Free One Hoof In The Grave [Carriage Driving 02] by Carolyn McSparren Page A

draped the harness over his own neck. He reached for one of the shafts, but she shook him off. “I was undercover. I couldn’t call you, and I didn’t accuse you.”
    “You demanded to know what I had done this time. Like I was some sort of serial killer. I’m sure Thor the Wonder Sheriff took note.”
    “He’s letting us go. Don’t pick on the man.” Peggy said.
    A big rig with living quarters nearly as large as Raleigh’s passed them in a fug of diesel fumes.
    “And we’re not giving him time to change his mind,” Merry said. The center ramp on the trailer was already down. Inside, Geoff could see another, larger carriage with its shafts already secured to the roof of the trailer.
    “Is that thing going to fit?” he asked.
    “If you’ll help me get it inside, it’ll slide backwards between the four wheels of the marathon cart with the shafts beside it on the floor.” Merry said. “I’ve already measured.”
    Easier said than done, but he shooed Merry out of the way and managed to slip the cart into position. When she finished tying it down and stood, she brushed against him. He felt as though she’d jabbed a cattle prod into his chest. From the way she bounced away, he suspected she’d felt the same charge, but she carefully avoided looking at him.
    Women didn’t have a clue how soft their breasts felt. His ex-wife Brittany had been practically flat chested. She called it model-thin. He called it cadaverous, but not where she could hear him.
    Merry, on the other hand, might have muscles on her muscles, but she was definitely soft where she should be. He’d fantasized about her all over the Caribbean on his undercover assignment, but the fantasy didn’t come close to the reality.
    She slipped the heavy duck cover over the marathon carriage, pulled it down to the ground over the wheels, fastened it around the shafts, shooed him down the ramp ahead of her, then lifted and fastened the ramp before he had a chance to help. “You sticking around to help the sheriff?” she asked him.
    “For the moment. He’ll want to talk to you again. If I get officially pulled in, I’ll need to interview you as well.” Then it hit him. She was a suspect in a murder case again. That put her out of bounds again until he’d solved it. Damn and blast.
    “Do I have to come back here?” she asked. “It’s an hour from Mossy Creek.”
    “Depends. We may wrap this up fast.”
    “But you don’t think so, do you?” Peggy said.
    He shook his head. “Not unless somebody confesses. That’s not going to happen. From what I hear, there’s no shortage of people who disliked the guy.”
    “If that were the criterion for killing him, you’d be looking at a modern day Murder on the Orient Express ,” Peggy said. “You know, the Agatha Christie mystery where all the suspects joined together to kill the guy.”
    “That may happen in one of your mysteries, Peggy, but not in real life,” Geoff said.
    “So I guess we won’t be seeing you again,” Merry said, still avoiding his eye.
    “I’ll drive over to Mossy Creek to interview you.”
    “Gee, thanks for the favor. Peggy, are Golden and Ned secured?”
    Peggy nodded. “Checked and double-checked, not to mention impatient to get home.”
    “Me too. Come on, let’s mount up.” She walked up to the driver’s side and climbed into her truck.
    Peggy leaned over to him and whispered, “Thank you for coming, Geoff. When you come to Mossy Creek, you can stay with me. I’ll take you to another garden club meeting.” She actually winked at him, climbed into the truck and waved out the window as the rig passed him. He watched it drive slowly down the long driveway toward the road. Then he went back to Stan. He’d definitely volunteer to interview Merry and Peggy again in Mossy Creek but damned if he’d ever be tricked into attending another one of Peggy’s garden club meetings. Those women were dangerous.

Chapter 10
     
    Sunday afternoon
    Merry
    “We didn’t