Advance Notice Read Free

for you. A lot of them.”
    “Fine!” If he wasn’t so dense, it might
have occurred to him that it was strange for Nina’s gas to be on when she’d
been gone for a month. She didn’t strike me as a woman who would be that
careless. Also, he might have stopped to wonder why the house blew up when she
unlocked the door. But, since he was being such an obnoxious jerk, I wouldn’t
say a thing about a possible trap. Let him figure it out for himself. “I’m
leaving.”
    I marched back to my car, tried to ignore
all the pings in my doors and hood, and peeled out of the driveway, scattering
my own fair share of rocks. Bruce Barnett made me so angry! Not to mention the
horrible fact I’d watched a woman die. Put those two facts together, and my
hands shook so hard I was afraid of driving into the ditch.
    Blinking back tears, I drove slower than
I needed to and crowded the shoulder of the highway. Hopefully, there wouldn’t
be any poor animals for me to run over.
    “Look out!” I wrenched the wheel in order
not to hit a young man. With my eyes full of tears, I almost didn’t see him. He
dove into a ditch. I slammed on my brakes, shoved the car into park, then rushed to his side. “I’m so sorry.”
    “You should watch where you’re going.” He
got to his feet and brushed off the knees of his ragged jeans. “Are you trying
to kill somebody?” He fished in his pocket for a lighter, pulled a cigarette
from somewhere inside his vinyl jacket, and lit up.
    “No. I said I was sorry. My name is
Marsha Steele. Can I give you a ride somewhere?” I didn’t usually pick up
strangers on the side of the road, but considering I’d almost made him road
kill, it seemed the least I could do.
    “Danny Vera.” He stuck his cigarette in
his mouth, then thrust out his hand.
    “Oh, you’ve been staying with your
grandparents for several years, right?” I took in the layered hair spiked
around his face, the skinny jeans, and black sneakers. A good-looking young man
who should have better things to do in the middle of the day than hike down a
major highway.
    He nodded. “Off and on. I’m going to
college at Arkansas Tech next semester. Thanks for the offer of the ride, but I
live half a mile from here and prefer to walk. Be careful with your driving, Mrs.
Steele.” He blew out a puff of smoke and continued on his way. “No one should
die before their time.”
    A weird thing to say. Frowning, I watched him
saunter down the highway, his cigarette smoke leaving a gray haze over his
head.
    As I got in my car, my cell phone rang.
Duane. “Hi, Babe.”
    “I just heard what happened. Are you
okay?”
    “I’m fine, just a little shook up.” More
than a little, judging by the way my hands still trembled. I glanced in the
side mirror and pulled back onto the highway.
    “Where are you? Do I need to come get
you?”
    “There’s no need for you to leave work.
I’m going home.”
    “I’ll meet you at your mom’s in ten
minutes. Love you.” Click.
    Which was the same as going home, since I
lived in Mom’s guesthouse. I dropped the phone in my purse and pressed the gas
pedal. The sooner I got home and into my bag of dark chocolate M&Ms, the
sooner I’d start to settle down. The candy-coated chocolate made everything
better.
    My phone rang again, this time being my
mother. News traveled fast in River Valley. “Hello, Mom.”
    “I heard what happened. Don’t bother
coming in to work today. I’ll meet you at the house in ten minutes.”
    “Who’s minding the store?” We couldn’t
all take off work because of an explosion.
    “Leroy can handle it. I want to hear all
the details.” Click.
    I sighed. I’d rather not relive them,
especially with Bruce coming by later, but it appeared I’d have no choice. I’d
have to tell the horrible afternoon’s events over and over.
    Thankfully, no news vans waited in the
driveway when I got home. I hated that whole ‘no comment’ thing. The reporters
didn’t pay attention anyway.