Free 50% Off Murder (Good Buy Girls) by Josie Belle Page B

the person in charge of billing for medical advice? It was like the old joke, “Doc, it hurts when I bend my elbow like this.” And the doc says, “Then don’t bend your elbow like that.”
    She hustled down the corridor to the front of the building.Ray was holding up his arms, trying to wave off the incoming tide of seniors that was headed for the bus. They plowed right over him in their orthopedic shoes.
    Maggie took a quick head count as they climbed in: eighteen seniors, plus Ray. Excellent.
    “Thanks, Mr. Ray,” Maggie smiled. “You’re really doing me a solid here.”
    “Huh,” he said. “At least with ice cream, there won’t be any runners, not like at the mall.”
    Maggie nodded. Ice cream would keep the oldsters subdued. One of the many reasons the facility liked Ray for their driver was that he had a knack for keeping tabs on the seniors, especially the runners, the ones who tried to make a break for it and go home.
    “The things I do for free ice cream.” He glanced over his shoulder at the rowdy group. “Pipe down, or we’re not going.”
    “Come on, everyone, let’s sing,” Dotty, a former cruise ship director, ordered.
    There were resistant grunts and groans, but she ignored them and, with her platinum wig bouncing on her head and her fake eyelashes all aflutter, she sang in a high, clear soprano, “One hundred bottles of Ensure on the wall, one hundred bottles of Ensure, you take one down and pass it around, ninety-nine…”
    Her voice trailed off as Ray pulled the doors shut and punched the gas. The bus bounced its way out of the parking lot toward the Frosty Freeze.
    Maggie pulled out her cell phone and called Max. She had to give him a heads-up that Ray got a freebie. Now Hugh would have his eighteen, Max’s job would be secure, andthe seniors would be happy. Now she could go over to Ginger’s office and catch her up on what was happening.
    Max sounded impressed when she told him to expect the bus. Then they agreed to meet at Claire’s later in the day to discuss their strategy, should Claire get called in by the sheriff again.
    Maggie hopped into her car and drove to Ginger’s house. She lived in one of the historic houses on the town green. It had been a fixer-upper when she and Roger had bought it twenty years ago, and it had come a long way since, but with four teenage boys living in it, it had an air of frat house that could not be denied.
    Ginger had converted the stand-alone garage into an office for her accounting business. It worked perfectly, except for when her boys were home and started to play basketball, using the hoop attached to her office, which was why she stuck primarily to morning hours.
    Maggie parked in the drive and hurried to the side door. It was unlocked, so she popped her head in and found Ginger working on her computer. She waved and waited for Ginger to stop typing before she spoke.
    “Okay, I’m saved and good,” Ginger said. “Now what the heck is going on? How’s Claire?”
    “She’s been better,” Maggie said.
    “Did Sam arrest her?” Ginger asked.
    “No, but I’m worried that he will,” Maggie said.
    “But why would he?” Ginger asked. “So what if she knew the man five years ago? It doesn’t make her the killer. I mean, why would she kill him?”
    Maggie shrugged. She had been kicked out of the interview room, so she was left not knowing very much.
    “That’s what we’ll have to ask her,” Maggie said.
    “So, what’s the plan?” Ginger asked.
    “I’m going to stop by More than Meats to see Joanne and get her up to speed, and then we’ll have an emergency meeting of the Good Buy Girls tonight and see what we can do to help Claire.”
    “Does she want our help?” Ginger asked.
    “What do you mean?”
    “Maggie,” Ginger began, and then paused as if choosing her words carefully. “Not everyone is like you.”
    “What’s that supposed to mean?” Maggie asked, wondering if she should start feeling offended.
    “Simply