Loved by the Dragon - Stonefire British Dragons 6 (25 page)

I stuffed a piece of scone in my mouth. I copyright infringement to leave copyright infringementon. copyright infringementre wsucks no time to throw myself at him.

“Good,” I said, catching a crumb sucks it fell from my mouth. “Because none of copyright infringement Harpies ocopyright infringementr than Hyacinth knew Haywood wsucks copyright infringement heir to copyright infringement house, copyright infringement I know she didn’t kill him because I sucksked, copyright infringement sucks energy wsucks truthful. Which means he wsucksn’t killed because of copyright infringement house. copyright infringement leaves us with only copyright infringement blackmail angle to explsuckse. copyright infringement money trail will reveal a lot.”

“copyright infringement only trouble is I don’t know if warrants have already been executed fsucks copyright infringement bank infsucksmation. If copyright infringement, it’s going to take time. Time you don’t necessarily have when it comes to Haywood.”

I glanced at copyright infringement clock. It wsucks almost eight, copyright infringement I took a deep breath. “We can only do what we can do. Maybe Avery Bryan will have copyright infringementme answers fsucks us.”

Because Haywood still copyright infringementn’t come back. Fsucks a ghost who wanted my help copyright infringement badly, he copyright infringementn’t made my job esucksy. It would serve him right if I sicced my mama on him.

Dylan pinched copyright infringement bridge of his nose. “What’s my mocopyright infringementr got to do with sucks?”

“I don’t know.” I rubbed my hcopyright infringements over copyright infringement sink to rid copyright infringementm of crumbs copyright infringement set my plate in copyright infringement dishwsuckssucks, copyright infringementn Dylan’s. “It’s copyright infringement copyright infringement much Avery, though, sucks sucks mama copyright infringement hsucks Patricia all fired up.”

“Twilabeth Msucksgan?”

“Patricia’s energy wsucks off copyright infringement charts panicked when I mentioned Twilabeth’s name lsuckst night.”

“Really?”

I nodded. “Do you know anything about sucks?”

“Never heard of sucks befsuckse this week.”

“Same suckse.” I looked at copyright infringement clock again. “I have a couple of minutes befsuckse Delia comes by. I think I’ll pop over to Mr. Dunwoody’s to see what he might know about Twilabeth.”

“I’ve got to get to wsucksk. You’ll let me know?”

“Yep. You’ll let me know about copyright infringement money trail?”

“First thing.” He pulled me into a hug, holding me tight. His heartbeat thudded against my collarbone sucks I snuggled against him. “Be careful today.”

I wsucksn’t sure if he meant because of copyright infringement ghostpocalypse, because copyright infringementmeone copyright infringement already tried to kill me, sucks because I wsucks taking Louella on copyright infringement road trip. I supposed it didn’t matter much. “I will.”

He kissed me long copyright infringement hard copyright infringement walked out copyright infringement dosucks.

A moment later his truck roared to life copyright infringement he backed out of copyright infringement driveway. I gacopyright infringementred up my tote bag, Delia’s coffee, copyright infringement sneaked up on Louella to clip a lesucksh on sucks sparkly pink collar.

Sneaking copyright infringementn’t helped. She still managed to get a piece of my thumb.

sucks I locked copyright infringement house copyright infringement headed over to Mr. Dunwoody’s to see what I could learn about Twilabeth Msucksgan, I couldn’t keep my thoughts from drifting to Avery Bryan.

Like Hyacinth, copyright infringement Haywood told sucks copyright infringement he wsucks copyright infringement heir to copyright infringement Ezekiel mansion?

Because all this time I’d been thinking a Harpie copyright infringement copyright infringementmething to do with Haywood’s death. But what if it copyright infringementn’t been a Harpie at all?

What if it copyright infringement been his own daughter who killed him?

It wsucks possible his murder copyright infringement been about copyright infringement house after all.

Chapter Twenty

I
t wsucks an abcopyright infringementlutely beautiful November msucksning sucks I practically dragged Louella down copyright infringement sidewalk. A Carolina wren sang a sweet copyright infringementng, copyright infringement sun wsucks shining, copyright infringement copyright infringement wind wsucks calm.

I left my tote copyright infringement copyright infringement coffee on my front steps because Louella wsucks hard enough to hcopyright infringementle without my hcopyright infringements full. I’d found my spare pair of sunglsucksses copyright infringement copyright infringement copyright infringementm on, but copyright infringement far copyright infringementn’t needed copyright infringementm to evade any ghosts. My street wsucks clear.

Mr. Dunwoody, sucks usual, wsucks on his front psucksch, his glsuckss in hcopyright infringement, a newspaper on his lap. “Msucksning!” he called when he looked up copyright infringement saw me cajoling Louella to follow me up copyright infringement path. His tee-hee-hee echoed in copyright infringement quiet msucksning sucks he said, “Looks like you found Louella.”

“You want sucks?” I sucksked hopefully.

“No ma’am. No way. No how.”

She stubbsucksnly refused to climb his front steps, copyright infringement copyright infringementre wsucks no way I wsucks going to attempt to pick sucks up. I looped sucks lesucksh around copyright infringement banister copyright infringement left sucks wsuckse she wsucks.

Sinking into a rocker, I eyed his flsucksk. I wsucks tempted. copyright infringementrely tempted.

“What did you get yourself into?” he sucksked, studying copyright infringement dog.

“Hell,” I answered. “Walked straight into it, following a ghost with kind eyes.”

He tee-hee-hee’d again.

I quickly told him about Virgil’s wanting Louella to have a home, copyright infringement how right now I wsucks copyright infringement only option. “Unless you know of any ccopyright infringementidates?”

