A Treasure to Die For Read Online Free Page B

down, but did coming back. It was on the ground in pieces. Bonnie must not have heard Sleeveless making firewood of my door when she was in the shower. I had installed a reinforced deadbolt that was supposed to prevent this sort of break-in. Evidently, Sleeveless didn’t read the promo for the lock.
    Fred waited for me to enter before following. The big sissy wasn’t so brave now that there wasn’t a truck between him and whatever danger lay inside. Of course, there wasn’t any danger once we stepped past the broken door, just a huge mess. The lower level was my office, my sanctuary from the world, where I kept my collection of first editions in built-in bookshelves lining the walls. My prized collection wasn’t on those shelves; it was on the floor. I knew without the help of psychic powers that the copy of Tom Sawyer given to me by Julie would be missing. I didn’t care if it was the key to a lost fortune or not. I had to get the book back. Julie had bought it for me when were strolling along Miner Street in Idaho Springs last year. I asked her to marry me the very next day.
    “Okay, buddy, how about we go upstairs to see if he trashed that too?”
    Bonnie was pulling into the driveway by the time we made it to the upper level. My cabin is small, less than eight hundred square feet, with one bedroom, a bathroom with a shower, but no tub, and a living room slash kitchen. The layout made it possible to see the road and driveway from almost any angle. My front door was wide open, but intact. Everything else looked to be as I had left it. I assumed the intruder must not have had time to search upstairs before Fred started barking, but like most assumptions, I was wrong.
    I didn’t bother to close the door on my way to inspect the bedroom. Bonnie would let herself in, and I really needed to check my shotgun. I had to smile when I saw my fierce guard dog wagging his tail when he saw Bonnie. Fifteen minutes ago, the scent of the intruder had his hair up and tail between his legs; now that the danger was over, he acted like nothing had happened.
    The gun was gone, and so was the box where I kept Julie’s wedding ring. I had kept them in a cedar chest at the foot of my bed with the gun on top where I could get to it in a hurry if any bears came knocking. Sleeveless had to search for the coins, for they were hidden at the bottom of the chest under a pile of family pictures and blankets.
    “Anything missing?” Bonnie asked when she came in with my grocery bags.
    “My shotgun and a cigar box where I kept Julie’s ring and some silver quarters,” I answered. Her lipstick was no longer smeared, but she must have fixed it quickly to get here so quickly, and it showed. I was in no mood to laugh this time. “Could you put those bags in the kitchen for me, Bon? I’ll go out and get the pizza.”
    “Don’t bother, Jake. It looks like some critter beat you to it. What little’s left is covered in dirt.”
    Hoping I’d heard wrong, I looked outside toward my Jeep and saw the open pizza box and a few slices spread across my drive. “Damn, and it was your favorite.”
    Bonnie acted shocked at my outburst; I guess she wasn’t used to me swearing. “I’ll clean it up for you when I leave so Fred doesn’t eat it. I know how much he loves pizza, but he might eat a rock, too,” she said from the kitchen where she was already putting my groceries away.
    I shut the door so Fred couldn’t get to the pizza before Bonnie left, then went to help her before she decided to do my dishes, too. “Thanks, Bon, but I’ll finish putting those away after I call in the burglary. We were going to surprise you. I even bought some honey for you to put on the crust.”
    I looked over in time to see her wipe a tear from her eyes. “You’re such a sweet boy. I wish Diane had lived long enough to meet you. I’m sure you two would have fallen for each other, and I’d have the best grand-babies ever.”
    It was my turn to be uncomfortable, so I