Free Murder at Jade Cove (Cedar Bay Cozy Mystery Book 2) by Dianne Harman Page A

executive who just burned
out from too much stress and pressure at work. Even with the extra help, I’m
still the one who often needs to make the final decision about something, and
yes, that can be a little stressful. See you later.”
    “Bye, Scott. You take care
of yourself!”
     

CHAPTER 11
     
    Kelly checked the kitchen as she got
ready to lock up for the day and noticed that there was half a cheesecake on
the counter. Roxie must have forgotten to put it in the walk-in. If I take
it home I’ll probably eat it, and since I’m going to have to fit into a wedding
dress in the near future, I probably better avoid it. I know what. I’ll take it
out to Marcy. I’d like to talk to her anyway and I’m curious if she’ll say
anything about Gabe.
    It took her about fifteen
minutes to get to the driveway that led up to the Black’s ranch house. She
remembered her conversation with Bonnie the day before and her description of
the little rundown shack on the adjoining BLM property. I thought I knew
pretty much everything about the land around here, but I’ve never seen that old
abandoned shack. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever been on that piece of land.
Wonder if I can even get on it. The way she described it, sounds like the shack
is about half-way to the point.
    Kelly decided she wanted
to try and see if she could find the shack, so she drove past the long driveway
that led to the Black’s ranch, slowed the minivan down, and looked for a way to
get onto the fenced BLM property. A few hundred feet up the highway she saw a
small sign with the words “BLM Property – No Trespassing” on it. She drove a
few hundred feet past the sign and pulled off onto the shoulder.
    “Come on, Rebel. Let’s see
what this abandoned shack’s all about. Doesn’t look like anyone’s around, so we
shouldn’t get arrested. Even though it’s gated, I think there’s enough of a gap
in the gate that we can slip through.” They crossed the highway and easily
entered the property. Ahead of her she could just make out a small narrow path.
“Looks like a footpath. I don’t see any tire tracks and anyway, it’s too narrow
for a truck or an ATV.”
    Through the heavy forest,
she could just make out the cliffs that dropped off dramatically to Jade Cove
and the swirling ocean below. Dappled sunlight made it hard for Kelly to see as
she made her way along the path. She almost missed the tiny shack just off to
the left side of the path. She walked over to it and saw the door hanging at an
odd angle from one badly rusted hinge. She gently pushed it open and thought, Bonnie
was right. The only creatures that live here are birds and little critters .
The windows were nonexistent, having been broken out long ago. From the looks
of it, no one had been there for a long time. She looked around, curious as to
why the old shack had been built in the first place and who had used it. The
view of Jade Cove and the ocean beyond it was breathtaking. She stood and
looked out through one of the broken windows at the ocean for a long time.
    A developer would kill for
this land. This view is even better than the one from the Black’s ranch house . She walked over to the
other window to check out the view from it. At the end of the cove,
approximately a hundred yards away, she could clearly see both the shack Jeff
had converted into an office and the ranch house beyond it. 
    Dirt had replaced several
of the rotted-out floorboards beneath her. She pulled her attention away from
the view, suddenly aware that Rebel was furiously digging in the dirt. “Rebel,
stop. What are you doing? Did you find an old bone or some animal?” He looked up
at her and barked and began digging again, then pushed something on the ground
with his nose. She bent down, picked it up and gasped. It was an expended brass
cartridge from a gun.
    “Good boy, Rebel. That’s
really bizarre. From what I remember when my dad used to hunt, it looks like
that cartridge came from some type