking with Dad gone you and I could go out for Mexican tonight.” When Brian hesitated, I saved him the trouble of worrying about saying the wrong thing and hurting my feelings.
    “ Never mind. We can do it some other time. I’ve got things to do anyway.”
    “ Well, it’s just that Kerry’s having people over after the game. We were going to order pizza or something.” 
    “ Sure. Go ahead. Have fun. Leave your old mom in the dust. I’m used to it by now.”
    “ Thanks, Mom. See you later, okay?”
    The joys of having a teenager. Maybe someday, I thought, he’ll actually want to spend time with me again.  
    I tossed my cell on the seat and decided to make a note of Lindy’s plate number. My concentration was broken by a loud knock on my car window. I jumped and looked up to see the man I’d seen walking his dog earlier. He motioned for me to roll down my window. Cracking it no more than an inch, I smiled and said, “Can I help you with something?”  
    “ Actually, I thought I might be able to help you,” he said, all smiles and bad teeth. “I noticed a scratch in the paint on the side of your car, and, well, you see, I own a body shop here in town. Here’s my card if you’d like me to fix it for you.”
    “ Oh. Thank you,” I said, taking the card and waving goodbye. Some nerve. The dog walking was probably the guy’s way of scoping out the neighborhood every day for prospective customers.  
    As man and dog walked off, I glanced back at the coffee shop again. Lindy’s car was gone! Looking up the road and seeing nothing, I pounded the steering wheel. After a few minutes of cursing myself for being so stupid, I looked down at the license number I’d jotted down in my notebook. What was I going to do with it? If I called Detective Flynn, how would I explain following someone halfway across town on a hunch that got me essentially nowhere? Instead, I called Gabby.
    “ Hey, it’s Sarah,” I said when she answered. “Wanna go out for margaritas tonight? I need to fill you in on some things. And I could really use some advice. My treat.”  
    Gabby accepted without hesitation. “I can meet you at