The Bogus Biker by Judy Nickles Read Free Book Online

you think they left the stuff in their car overnight?”
    “It would’ve been safe enough here. It’s probably why they didn’t stop on the interstate. What kind of luggage did they have?”
    “Come to think of it, nothing but a gym bag apiece.”
    “Uh-huh. Well, it was outside then.”
    On the way downstairs, Penelope said, “Why did Bradley send you instead of coming himself?”
    “Maybe he figured you’d tell me more. Woman-to-woman, you know.”
    “Bradley doesn’t listen to me, so he wouldn’t know what I told him.”
    “Men are like that sometimes.”
    “I’ve seen you at Mass several times, Rosabel, so I’m hoping you’re a practicing Catholic.”
    The young officer nodded. “Yes, ma’am. Unfortunately, sometimes I’m on duty and can’t make it on Sunday, but I try to go during the week when I can.”
    “Abigail Talbot’s a Presbyterian.”
    Rosabel didn’t reply.
    “Well, come by sometime when you’re off-duty. I’ll fix lunch and introduce you to Abijah.”
    “The cat.”
    “You know about him, do you?”
    “Your son doesn’t like him very much.”
    “He doesn’t like Bradley very much either, but I love them both.”
    As she watched Rosabel walk toward her patrol car at the curb, Penelope glimpsed Mary Lynn getting out her car in the driveway. “What’s going on?” the mayor’s wife called as she came up the walk.
    “She just dropped by.”
    “Officially? Through the front door?”
    Penelope deliberated on how much to say. “Come back to the kitchen, and we’ll talk.”
    ****
    “You and Mr. Kelley shouldn’t have gone to Roger’s last night,” Mary Lynn said when Penelope finished filling her in on everything except Tiny.
    “Why not?”
    “You could’ve gotten hurt. Harry says Roger gets a rough crowd in there these days.”              
    “You never told me that.”
    “I didn’t think I needed to.”
    “Anyway, Daddy says it was a random shot. A diversion.”
    “And then the police showed up. I can imagine my godson’s reaction to seeing you there.”
    “I was right about those two,” Penelope said, trying to put a positive spin on the situation.
    “Okay, you were right, but…”
    “But nothing. Maybe I’ve helped the police. Helped a lot, actually.” She regarded her friend for a few seconds. “Does Harry ever mention any problems around here? Besides Roger’s crowd, I mean.”
    “Sometimes that’s all he talks about. Everybody thinks he’s Solomon and can solve all their problems. Him and the Town Council.”
    “No, I mean about problems from outside. Drugs.”
    Mary Lynn’s eyes darkened. “There is no outside anymore, Pen. Every place is vulnerable.”
    “I haven’t heard about a problem at the high school.”
    “Neither have I, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t one.”
    “Roger wouldn’t sell to kids.”
    “Maybe that lace on his drawers is getting a little tattered.”
    Penelope considered the idea. “I hope not.”
    Jake chose that inopportune moment to burst through the back door holding up a Walmart bag and saying, “I got ‘em.” When he saw Mary Lynn, he lowered the bag. “Hello there, Mrs. Mayor.”
    “Hey, Mr. Kelley.”
    “I went shopping,” he said. “Over to the Walmart on the interstate.”
    “Find any bargains?”
    “A few.” He edged toward the door of his apartment. “I’ll talk to you later, Nellie.”
    Penelope cut her eyes back to Mary Lynn, but the woman appeared oblivious to anything out of sync. “We’ve got to plan breakfast menus for next week. I’m booked solid from Thursday through the weekend.”
    Mary Lynn took a notebook out of her floppy zebra-print bag. “That’s what I came for. Let’s get to work.”

 
    CHAPTER TEN
     
    “Coast clear?” Jake asked, poking his head around the door facing.
    “Mary Lynn went to the Garden Market.”
    Jake emerged from the closet-sized hall leading to his apartment and plunked a plastic shopping bag on the table.
    “He may not even