Coastal Cottage Calamity (A Logan Dickerson Cozy Mystery Book 2) Read Online Free

in the sun. Koryn left with me leaving Mac to babysit Miss Vivee for a
while. He really couldn’t handle her when she made up her mind to do something,
but it was the best plan I could come up with if I wanted to get any work done.
    Stallings Island’s
Native Americans made tempered pottery and shell mounds (instead of ones made
from dirt). And that was what most, if not all, of the archaeological
excavations in the past had been about. But mine was going to be different.
    I lifted the computer
out of the black carrying case. It was square and looked more like a tackle box
than a laptop. I flipped the locks and pulled up the lid on the miniature
computer. The screen diminutive, only showed images in a gray scale.
    I connected the
long cable leads to the bottom of the box that housed the monitor and then
attached the other end to the hand-held antenna that I would sweep over the
ground, sort of like a metal detector. It made noises as it powered up and
synced the radar with the imaging device.
    My heart did a
little jump as it fired up. I so hoped to find something new. Something
different. I was more than eager to do something on my own and make a name for
myself. I took in a breath.
    I hate when I feel
the need to excel just to prove . . .
    I thought about my
mother. I guess it wasn’t really all her fault I was insecure at times. I had two
older siblings that hadn’t helped my feelings of doubt over the years. They
often teased me, as the baby of the family, it seemed to have started from day
one. But I’d show them, too. Eventually.
    Maybe even this
time . . .
    “I wanted to say
sorry about screaming the way I did yesterday, Logan. It’s just . . . well,”
Koryn spoke, her words bringing me back. I shook my thoughts away and tried to
focus on what she was saying. I glanced at her, nodded acknowledging that I was
listening and then looked back down at my machine. I snapped the survey wheel
onto the red box to make maneuvering the antenna over the ground easier.
    “It’s okay,” I
said grabbing the chrome handle of the antenna. I started walking, rolling the
radar in front of me over the transect I had mapped out earlier.
    “It’s not like me,”
Koryn continued. “But it just reminded me of when he . . . Cal.” She swallowed
hard. “When Cal used to hit me. And yell at me . . .” She bit her lip, looking
down she kicked a rock with the toe of her shoe.
    I glanced up at
her, careful not to veer off the narrow section I was surveying. “It’s okay,
Koryn. Really. I understand.”
    It was such a
sensitive topic to talk about and I wasn’t paying attention. With the radar, I
had to walk up and down an area, careful not to stray. It was sort of like
cutting grass, back and forth to make sure I didn’t miss any of the subsurface.
But I couldn’t concentrate on that and be sympathetic to her. I let out a
breath and switched it off. I looked at her and touched her arm with my hand.
“You know if you ever want to talk about anything. I’m all ears. And so is Miss
Vivee.”
    “I know,” she
said. “And I appreciate everything that everyone at the Maypop has done for me,
but I’ve got to get my life back on track.”
    I smiled at her.
“That’s good, right? You’re ready to do something?”
    “I am,” she said.
“Sooo.” She dragged the word out, seemingly hesitant about her next words. “I’ll
probably be leaving soon.”
    “Leaving?” I
raised an eyebrow. I figured that was safe conversation. No sympathy needed. I
turned the radar back on and started moving again. “You’re leaving Yasamee?” I
asked but didn’t move my eyes off the ground I was rolling across.
    “Yeah. I found a
job in Nevada.”
    “Have you told
Renmar yet?” I know, like Miss Vivee, Renmar had taken a liking to her.
    “No. Not yet. I’ve
had enough of Renmar,” she said and lowered her eyes.
    “Really?”
    “I don’t mean that
in a mean way,” she said. “It’s just not who I am, following around behind
other