Free Give Em Pumpkin To Talk About (Pumpkin Patch Mysteries Book 1) by Joyce Lavene, Jim Lavene Page B

articles about looking for lost gold on their property. Even the sheriff didn’t want it.”
    “Treasure hunting? Does the sheriff think Mr. Burris was killed for that?”
    “He’s not exactly the sharing type, although he gave me the file he had on my grandparents’ disappearance. It’s skimpy, Hunter. And he hasn’t offered any ideas on why the man was killed at the house. He makes me feel like he thinks I’m a suspect, but Jack thinks that’s stupid.”
    “Jack, huh?” Hunter asked. “Have you actually been charged with anything?”
    “No. I guess it might be like a person of interest thing. The sheriff gave me this information, but he still has my gun.”
    “Probably checking ballistics. Do you want me to come back up? I can be there in a few hours. I don’t like that you’re there alone.”
     “I thought about going home for the weekend,” Sarah admitted. “But I can’t get involved with anything there until I can clear this up. I guess I’ll just stay here until Monday.”
    “What about this man who’s hanging around your farm? You said the sheriff didn’t question him about Mr. Burris’s death.”
    “Not as far as I know,” Sarah said. “Jack was right there with me when the first shot was fired. I don’t think he was responsible for it, even though he’s incredibly annoying. But I don’t know for sure. It could be some elaborate set up.”
    “You could probably get a no-trespassing warrant against him,” Hunter told her. “If he’s squatting out there, I’m sure the sheriff would get him off if you pressed it.”
    Sarah looked at her freckles in the hotel room mirror. “I know. But I feel sorry for him. I don’t know what happened to him, but he thinks he’s protecting the property for my grandparents. He thinks they’re coming back.”
    “That sounds like a problem. And the sheriff doesn’t think Jack had anything to do with your grandparents disappearing either?”
    “No. He’s just good old Jack. It’s a weird situation. My mother should’ve kept up with what was going on out there all these years—or sold the place. This is so unlike her. She doesn’t usually ignore problems or have butter fingers. You might be right about how she really feels.”
    “I’d be careful out there anyway. This guy might seem harmless, but you don’t know that he didn’t kill your grandparents in his search for the gold and then take out Mr. Burris because he knew about it.”
    “I’m probably not going out there again until Monday. I’ll get a new phone and catch up on some work with my laptop here at the hotel. It’s lucky that I can work from anywhere.”
    “Just watch your back,” Hunter said. “The whole thing sounds kind of scary.”
    “Thanks. I will.” Sarah wanted to tell her friend about the teenage Jack that she remembered, and that first awkward kiss. But she didn’t mention it. She didn’t want her friend to give up her weekend to come to her rescue.
    There was a coffee shop close to the hotel. Sarah was ready to get out of the room for a while.
    She ran a comb through her hair. It didn’t seem to like the time she’d spent outdoors or the dip in the river. It was standing up all over. She twisted it into place and secured it on the back of her head.
    Her skin was pink from the extra sun, and she swore she had a few more freckles than she’d started out with. She wanted to go home and leave all of this for Dusty or her mother. It was turning out to be a lot more than she’d thought it would.
    But she had to see it through. It had to be done right this time.
    She was going to get a replacement for her wet phone first, she decided. Then she could sit at the coffee shop and take a look at it. She thought about what Jack had suggested about putting the phone in rice. If the idea had come from anyone else, she might try it. At that moment, she wanted to put Jack in rice.
    It was a strange, naked feeling not having her phone with her. She felt out of touch and