1 In For A Penny Read Free Page A

bathroom within a forty-mile radius of Hogan’s Glen. “Forget waiting for someone to take our statements. Let’s make a dash for the clubhouse restroom and come right back. No one will even know we were gone.”
    Nodding, Jonette fumbled with the door for a minute. I shivered again. Once we made it to the clubhouse, I’d get some coffee and maybe buy myself a wind-shirt or a jacket. I couldn’t believe how cold I was.
    “Uh, slight problem here, Clee.” Jonette’s voice sounded oddly flat.
    “Deal with it.” For the first time I noticed the metal grate separating the front- and backseat. I couldn’t wait to exit this tight little box. My chest hurt with the effort it took to breathe in this confined space. “Let’s get out of here.”
    Jonette slumped back in the seat. “Can’t. No door knob.”
    I clawed at my door and found the same thing. Nausea swirled up my throat like a plugged toilet. I held my hand over my mouth. If I didn’t get out of here immediately, I was going to throw up all over this car. I looked at Jonette and she looked at me.
    With one accord, our mouths opened. “Help!”

 
    Chapter 3
     
    After an eternity of ear-splitting screams, the door opened. Jonette bolted out of the car so fast you’d have thought her skirt was on fire. Britt reached for her, but she’d had years of practice overcoming obstacles, first as a star on our high school track team and second as a veteran of divorce courts. Jonette streaked towards freedom and indoor plumbing.
    Fresh air wafted in my face, helping to quell my nausea. I stumbled out of the car in Jonette’s wake. “She’ll be right back.” I lowered my voice. “She has to use the facilities.”
    Unfortunately, I’d moved too quickly, and a sudden spell of dizziness caused me to go temporarily blind. This is a thing that happens to me occasionally because of my low blood pressure. If I get up too quickly, often I see little floaters in my vision. Other times the world goes black for a few seconds.
    Our club’s golf professional, Rafe Golden, stood beside Britt. Thick strawberry-blonde hair crowned his head and eyebrows. This I knew from memory, but I couldn’t tell you what clothes he had on right at this moment because I couldn’t see a darn thing.
    Manly aftershave filled my nostrils as someone reached to steady me. It wasn’t Britt’s spicy scent. It was the woodsy smell that permeated the pro shop. I was slick with nervous perspiration and slid right through the golf pro’s hands. Just before my head clunked on the ground, Britt caught me as if I were a wayward football.
    I prayed the ground would open up and swallow me whole. I was mortified. Absolutely humiliated. As the world brightened from black to gray to brilliant sunlight, I struggled to right myself.
    Britt held me fast in a headlock. “For God’s sake, Cleo. Be still. I’ll get someone over here to check you out.”
    My hands fisted in the warm grass and my shirt clung to me like shrink wrap. “I’m okay. I just need a minute for my head to clear.”
    “You’re not pregnant or anything, are you?” Britt asked. “My wife used to get light-headed when she was pregnant.”
    Not unless I was the victim of some heavenly prank, and I didn’t think God would be that stupid. Heat poured off my face. “Absolutely not. Let go of me so that I can sit up.”
    Britt peered briefly at my pupils, then shoved my sun visor back in my hair and allowed me to sit up. “Only if you’ll tell me what was going on in the squad car. What’s with all the screaming?”
    I stared at my trembling hands. Britt already knew I had lunatic tendencies, but I’d hoped my screaming fit wasn’t common knowledge. If I had to tell the truth right now, my cover with the golf pro would be forever blown. “This is embarrassing.”
    Changing the subject is what my girls always did when they wanted to skirt the truth. Directly below me was the crime scene. I couldn’t help but take in the beehive of