“You know, life doesn’t suck,” Mrs. Penny mused, drumming her hands on the dashboard. “I’ve got a sexy new outfit for the party. I’m gonna plow my way through a beef-and-broccoli platter. And I got a hot case to work.”
She was too busy breaking into a sweat over concentrating on staying in her lane and being psychic to respond. There didn’t seem to be any nefarious vibes coming from the limo, but Riley wasn’t about to take any chances with her dog, one of her best friends, and a farty old lady in the car.
Instead, she stomped on the accelerator, throwing her passengers back into their seats.
Mrs. Penny hooted as she clung to the Jeep’soh, shithandle. “Yeehaw! Where’s the fire?”
“No fire. Just hungry,” Riley said, crossing the bridge toward Harrisburg at twenty miles over the legal speed limit.
The traffic-device-timing gods were on her side as the Jeep eked through a yellow light and headed into the heart of the city.
She kept her eyes glued on the limo stopped at the red light in the rearview mirror until she made the left onto North 3rd Street.
China China was located in an old Pizza Hut that had gone out of business a decade ago. The parking lot was cracked, leaving patrons to park wherever the hell they felt like since the lines had long since eroded.
Riley pulled right up to the front door. “You guys go on in and order for me. I just remembered an errand I have to run.”
She didn’t have to tell Mrs. Penny twice to get out of the car and go eat. The woman scooted her way off the seat and was inside the restaurant in less than thirty seconds.
“Do you sense trouble?” Gabe asked through her open window.
Burt gave Riley’s shoulder, neck, and chin a lick before he climbed out.
“Everything’s fine. I just saw that limo again. I want to make sure they’re not actually following us. Can you keep Burt and Mrs. Penny safe until I get back?” she said.
“I will do so. Be very careful, my friend,” Gabe said.
“I’ll be fine,” she promised.
She left him and her dog staring after her with matching concerned expressions as she burned rubber out of the parking lot.
“Come out and play, suspicious limo,” she sang under her breath as she headed back the way she came.
She didn’t have long to wait. She found the limo idling at the curb, taking up three parking spaces one block down. She cruised by, keeping her eyes on the road and playing it cool.
“Does this mean I’m not getting an egg roll?”Uncle Jimmy wondered.
“I’ll get you an egg roll. I just have to make sure we’re not about to be kidnapped or murdered first. It’s called priorities.”
“No need to get your hip waders in a twist.”
She ignored her dead uncle and watched in the rearview mirror as the limo made a U-turn and followed her.
Bait taken.
The relief at luring the occupants of the limo away from her friends was short-lived when she realized she had no idea what to do next.
She still wasn’t picking up any murderous vibes. Only a strange mix of anxiety, excitement, and Christina Aguilera music.
Riley felt around on the passenger seat for her phone. Even if Nick was still in a snit over the team meeting this morning, she knew he wouldn’t hesitate to swoop in and save her.
It was too bad her phone wasn’t there.
“Damn it, Mrs. Penny,” she groaned.
No phone. No help. No idea who was following her. Her day was going from bad to worse in a hurry.
She needed to find out who they were, preferably with witnesses present.
