by Ellis Quinn
His phone chirped. “Way to go, Bette, you jinxed me.”
“Crime never stops.”
Marcus read his phone’s screen. “Mm, reports of an unmanned vessel out—”
“Unmanned?”
“Abandoned ship out in the Bay,” he said.
“Let me know if you need my help,” she said, “I keep my magnifying glass in the Bronco.”
Marcus tucked his phone in a pocket of his jeans. “You joke, but if I need help, I know who to call.”
She folded the easel. “And who’s that?”
“Bette Whaley and Buster Crab, Chesapeake Cove’s finest . . .”
“Detectives,” she said.
He shook his head. “No, that’s not it. Police . . . liaison, or something like that, I’ll figure it out.” He showed a smug face.
“Go find your ghost ship, Lance Armstrong,” she said, and they spent a long and strange moment smiling at each other and looking in one another’s eyes.
“Take care, Bette. Duty calls and I have to go.”
“Go on then,” she said, still smiling and tilting her face up to his. “Next time I see you, maybe you’ll be doing wheelies on your new bike like when you were a kid.”
“Next time I see you, I’d like to see a real painting on your easel.”
“You owe me a dinner,” she said.
“Hope you like re-heated chili.”
“My favorite.”
“Keep your calendar open,” he said, and walked away, confident and happy. Buster followed along.
“Buster, get back here,” she said, and he trotted to her side. Marcus walked his bike on to the trail and all his cool was lost as he tried to mount it, failed, tried again and then his feet clambered on the pedals.
She shouted, “You got it okay?”
“I’m good,” he said, bike wobbling as he waved over his shoulder at her and continued on down the path.
She watched him go and said to Buster, “Call your bookie and put a hundred doggie bones on Bette Whaley. I think there’s a good chance she might win the next Haunted Hill Ghost Slalom.”
THE END
Afterword
I hope you enjoyed reading this mystery as much as I enjoyed writing it!
There is plenty more to learn about Bette, and Pris, and Cherry, and Vance and Ripken. I hope you’ll read the next book too—I promise it’ll be fun!
If you enjoyed this book (or even if you didn’t) I’d appreciate your honest review on the marketplace where you read it. Reviews help so much!
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