"8 Minutes to Sunday" Episode 15, The Mystery of Dalton West Book 2

Today on 8 Minutes to Sunday, Dalton follows the Crow lady and has a midnight visitor.

I should ask her for ID. Crack her story. Find out why she’d been watching me. Why she was here. That’s what a cop would do. That’s what they’d done to me when I’d made up a name. But I wasn’t a cop. Not really. I was just playing one in real life, until a real cop showed up to take the job.

If you haven't read the first Dalton West mystery, find the links here.

New to this story? Follow the bullet links to find the right episode!

8 Minutes to Sunday, Episode One

“Okay, Sally,” I said. “You have a place to stay? I noticed you’ve been carrying that duffle everywhere.”

“Huh? Oh, yeah, I do,” she said. “So, if you don’t need anything else. It’s getting cold out here.”

I nodded. She walked around the corner of the building to the back, the way I’d come before. I waited a few seconds. Then I followed her. The moon was almost full and between that and the few street lights in downtown River Grove, I was able to pick her out.

She went straight for about three blocks, then turned off right, toward the neighborhood our house was in. Fred’s house that he was giving us. If we got married. If I wasn’t already married. Who knows, maybe even to this girl I was following. She was pretty enough.

Could be.

I followed her to the garage of the Robinson house. My house. The house I’d spent the last three months tearing apart and rebuilding. It sat dark. She opened the door and went in. She didn’t come back out. I waited. It was getting cold. I went back and got the truck, drove to the house and pulled into the driveway.

I knocked on the garage and opened the door. The girl sat, huddled in a corner. With a sleeping bag wrapped around her. She had a small lantern. And a stove. She was warming soup. She looked scared.

“Oh, uh, I’m sorry, I was just, the house looked empty. I didn’t know anyone lived here, I’ll go,” she said.

“It’s okay,” I said. “Look, I’m not just some stalker. I’m the River Grove sheriff. I just want to help if I can.”

She softened. “Um, yeah, truth is, I tried to get a room, but all I had was cash. They needed a credit card,” she said. “I’m waiting for a bus, but it won’t get here for a few days. Only comes through here once a week.”

“Not a problem,” I said. “City council keeps an account for helping people like you. I’ll get you a room.”

I helped her fold up her sleeping bag. She packed her stove and poured out the soup.

“And a hot meal,” I said.

She smiled. We put her gear in the back of the truck and I drove her to the River Grove Inn. She checked into room three.

“Okay this is yours until next week, if you need it,” I said.

I wrote the address of the cottage where Leeanne and I lived on a slip of paper.

I added my phone number.

“Here’s my address and phone number, just in case you need anything at all tonight,” I said.

“No, I think this is fine,” she said.

I’d ordered a pizza, the kid walked up just then.

“Pizza for room 3,” he said.

“Sure, I’ll take that. Put it on the city tab,” I said.

The kid looked at me funny. I wasn’t wearing the badge. I went to the truck and showed it to him.

“Oh, sorry, sir, I didn’t recognize you. Sure thing,” he said.
He left.

When I turned back, the girl pretending to be Sally had closed the door and the curtain. I heard the deadbolt turn. I’d check on her in the morning.
I went home. Leeanne had dinner waiting. She welcomed me home. As long as I kept my hands to myself and didn’t undress in front of her. She didn’t think she’d be able to resist. I laughed.

“Seriously?” I asked.

“I don’t mess around with other lady’s husbands,” she said.

“Too late,” I said.

She threw a towel at me.

“Not my fault,” she said.

I curled up behind her in the bed, in pajamas. She was under the blanket. I slept on top. I was dreaming about the Bride again, when something shook me awake.

“Dalton! Dalton, wake up. Someone is pounding on the front door,” Leeanne said.

I took the gun out of the holster hanging inside the closet. I didn’t carry it yet, but I kept it handy. I went out to the front room. The door jumped. Someone was beating on it loudly.

If you haven't read the first Dalton West mystery, find the links here.

New to this story? Follow the bullet links to find the right episode!

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