Murder in the Marigolds by Dale Mayer (best young adult book series .txt) 📕

and it budged a little bit, but she couldn’t get her hand up to undo the locks. Something here engaged them. Normally they just snapped down. But she remembered that the left side never latched properly. She slipped over to the far side, wincing and barely avoiding crying out as she hit something hard, and it jostled her back.

Immediately Mugs started barking again. And, once more, Rex snarled at Mugs to shut up. Then Rex started talking. “I’ll be glad when I get this stupid job done. Shut up! God, you’re dirty animals. I hated you when you lived at the house, and I hate you even more now!” he snapped.

She wondered at a man who could hate a dog. What kind of a person was that?

Chapter 26

As Doreen listened, Rex muttered to himself, but it wasn’t making any sense, or at least wasn’t something she understood. She tried hard to listen, but it wasn’t clear enough. Some words were garbled. She only heard something about, “That woman had him so wrapped up. And now he’s in deep trouble.”

At that, she sat back in shock. Maybe Doreen was wrong. But she quickly texted Mack about the words Rex said. I think Rex had a relationship with Robin and may have killed her. Maybe because he feared getting caught by Mathew.

At that, she got no answer for the moment, while she kept listening to Rex’s words and sending Mack the little bits and pieces that she heard. It just wasn’t very much.

Finally Rex took another left and slowed the vehicle. She immediately contacted Mack and said they were slowing down. Rex hit the brakes, opened the driver’s door, and hopped out, then opened up the side door and said, “Get out of here! Go on. Get out!” She didn’t know who was getting out, but it didn’t seem like it was Mugs or Goliath because she could hear the two of them chasing around inside the car, as Rex yelled and hollered at them.

But, for whatever reason—maybe because the animals knew exactly where she was—they weren’t leaving the car. She couldn’t imagine what chaos was happening, but she definitely heard chaos, and she silently cheered them on.

Finally Rex groaned and said, “What is wrong with you? Here’s your freedom. Here’s your one chance.” And then he said, “You can’t possibly know she’s in the trunk.”

She shook her head and rolled her eyes at his ignorance because, of course, the animals knew.

“Keep it up, and you’ll die with her,” he said. “If that’s what you want, that’s fine. I’m happy to do it.”

A shout came from somebody in the distance, and Rex yelled back, “No problem. Just trying to put the leash on the dog.”

There was laughter, and the other vehicle drove off.

“Nosy busybodies,” Rex said. “Why she doesn’t have a leash on you, I don’t know. At least then I could just drag you out and dump you on the side of the road.”

Her heart clenched in pain at the thought of her animals being stranded like that. What a brute Rex was. He should be dropped off in a strange place and see how he liked it then. She lay tense in the back, just waiting for a chance to move and to get the upper hand in this scenario.

Finally Rex groaned and said, “Fine, but then, when I dump her, you’re going too. Enough of your caterwauling. Be quiet, or I’ll turn around and shoot you.”

It was almost as if the animals knew because immediately they were quiet again. She wasn’t sure just what was going on, but, while all that had been happening, she had managed to loosen up the left-hand corner of the seat. She didn’t know if it would do any good if she couldn’t also loosen the right side, but she could hope so. Her kidnapper got back in, and she felt the vehicle sink slightly. Then the door slammed, as he muttered to himself. “A bloody nuisance, all of you. I don’t know why I’m even doing this.” He drove off again.

She wanted to yell, “Yeah, so why are you doing this?”

But she wasn’t sure what kind of reception she would get, and then Rex would definitely find her phone and take it away from her. No, the best thing she could do was hope to delay the inevitable as best she could, giving Mack a chance to find her. She sent him another message. Hurry please.

He responded. Stay calm and stay quiet. We’re hunting for you.

She immediately groaned and sent another message. Somebody else called out and asked if Rex was okay, and he just said he was trying to put the dog on a leash. So people are around. I just don’t know where.

She heard Rex yelling something and imagined that Goliath must be attacking him. And then she heard barking, and, somehow through it all, Thaddeus couldn’t stay quiet, and he started cawing and calling in the background. She heard Rex screaming, and, after driving erratically for a few minutes, he pulled off the road again for a few minutes. He hopped out of the vehicle and screamed at the occupants of the car. “You’re nuts! You’re all nuts!” he muttered. “Get the hell out of the car!”

But nobody seemed to be budging.

“I’m not listening to any of you.”

The sound of another vehicle pulled up, as she desperately tried to kick the seat down. Somebody walked closer, and she stilled, as she heard crunching footsteps.

“Hey, are you okay?”

“No,” Rex roared. “My girlfriend’s stupid freaking animals, I can’t stand them.”

“Well, they look to be pretty upset,” the stranger noted.

She didn’t recognize his voice.

“Of course they are. Whatever,” Rex said. “I just have to get them back to her.”

“What are you doing with them, if they don’t like you?” the stranger asked suspiciously. And the two men got into a slight altercation, but so much anger was in their voices that she struggled to hear the words. She started