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

“They’re not used to that kind of treatment, you know? And I don’t ever want to see an animal subjected to that kind of treatment.”

“Uh-huh,” he said, then he turned, and an ambulance was right there.

She looked at him and said, “Oh no.”

He nodded. “Yes, you should be checked over. The way he was driving, you had to get tossed around back there.”

“I’m fine,” she said. “You need to go get Rex.”

“Believe it or not, more people are on this police force than just me, and we’ve got a whole contingency of men out looking.”

“Rex couldn’t have gone far on foot, and he’s pretty upset too. He was really angry at the animals.” She shook her head. “I just don’t understand people like that.”

He laughed. “I’m pretty sure he doesn’t understand you either.”

“Rex works for Mathew,” she said, “but I don’t know that this is even about that. I suspect Rex was involved with Robin.”

“So you said, but she wasn’t the kind to be involved in that type of manipulation, was she?”

“She used her body as a weapon. And honestly she had a heck of a body. Guys were falling for it constantly.”

“Well, there’s more to life than manipulation,” he said. “In this case, she obviously hadn’t learned those kinds of lessons.”

“No, I don’t think so,” she muttered. “And I feel sorry for her because there’s so much else in life that she could have done.”

“Well, let’s not get too sad about it all,” he said, “because there’s still a lot we don’t know yet.”

“I know,” she said. “I still don’t understand exactly what it’s all about, but I think we’re really close to finding out.”

“Well, we’ll be really close when we get Rex to talk,” Mack muttered. “We just have to get our hands on him.”

A shout came from the distance, and she looked, still encircled in Mack’s arms, but on her feet now, to see Rex being led toward them.

“That’s him,” she cried.

Rex glared at her. “I should have known you’d be a complete pain to look after,” he muttered, turning away.

“Hey, I didn’t have anything to do with this deal,” she said to Mack, waving at the car. “That’s all his doing.” She looked at the car and frowned. “I really thought I was in my car.”

“No, it’s the rental,” Mack said.

She shook her head. “Wow, I had no idea.”

“No, it doesn’t matter,” he said, “although the rental company won’t be very happy.”

She said, “Pretty sure about that. Mugs was chewing through pretty good.”

Mack leaned forward, winced, and said, “Yeah, I definitely see a lot of damage. I hope you’ve got some insurance for that.”

“Not me,” she said, “him.” Nodding toward Rex.

He glared at her and said, “Your husband will pay for it.”

“Ex-husband,” she said, “and Mathew doesn’t pay for anything. You know that. Any damage incurred on the job, you pay for.”

At that, he just winced.

“Seriously?” Mack asked.

“Yeah, he doesn’t pay for anything, if he doesn’t have to. Money is king to him,” she said. She looked at Rex. “I still don’t understand what this is all about, Rex.”

“It’s about Robin,” Mack said, “isn’t it?”

Rex shrugged. “I loved her.”

“Ah,” Doreen said, “and you didn’t realize she was using you too?”

“She wasn’t using me,” he said hotly. “No way she was. She loved me.”

Doreen stared as she watched another man fall for the woman’s wiles. “Robin could have done so much good in the world with her persuasive techniques,” Doreen said, “but all she ever cared about was money.”

“She had a hard life,” Rex admitted. “A really rough childhood that really scared her, and she admitted as much. I understood. I mean, I had a pretty rough time of it too,” he said. “I’m only with your ex because I can’t walk away from the money, and he pays me a lot.”

“Yeah, but is it worth your soul?” she asked.

“Lady, I gave up my soul a long time ago.”

“And what about Robin?” she asked quietly. “She was my friend for a short time. At least I thought she was.”

“She loved me,” he said sincerely. “We were leaving together.”

“So, what happened then?”

“I don’t know,” he said. “I really don’t know.”

“Well, you must know something because you’ve kidnapped me for some reason.”

“Well, that was your ex,” he said.

She shook her head. “No, I don’t think so.”

“Yep, it was,” he said. “I’m not even sure why. I was supposed to just threaten you and make sure you were terrified, then kidnap you and dump you somewhere.”

“What about the stranger on the road?”

“Well, if I was really intent on killing you, I’d have killed him too.”

“I’m pretty sure he thought that’s what you were up to,” she said. “I don’t know, Rex. You sounded pretty interested in killing me.”

“Well, I shut him up though, didn’t I?”

She thought about it a moment and said, “There was something in his tone. Did he look familiar to you?”

“I’ve never met him before,” Rex said, with a shrug. “Never seen him before either.”

Mack looked at her. “What are you talking about?”

“I’m not sure,” she said, “just something about his voice, but I can’t be sure.”

Mack stared at her and asked, “What are you thinking?”

“I think he might have known who Rex is but didn’t quite understand what was happening.”

“Well, he couldn’t have known me,” Rex said. “I’ve never been in town before.”

“Weren’t you in town when Robin was murdered?”

“No, I came in afterward with the boss, and he didn’t kill her. I don’t know who did,” he said. “I was hoping I could set a trap and bring the killer out in the open. But nobody took the bait.”

“What kind of a trap?” Mack asked in a hard voice.

“Her,” he said. “That the boss just wanted to make sure you didn’t have any of the goods he was looking for. But I thought whoever had killed Robin might be interested in something I found.”

“And what would you do?”

“I would give you to them,” he said. “Figured they could take care