Sleuthing for a Living (Mackenzie & Mackenzie PI Mysteries Book 1) Read Online Free Page A
Author: Jennifer L. Hart
with the door to the ancient shed. The thing looked ready to collapse in the next strong breeze.
"Is this the part where he shows us his collection of chainsaws and we are never heard from again?" I asked Mac.
"He's a cop. To protect and to serve, that whole shtick. Besides, if he was going to kill us he'd do it under cover of darkness." She eyeballed my purse, undermining her reassurance when she added, "On a totally unrelated matter, you still have that pepper spray, right?"
"Right here." All thoughts of grisly death scenes left me when I heard the roar of a massive engine firing to life. "Is that…?"
Hunter appeared, pushing the other shed door open to reveal the second most beautiful sight I have ever beheld, close behind the birth of my baby girl. "Judas Priest."
Mac blinked. "That's no old jalopy—it's a muscle car."
"Not just any muscle car," I breathed, moving over to put a hand over the growling hood. "This is a 2016 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat with a 6.2L V8 engine." And it came in pitch-black, my power color.
"It was delivered a few days after Al's passing," Hunter said. "He used to own one back when they first came out, and he'd been making noise about buying another one. I had no idea he was serious until the flatbed showed up. I just parked it in here and figured I'd hand the keys over to his next of kin." He tossed said keys in my direction.
I caught them reflexively, though my eyes were glued to the Hellcat. "Are you telling me it's never even been driven ? Weren't you tempted?"
Hunter shrugged. "It wasn't mine to drive."
His sincere honesty kept me from saying something about how he should arrest himself on principle. I wouldn't have had the restraint not to slide inside such a sweet ride and take it for a spin up and down the eastern seaboard. It was all I could do not to scream road trip and burn rubber. Only the thought of our bare cabinets which could've given Old Mother Hubbard a run for her money reminded me I was a grown up and didn't have time to frolic.
But even driving Mac to school in the Hellcat was a boatload better than a morning of putt-putting down the streets of Boston in Fillmore, watching him belch smoke everywhere he went. I beamed up at our new neighbor. "Wow, this…this is incredible. Thank you."
His smile was slight, but his eyes spoke volumes. Again, the notion about still waters running deep played through my mind. I felt like a bubbling brook next to a vast river when I stood beside our new neighbor. But my daughter, who asked so little of me, had requested that I not get emotionally entangled with our new neighbor. I'd done it before, dated one of our landlords, and it hadn't ended well. And for her sake, as well as my own, I wouldn't pursue the detective. With considerable effort, I looked back at Mac. "You ready for school?"
Not one to wait for an engraved invitation, my mini tossed her backpack over the back seat and slipped into the passenger's side.
"Can I give you a ride somewhere?" I asked Hunter. Out of politeness, not because I wanted to spend more time with him. Not that he was even interested in me as anything more than a neighbor and someone to pay his rent to every month.
But he shook his head. "No, I'm heading back to the precinct in an hour. Enjoy the car, Mackenzie."
It was the first time he'd spoken my name, and the deep rumble of his voice had turned it into a sort of verbal caress. "I will. Um…I guess I'll see you later."
Our new neighbor didn't make huge gestures or any obvious clues as to his thoughts. He was a riddle hidden within a concealing fog. He simply said, "Looking forward to it."
Hunter stepped back, and I moved toward the driver's-side door, feeling an odd pang. Strange, I didn't know the man, not really, but leaving him behind felt…wrong somehow.
Sliding behind the wheel of the hellcat dispelled the bizarre feeling. "I could die happy right now," I told my daughter.
"Good. Then as your next of kin, I'll be the first to
"Is this the part where he shows us his collection of chainsaws and we are never heard from again?" I asked Mac.
"He's a cop. To protect and to serve, that whole shtick. Besides, if he was going to kill us he'd do it under cover of darkness." She eyeballed my purse, undermining her reassurance when she added, "On a totally unrelated matter, you still have that pepper spray, right?"
"Right here." All thoughts of grisly death scenes left me when I heard the roar of a massive engine firing to life. "Is that…?"
Hunter appeared, pushing the other shed door open to reveal the second most beautiful sight I have ever beheld, close behind the birth of my baby girl. "Judas Priest."
Mac blinked. "That's no old jalopy—it's a muscle car."
"Not just any muscle car," I breathed, moving over to put a hand over the growling hood. "This is a 2016 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat with a 6.2L V8 engine." And it came in pitch-black, my power color.
"It was delivered a few days after Al's passing," Hunter said. "He used to own one back when they first came out, and he'd been making noise about buying another one. I had no idea he was serious until the flatbed showed up. I just parked it in here and figured I'd hand the keys over to his next of kin." He tossed said keys in my direction.
I caught them reflexively, though my eyes were glued to the Hellcat. "Are you telling me it's never even been driven ? Weren't you tempted?"
Hunter shrugged. "It wasn't mine to drive."
His sincere honesty kept me from saying something about how he should arrest himself on principle. I wouldn't have had the restraint not to slide inside such a sweet ride and take it for a spin up and down the eastern seaboard. It was all I could do not to scream road trip and burn rubber. Only the thought of our bare cabinets which could've given Old Mother Hubbard a run for her money reminded me I was a grown up and didn't have time to frolic.
But even driving Mac to school in the Hellcat was a boatload better than a morning of putt-putting down the streets of Boston in Fillmore, watching him belch smoke everywhere he went. I beamed up at our new neighbor. "Wow, this…this is incredible. Thank you."
His smile was slight, but his eyes spoke volumes. Again, the notion about still waters running deep played through my mind. I felt like a bubbling brook next to a vast river when I stood beside our new neighbor. But my daughter, who asked so little of me, had requested that I not get emotionally entangled with our new neighbor. I'd done it before, dated one of our landlords, and it hadn't ended well. And for her sake, as well as my own, I wouldn't pursue the detective. With considerable effort, I looked back at Mac. "You ready for school?"
Not one to wait for an engraved invitation, my mini tossed her backpack over the back seat and slipped into the passenger's side.
"Can I give you a ride somewhere?" I asked Hunter. Out of politeness, not because I wanted to spend more time with him. Not that he was even interested in me as anything more than a neighbor and someone to pay his rent to every month.
But he shook his head. "No, I'm heading back to the precinct in an hour. Enjoy the car, Mackenzie."
It was the first time he'd spoken my name, and the deep rumble of his voice had turned it into a sort of verbal caress. "I will. Um…I guess I'll see you later."
Our new neighbor didn't make huge gestures or any obvious clues as to his thoughts. He was a riddle hidden within a concealing fog. He simply said, "Looking forward to it."
Hunter stepped back, and I moved toward the driver's-side door, feeling an odd pang. Strange, I didn't know the man, not really, but leaving him behind felt…wrong somehow.
Sliding behind the wheel of the hellcat dispelled the bizarre feeling. "I could die happy right now," I told my daughter.
"Good. Then as your next of kin, I'll be the first to
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