Free The Girl With the Dachshund Tattoo by Sparkle Abbey

phone.
    “Are you blowing me off?” I leaned against a tree, the rough bark pressed against my back.
    He sighed so hard I was amazed I didn’t feel his breath on my ear. “No. I have people waiting for me.”
    I rubbed my chest, pushing back the ache building inside. I was waiting for him too. I’d been waiting for him for weeks. “It’s just as well. I wasn’t expecting you for a couple of days so I made plans.” My face warmed at my blatant lie.
    “Melinda, we’re not finished.” His voice softened, but it still sounded detached. “We have a lot to discuss. Just not tonight.”
    “I don’t really want to talk tonight either,” I muttered. I squeezed my eyes shut. “I love you.”
    He didn’t respond immediately. I felt sick to my stomach.
    “I love you too,” he finally said.
    I ended the call hurt and frustrated, and in no way reassured. What a horrible day.
    IT WAS DUSK by the time Darby left to find Malone and update him on the photos. I’d managed to load three of the storage containers in the Jeep fairly quickly. Frustration could be a terrific motivator. Bless Missy’s sweet bulldog heart, she didn’t complain about all the back and forth between the Jeep and the booth. I’m sure she thought I’d lost my mind. She deserved an extra treat when we finally made it home.
    I slid the final tote off the table and started toward the Jeep for the last time. Missy dutifully brought up the rear, her tongue hanging out the side of her mouth. As I walked across the park, I mentally planned the rest of my night. First, a hot shower. Second, a glass or two of Pinot.
    “Hey, Cookie. Did you miss me?” Betty called out brightly.
    Startled, I almost dropped the plastic storage bin on my foot. I set down the tote before whipping around. “Where the heck have you been? I’ve been worried about you.” Immediately I was embarrassed I’d lost my temper.
    Betty, on the other hand, didn’t bat an eye at my outrage. “Talking to Officer Cupcake.”
    “For two hours?”
    Betty squatted in front of Missy. With a thin hand, she patted Missy’s head with great affection. Betty’s white hair needed brushing, and her pajamas were rumpled. For the first time since I’d met her, she looked frail. That scared me more than not knowing where she’d been since she’d walked away with Officer Shughart.
    “I had some things to take care of,” she said.
    “Like what?”
    She straightened. “It’s private.”
    “Privacy’s never stopped you from poking your nose into my business.”
    “That’s because someone has to keep an eye out for you, Cookie. You act before you think.”
    Look who’s talking? The godmother of impulsiveness. I needed to calm down. What was I doing, interrogating a woman old enough to be my grandmother?
    I inhaled deeply and counted to five, searching for a shred of patience.
    “You look like you’re about to pass out. Stop holding your breath.” Betty said.
    “Will you tell me where you’ve been?” I pushed one last time.
    She shook her head.
    I tried a different approach. “What did Shughart say?”
    Betty sat on top of the storage container. I noticed her sneakers were no longer white, but grassy green. “You’d like her. She’s a smart one. She’s got two pugs, Charlie and Daisy. Cupcake promised to stop by the shop next week to check out our travel carriers. She’s leaving on vacation next month.”
    “I meant what did she say about your involvement with Richard’s death?”
    She shrugged a delicate shoulder. “Don’t leave town. Don’t talk to the press. And if I see Stephanie to call her or that handsome Detective Malone.”
    “Holy cow, Betty. You’re officially a murder suspect.”
    Betty clapped her hands and pressed them to her chest. Her gray eyes brightened with amusement. “I know. Exciting, isn’t it?”
     
     
     

Chapter Nine
    I DIDN’T CARE WHAT Betty thought; it was not exciting. More like terrifying.
    By the time I got her loaded into her Mini