Free Gina Cresse - Devonie Lace 02 - A Deadly Bargain, Plan C by Gina Cresse

kept my card.  The thought of how they manipulated my bank records flashed through my mind.  I didn’t have time to ponder . I just knew I had to get the heck out of there. 
    I slowed down and coasted past the marina parking lot without pulling in.  The flashing red and yellow lights from five police cars parked at the marina office glared on the glass windows of my Jeep as it rolled by.  I didn’t stop. 
     

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Nine
     
    I pulled to the curb in front of Jason’s house and cut my lights and engine.  A barking dog threatened to wake the neighborhood.  I riffled through my tool kit for a screwdriver, then quietly opened my door.
    Jason’s vacationing neighbors just happened to own a Jeep Grand Cherokee, the same year as mine.  The yuppie vehicle sat, unsuspectingly, in its dark driveway.  I tiptoed to the back of the vehicle.  My movements triggered a motion-detector light that flooded the driveway with a beam so bright, I felt like a star on Broadway.  I heard the sound of toenails clicking on the concrete walkway in the back yard.  The black nose of Barney-the-Boxer sniffed like a vacuum under the gate.  I could hear a low growl start from deep in his throat.  I crouched behind the Jeep, held my breath, and froze like a statue.
    “ It’s okay, Barney.  It’s just me.  I played tug-of-war with you while Jason fixed your dinner.  Remember ?” I whispered.
    Barney wasn’t buying it.  He let out a loud bark, then another.  I quickly unscrewed the bolts holding the license plate to the bumper.  Barney snarled between his frantic yelps.  I jumped with every bark as I scooted around to the front of the Jeep and started on the second plate.
    Jason’s porch light flicked on.  His front door opened and I could see him step outside wearing his robe and slippers.  “Shush, Barney!” he ordered in the loudest whisper he could manage.  Barney ignored his command.
    “Darn you, Barney.  You’ll wake up the whole neighborhood,” Jason said .
    I’d just removed the last screw from the license plate frame when it slipped from my hands and fell to the ground.  The noise startled Jason.
    “ Who’s there?” he demanded in a voice two octaves higher than normal.
    I stood up, slowly.  “It’s just me, Jason.  Don’t call out the National Guard.”
    “ Devonie ?   What the heck are you doing?”
    I gathered up the license plates and approached him.  Barney continued to warn the world about the horrible thing happening in his owner’s driveway.
    I grabbed Jason’s arm and ushered him toward his front door.  “Let’s go inside so he’ll be quiet.”
    “What are you doing?” he demanded.
    “Don’t be difficult.  J ust come on, before he wakes up the whole block.”
    A half-dozen more barks after we’d closed the door, then Barney halted the neighborhood alert.  I followed Jason into the kitchen and sat down at the table, laying the license plates in front of me.
    “ All right .   Tell me what’s going on, or I’m giving Todd Schlempenheimer your phone number.”
    “No.  Not that. Anything but that.”  
    “Talk, girl.”
    “I’ve got to get to Sacramento.  I’ve stirred up a hornet’s nest with this stuff I got from Clancy.  Somehow, someone’s given me an electronic criminal history a mile long, and the state troopers are after me.”
    “What do you want with those plates?”
    “I just want to put them on my Jeep so I can get from here to Spencer’s without being stopped.”
    “Jeez, Dev.   I can’t believe you’re mixed up in something like this again .”
    “I know.  Me either.  Can I borrow some cash?  They took my ATM card.  I tried to use my gas card to fill up the Jeep, but my account’s been closed.  None of my credit cards are valid anymore.  They’re very thorough.”
    “Cash?   How much?”
    “As much as you can spare.   I’ve got to get to Sacramento.”
    Jason disappeared into his bedroom, then