Donald's Death (Cara Daniels Cozy Mystery Book 1) Read Online Free

to
have a manager who treats you like a human. Oh! There I go again! Sorry.”
    Gran smiled. “That’s okay. I like
hearing about people. Where do we go to order coffee?”
    “I’ll do it for you. I organise
everything from behind this desk. Tell me what you want and I’ll bring it
over.”
    Donald Ackroyd called out, “No you
won’t! You should have gone home three minutes ago, Emma. Off you go, your
little boy will be waiting for you. I’ll see to the coffee.”
    Emma smiled at Gran. “See what I mean.
I hope to see you both again soon.”
    Donald walked behind the reception
area, put his hands on Emma’s shoulders and steered her away. Emma headed
towards the staffroom.
    Gran gave Donald their order. He said,
“Sit yourselves down. I’ll bring your coffee over.”
    Gran and Cara sat at a table a short
distance away from the reception desk. Cara said quietly, “Gran, that line
around Donald, I think it’s got thicker. What does that mean?”
    Gran said, “It means that he’s closer
to death.”
    Cara’s mouth felt suddenly dry. She
didn’t know what to say. She looked over at Donald Ackroyd. He was singing
happily to himself as he filled a latte cup with frothy milk. He had no idea he
was about to die soon.

 

 
    Chapter 6

 
    Donald brought their coffees over,
still singing to himself. He called out goodbye to Emma as she walked towards
the main door, her handbag slung over her shoulder.
    Donald returned to the counter.
    Cara said, “Do we have to stay and
watch him all the time? Won’t he get suspicious if we stay here all day?”
    “I’m going to get an update from Edward
soon, see if the time frame has changed again.” Gran studied Cara for a moment.
“Are you feeling okay? You look a bit peaky.”
    “I’m not sure how I feel. I don’t like
the idea of someone being murdered, but I do want to help you prevent it. I’m worried
I won’t know what to do when Donald confronts his murderer. Do we rush in?
Phone the police?”
    “Every situation is different, leave
that to me. Stop staring at him, he’ll know something’s wrong.”
    Cara tore her gaze away. “I can’t help
it. I’m all tense, waiting for some madman to leap out and attack him.”
    Gran nodded towards the big windows
that looked out onto the car park. “Focus your attention out there, a madman,
or woman, could arrive at any minute.”
    Cara said, “I hope you’re joking about
that.” She looked out of the windows. “I can see Emma driving away. That’s a
nice little car she’s got.”
    “You should get yourself a car, you
need to get out more,” Gran said.
    “I don’t need to go out, you can have
everything delivered these days.”
    “You’ve told me that once. What about
going to see your mum and dad, a car would make that easier. They miss you,
they don’t live that far away. When did you last see them?”
    Cara shifted in her seat. “I’ve been
busy. Anyway, I can get three buses to their house.”
    “A car would be better. I’d be lost
without mine. You’ll need one if you’re going to help me. We’ll talk about that
later.”
    “I wish you’d stop saying that. What do
you need to talk about later?” Cara asked.
    Gran didn’t answer. She put her cup
down and said, “Look, it’s that Jason lad again. At the far side of the car
park. He’s with one of those hoody teenagers.” She shook her head. “Why does he
need his hood up on such a lovely day?”
    Cara narrowed her eyes. “It looks like
Jason’s handing him something. Jason looks shifty, he keeps looking back over
his shoulder towards this building. What do you think he’s up to?”
    “Up to no good, I should imagine. Shall
we go for a little stroll outside, have a look at the golf course? We could
walk past Jason and his friend.”
    Cara jumped as a voice boomed out.
Gregory Templeton strode towards her, his chest puffed out, a look of
self-satisfaction on his face. “There you are! I forgot to give you my business
card.” He