Dog Days Murderous Nights: Winnona Peaks Mysteries Book 1 Read Free Page B

that time, just to have the DA let him go on a technicality. 
    When the captain came in to see Gregory, he knew it was better to hang up his spurs than have Internal Affairs do it for him.  He hadn’t crossed the line.  He just got caught in the cross hairs of a broken system.  He went into being a cop because the good guys were supposed to win and had to get out before the system broke him for good.
    Gregory Binks spent quite a few hours in the gym trying to work off the stress of all the weirdos doing bad things on any given day.  He preferred a navy polo and khakis, and without a woman in his life he pretty much wore the same thing every day.  Sometimes he switched it up a bit and threw in an olive green polo.  A hint of dime store cologne was on his neck.  It was the same stuff his Dad used and it suited him just fine after a nice shave.  He wondered why he cared when his jet black hair ended up a five o’clock shadow by noon every day.  It’d been hard to give up the smoking so he chewed gum like a demon and his jaw muscles rivaled his biceps.
    Watching the old bat waddle past him with her little dog Pookums made him shake his head.  From the way Christy was holding the camera and laughing at the old guy he thought that maybe they were a thing.  That’s what he remembered thinking.  He also remembered how her smile lit up the sky when she did actually recognize him and stood up to greet everyone.  Maybe they weren’t.  Maybe it’s just that Christy was always magical in the way she walked.  He’d have to play it cool.  He hoped they weren’t a couple.
    “Gregory, hi!  It’s been a long time.
    He couldn’t help but smile.  “Hi, Christy.”
    “This is your wife?” Christy asked.  Confused, Gregory looked beside him to see a slim fierce-looking woman with brown hair chopped to the shoulders for utility.  She wore what looked like a safari vest which he noticed was really just an oversized fishing vest stuffed with camera equipment.  The vest, however, couldn’t cover up that she was light on the eyes and the yellow t-shirt and jeans led gracefully to hiking boots.  Seeing Christy the woman laughed, gently, easing the fierce look and melting into a civilized person, “Oh, no.  I guess I’d have to know him first. No, I’m Diana Hansel.”
    Gregory thought it was great how Christy covered the awkward pause by rushing to check them in, waving them inside to the lobby desk.  Maybe the grey-haired guy was a thing.  He was playing with her dogs and it looked like it was a pretty permanent babysitting gig at the moment. The old guy shrugged when Christy asked if he could still watch them while Gregory and Diana checked in.
    He was really impressed with what Christy had done with her grandparents’ bed and breakfast.  Gregory remembered helping out her grandfather when he got back from his tour in Desert Storm and Grandpa Roberts wanted to expand the bed and breakfast. He designed a larger back porch that doubled as a dining area with mood lighting for spring and summer nights.  Gregory was there for the heavy lifting.
    “You’ll be in the Apple Creek room down the hall and to the right,” Christy said, handing Diana the key from her sturdy turn-of-the-century desk.  A simple grid with whimsical hooks hung on the wall behind the desk. The paperwork for each guest sat in a tidy pile under a paperweight that said, “World’s Greatest Grandma,” hand-painted from Christy’s childhood.
    Christy said to Gregory, “You’ll be staying in the Pear Mountain room down the hall and two doors down on the left.  We have bathrooms adjacent the hall and off of the kitchen.  Remember to kind of limit your showers to fifteen minutes so the other guests can have their fair share.  Oh! Dinner will be tonight at 6:00 and in the mornings a continental breakfast is served on the veranda from 7:30 to 10:00.  Since it’s the weekend a more formal brunch will start between 11:00 and 1:00.