Murder on Wheels Read Online Free Page B

Emma.” I reached down to rub the top of Emma’s head, and she scooted over to lean against my leg as we stood there. “I just love this stretch of beachfront. We run a few times a week, especially when the weather’s good like today.”
    â€œI know.” Kacey spun around in a circle. “Isn’t it grand today? When Austin mentioned we should take a break and go for a walk, I was all over that idea.”
    I turned my attention to Dustin Austin. I noticed his wife called him by his last name along with everyone I’d ever met. The guy hated the name Dustin, but when I’d first met him, I had felt weird calling him Austin. That thought was pushed aside by another memory crowding into my brain. The last time I’d seen him, before his wife showed up in town, he’d been in my storeroom, kissing Sadie. I could tell by the look on his face, the memory had occurred to him, too. “So, Austin, it’s been a while. I hear you and Kacey are opening a dessert food truck.”
    He frowned, then turned back to Kacey, grabbing her. “We’ve got to go.”
    â€œOuch, you’re hurting me!” She pulled her arm out of his grasp. “Sometimes he doesn’t think. Like the time he kissed me after eating a cookie and I had to be rushed to the hospital.”
    I stared at her. “How would a cookie send you to the hospital?”
    â€œI’ve got a mad wheat allergy. I love to bake, but I have to be really careful with the ingredients I use. That’s one of the reasons we decided to open the food truck, Austin got tired of eating all my experiments. Besides, people are going crazy on this gluten-free thing, so I thought it was time to let them eat cake, too.” Kacey shrugged. “So to speak.”
    â€œI’m sorry if I hurt you.” Austin put his hand on the small of Kacey’s back. I couldn’t pinpoint his true age, but I knew he had to be in his late fifties. Kacey, on the other hand, couldn’t be more than thirty or thirty-five. “We need to get going. I forgot the health inspector is coming by today.”
    â€œNo, he isn’t, you said he was coming next week.” Kacey didn’t budge from her spot. She grinned at me. “I put it on my new calendar. You should see all the planner options they have down at that office supply place in Bakerstown. I wanted all of them, but settled on a weekly planner that had a slot where I could put my own pictures on the cover. So it looks just like me.”
    â€œThat sounds nice.” I loved seeing Austin squirm. “I have a lot of friends in the area who are addicted to their planners.” Sadie being one of them. “Maybe that’s a topic for one of our Business-to-Business meetings.”
    Austin turned stone-white. “The inspector called back this morning and rescheduled. He said that if we don’t meet him today, it will be a couple of months before he can get out here.” Austin turned Kacey’s head away from watching the seagulls frolic on the waves. “We really have to go.”
    â€œFine. I guess we have to go then.” Kacey gave Emma a kiss on the top of her head and smiled at me. “I’ll see you later. Maybe I’ll come in to your shop tomorrow. What time do you work?”
    Austin pulled her away and toward the parking lot exit. I called after them, “Five to noon. Come in any time.”
    I watched as Austin dragged his wife up the stairs to the lot and they disappeared from view. I looked around the now-empty beach and unclicked Emma’s leash. “Let’s finish our run.”
    By the time Greg arrived to pick me up for our clams and beer date, I’d finished showering and was dressed. I sat with my legs tucked under me, my formal flip-flops with the oversized flower decoration on the floor next to the couch. Emma slept on top of one of them, making sure I didn’t slip out without her