[To Die For 01] - A View to Die For (2012) Read Free Page A

picture were curlers in her hair and runny mascara, but, sadly, she had neither. In fact she was a very attractive woman, much better looking than my sister.
    I was surprised they didn’t bleep her, but I suppose calling someone a female dog isn’t considered swearing in the Ozarks. “I tried to tell Mike she was just a no good bitch, and he better watch his back. But he was always in heat himself and couldn’t keep his BLEEP in his pants.” That time they did bleep her, but it was obvious what they cut. The reporter was probing for more information when I saw the old truck from the rest area pull into the parking lot. I had parked my van in the back lot under some shade trees for Fred. They must not have noticed it.
    The couple was met in the lot by one of the McDonald’s workers, a woman; the worker had been waiting by an SUV with Colorado plates. That’s when I noticed the Kansas plates on the truck. Something didn’t ring true. If this couple was from Denver, why did their truck have Kansas plates? And why hadn’t I noticed that back at the rest area?
    Although I couldn’t hear what was going on, it was obvious the McDonald’s employee was upset with the couple. The worker took the keys from the girl and was still yelling as she got into the truck and checked on the baby in its car seat.
    My concentration on the show outside was interrupted by another employee. “Would you like a refill on your coffee, Sir?”
    “Sure,” I responded, somewhat in shock. “Is this a new policy or just Kansas hospitality?”
    “What do you mean?” she asked.
    “I’ve never been in a fast-food restaurant that waited on its customers with refills,” I answered.
    “Really? Where are you from?” she asked.
    “Colorado. On my way to Missouri. I hope they are this friendly there.”
    “Shelia’s little sister is from Colorado, too. That’s them out there. Sorry you had to see that, but her little sister and her boyfriend are a real pain in Shelia’s neck. That girl is always late bringing back Shelia’s baby, but at least it’s free babysitting.”
    My phone started to ring, and the waitress took it as her cue to go on to the next table. “Hello,” I said.
    “Mr. Martin?” Without waiting for me to answer, she continued. “Mr. Rosenblum asked me to run your debit card.”
    I gave the lawyer’s secretary the info she needed, and then waited while she made sure it cleared. By the time she was finished with me, it was too late to catch the couple who had conned me at the rest area. They were already leaving the parking lot in their SUV. I grabbed Fred’s hamburgers and headed out the door.
    By now, Fred’s burgers were quite cold, but he ate them in two gulps when I let him out of the van. I barely had time to get out his water bowl before the burgers disappeared. “That will have to hold you for now, Boy. Drink up. We’ve got a long trip ahead.”
    But Fred wasn’t quite ready to leave. Next to swimming, there is nothing a male Golden Retriever likes to do more than sniff out the markings of another male dog’s claim to a tree. He had to circle it three times before declaring it his own. “Come on, Fred. Let’s go get your aunt out of jail.”
    * * *
    I was beat by the time we got to Kansas City. I had given up fighting my GPS to route me through the back roads of Kansas. It acted like they didn’t exist. I had been driving for ten hours straight and still had another two hours to go. The drive across eastern Colorado and Kansas must be the most boring five hundred miles in America. Without coffee and radar guns, I would have fallen asleep at the wheel long ago. It had been four hours since I’d heard from my mother or anyone other than a McDonald’s voice asking to take my order. I owe them and the Kansas Highway Patrol my life. But now, I was in traffic worse than anything I had seen in Denver since the rebuilding of I-25, and I was lost. Just as I was looking for a place to pull over and check my GPS,