Paula Graves - The Girl Who Cried Murder

“I bet.”

The counter waitress, a plump, pretty woman in her forties named Jean, smiled as she approached to take their order. “Hey, Charlie, what can I get for you and your friend today?”

“I’ll have a grilled cheese with chips and a pickle, and iced coffee with cream and sugar,” Charlie said.

“And you, hon?” Jean looked at Mike, her voice instantly flirtatious.

“I’ll have a veggie omelet and a small fresh fruit cup,” he ordered. “And water to drink.”

Disgustingly healthy, Charlie thought. Would explain his smokin’-hot body, though.

“Find yourself a seat, and I’ll send someone out with your orders in a few minutes,” Jean said with one last flirtatious smile at Mike before she turned to clip their orders to the chef’s order wheel.

Charlie and Mike settled in a corner booth. He took the bench seat that faced the door, she noticed. Always on the lookout for trouble?

An uncomfortable silence lingered between them for a moment before Mike broke it in a gravelly murmur. “You didn’t seem that surprised when the guy at the garage thought your brake line had been cut.”

She looked up sharply. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

He shrugged. “If someone told me my brake line had been cut...”

“You’d start with your self-defense class roster?” She flashed him a cheeky grin to hide her own sense of unease with his question.

He grinned back. “Probably.”

What she didn’t want to admit, even to herself, was that there might be someone out there who wanted her dead. For most of her life she’d been fairly invisible, by design. Her ne’er-do-well brothers had brought more than their share of ignominy to the family name. Better not to draw any attention at all than the kind her brothers had managed to elicit.

A smiling teenage girl came over with their orders on a large tray, saving Charlie from having to find something else to say to break the silence. The girl eyed Mike with starstruck shyness, giggling a little as he smiled his thanks. Charlie wasn’t sure the girl even realized there was a second person at the table.

“Does that happen often?” she asked, taking a sip of her iced coffee.

Mike looked up from his plate. “Does what happen?”

Charlie nodded toward the waitress who was still darting quick looks toward their table as she talked with another server. “Googly-eyed females growing tongue-tied in your presence.”

He frowned. “Never noticed.”

Of course he hadn’t. She changed the subject back to the topic of the hour. “How on earth did you even notice that brake fluid in the parking lot?”

“I happened to be looking out the window when you drove away. There was a big puddle of fluid underneath the car, so I thought I should check it out. When I realized it was brake fluid—”

“You hopped in your truck and raced to my rescue?”

“Seemed like the thing to do.”

“When you first whipped around in front of me, I thought you were a maniac.” She shook her head. “That was kind of a crazy thing to do.”

“Blame the academy. Crisis driving is one of the things we’re trained to do, you know.”

“Does the Campbell Cove Academy teach those skills to civilians, too?”

“Only to professional security personnel at the moment,” he said with a shake of his head. “It’s an intense and expensive course, and most civilians won’t have any need to learn the skills.”

“Not sure I agree with that,” she said wryly.

He leaned a little closer, lowering his voice. “You really have no idea who might have tampered with your car?”

“Why would I?”

“You just started taking a self-defense course, and now your vehicle is sabotaged. I have to wonder if there’s a correlation.”

She pretended not to understand. “You think someone messed with my car because I’m taking a self-defense course?”

He frowned. “Don’t be obtuse. I’m asking if the reason you’re taking a self-defense course has anything to do with why someone might tamper with your brakes. Have you been threatened? A stalker or a disgruntled ex?”

“Nobody’s threatened me.”

He sat back, studying her through narrowed eyes. “I’m not sure you can say that with a straight face after today. Assuming your mechanic is right about how the brake line was cut.”

“I don’t know who would want to hurt me,” she said firmly.

That was the problem, wasn’t it? She didn’t know who would want to hurt her any more than she knew who would have hurt Alice. But someone had. She was more convinced of that fact than ever.

“Okay,” Mike said after a long silence. “But I think you should be careful anyway. Maybe this morning was a warning shot.”

“I’m planning to be careful.”

“You still planning on trying to get around by bike?”

“Or on foot. I work from home, and most of the places I go on any given day I can reach by walking.”

“Not sure that’s a good idea.”

“It’s not like my track record in a car is exactly stellar after this morning,” she joked.

He didn’t smile. “Are you going to be at my class tomorrow afternoon?”

She shook her head. “The academy is a little too far away for a bike ride. Maybe I can pick up the class the next time you offer it.”

“You’ll have your car back soon. I can give you a ride to the class until then. Just be ready about a half hour early and I’ll swing by to pick you up.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Why? Why would you do that?”

“Because I think you need it. It’s not like it’s a big problem for me to give you a ride.”

She nibbled her lower lip, considering his offer. He was right about one thing—she’d like to know how to protect herself in a pinch. Wasn’t that why she’d picked up the self-defense class in the first place?

But Mike Strong was taking a peculiar amount of personal interest in her well-being, and she had a feeling it wasn’t a matter of altruism. He had seemed suspicious of her the very first class, hadn’t he?

A new thought occurred to her. Could Mike have been the person who’d tampered with her brakes?

“What is it?” he asked, looking suddenly concerned.

She schooled her own features, trying to hide her doubts. “Nothing. I was just remembering this morning. Can’t seem to shake it.”

“That’s natural,” he assured her with an easy smile. “That had to be a pretty terrifying few minutes.”

“Definitely.” She forced a smile. “And you’re right. I should be back in my car in a week, so there’s no real reason not to try to keep up with the self-defense courses.”

His concerned expression had cleared completely, now that he’d gotten his way. “So I’ll pick you up about thirty minutes before class starts? I like to get there early and do some prep work, if that’s okay.”

“That’s fine,” she assured him, smiling again. “Do I need to bring anything besides me and my sparkling personality?”

He grinned. “That should be all you need. We’ll supply the rest.”

At her insistence, Mike let her pay for lunch. But he insisted on coming into her house with her instead of just dropping her off.

“You didn’t think someone was going to cut your brake line, either,” he argued when she told him he was being paranoid. “I’d like to be sure you’re not about to walk in on an intruder alone.”

Grimacing, Charlie gave in, hoping she hadn’t left the place in too much of a mess that morning. Fortunately, neither of her cats had pulled one of their insane stunts, such as trailing toilet paper around the house or dumping over all the potted plants.

The house was silent and still when they entered. No sign of intruders. And thanks to Mike’s presence, no sign of the cats, either, save for His Highness’s well-worn catnip mouse sitting in the middle of the living room floor.