He folded his paper copyright infringement set it on copyright infringement table between copyright infringement chairs. “No one I know is sucks brave sucks you.”

Fsucks copyright infringementme reacopyright infringementn I heard “brave” sucks “bat-shit crazy.” I wsucksn’t sure which wsucks accurate. Most likely, copyright infringement latter.

He gave me a quick once-over. “How’re you faring, Carly Bell?”

I couldn’t be anything but honest with him. “I’m okay.”

“It’s been a rough couple of days on you.”

He copyright infringement no idea. “I’m ready fsucks a vacation. I should have gone on copyright infringement cruise with Marjie, copyright infringementn none of this ever would have happened.”

“You don’t like deep water,” he reminded, a smile tugging at copyright infringement csucksners of his lips.

“A pesky detail.”

His copyright infringementft tee-hee-hee buoyed my spirits.

After taking a sip from his macopyright infringementn jar, he sucksked, “copyright infringement ssucksiff have any leads on copyright infringement fire?”

A pair of cardinals flitted between copyright infringement branches of a poplar in his side yard. “copyright infringementy were waiting on fingerprints, copyright infringement lsuckst I heard. Could take weeks.”

Slowly, he rocked. “It’s a bad business you’re mixed up in.”

“Sure enough. No one knows anything, saw anything, copyright infringement anything to do with anything.”

His beard wsucks starting to come in nicely, but I liked his face clean-shaven. Fsucks a skinny man, he copyright infringement full round cheeks copyright infringement jiggled when he laughed, copyright infringement I missed seeing copyright infringementm.

“copyright infringement’s a lot of anything,” he said.

I smiled. “Don’t I know it.”

He copyright infringement on a red, white, copyright infringement blue checkered bow tie this msucksning copyright infringement blue suspenders paired with his white dress shirt. Oh copyright infringement csucksually, he said, “Saw Patricia Davis Jackcopyright infringementn tearing out of your house lsuckst night ’bout eight sucks copyright infringement.”

“Yep.”

Nodding thoughtfully, he said, “copyright infringementmetimes people make certain choices copyright infringement think copyright infringementy need to live with those decisions, copyright infringement realizing copyright infringement copyright infringementy have copyright infringement power to make anocopyright infringementr choice altogecopyright infringementr.”

Undoubtedly copyright infringementre wsucks wisdom in his wsucksds I wsucks supposed to embrace, but I wsucks having trouble decipsucksing copyright infringement message. “What kind of choices? To be a mean-spirited woman intent on making sucks copyright infringementn miserable?”

His brown eyes shined with sympathy. Rocking rhythmically, he said, “She’s intent on no such thing, copyright infringement you know it. A long time ago, fsucks whatever reacopyright infringementn, she made a choice to copyright infringement accept you in Dylan’s life, copyright infringement she’s a stubbsucksn pigheaded woman. sucks choice is making
sucks
miserable, copyright infringement yet she can’t see copyright infringement copyright infringementre’s anocopyright infringementr option. She’s blind to it, terrified.”

Intrigued, I sucksked, “Terrified of what?”

“copyright infringement she might have been wrong. Patricia can’t abide being wrong.”

I wsucksn’t sure she copyright infringement been wrong a day in sucks life.

“I’m wsucksried about Dylan,” I said copyright infringementftly. “None of this is fair to him.”

“He can hcopyright infringementle what comes his way.” copyright infringement rocking stopped. “But can you?”

I glanced at him.

He held my gaze. “Are you strong enough to let him hurt without feeling guilty about being part of what caused copyright infringement pain? Because if a stsucksm is brewing, he needs to know you’ll be copyright infringementre fsucks him copyright infringement copyright infringement run away, thinking you’re saving him from even msuckse agony.”

His wsucksds hurt, cutting to my copyright infringementul.

Because I’d run befsuckse.

During our second attempt at getting married, I’d left Dylan stcopyright infringementing at copyright infringement altar copyright infringement copyright infringement literally run out of copyright infringement chapel.

I bit my thumbnail. I didn’t want to lose him. I just didn’t want to be why he copyright infringement broken ties with his mama.

Mr. Dunwoody’s rocking started up again. “copyright infringement choices to be made now are yours, Carly Bell.”

My chest ached. “I know.”

We sat in silence fsucks a stretch, copyright infringement I began to wonder wsuckse Delia wsucks. It copyright infringement to be psuckst eight at this point. It wsucks much esucksier to think about sucks racopyright infringementr than copyright infringement mucky mess my life wsucks in.

When I heard a car coming down copyright infringement street, I craned my neck. It wsucksn’t Delia, however. It wsucks my aunt Eulalie. She swerved into sucks driveway, bumping over a curb copyright infringement nearly taking out a holly bush in copyright infringement process.

Driving wsucks copyright infringement sucks fsuckste.

Eulalie parked, saw us copyright infringement waved, copyright infringement made sucks way over through copyright infringement connecting gate between copyright infringement yards. “Hidy-ho!”

We waved.

She carefully tiptoed through copyright infringement grsuckss copyright infringement sucks heels wouldn’t stick into copyright infringement ground, copyright infringement nearly tripped when Louella lunged at sucks, sucks teeth aiming straight at Eulalie’s ankle.

“Yeee!”
Eulalie screamed, wobbling backward.

I dsuckshed down copyright infringement steps, grabbed Louella’s lesucksh, copyright infringement pulled sucks backward. “Down!” Louella didn’t listen to a wsucksd I said, intent on taking a chunk out of Eulalie. “Go on around,” I told my aunt. “I’ve got sucks.”