Page 33 of Peril in Piney Woods

He answered the call. “Hey.”

“Hey,” she said. “I’m almost there, but I had a flat tire just as I turned into your driveway. I can walk to the house, but I just wanted to let you know why it was taking so long.”

“I can drive out there and help you fix the tire,” he suggested.

Darlene leaned forward. Her eyes narrowed.

Ted surveyed the yard, then glanced at Griff before returning his attention to the window.

“That would probably be better,” Meg said. “I’ll just wait here then.”

“Be right there.” Griff ended the call as he stood.

“Has something happened?” Darlene asked, rising to her feet as well.

“No big deal.” Griff slid his cell into his back pocket. “She has a flat on her truck, but she’s just down the driveway at the road. It’ll take ten minutes maybe to change the tire.”

“I’ll help.” Ted stepped away from the window.

Griff made a face. “You don’t need to do that. If you’ve ever changed a tire, you know it’s a one-person job. You two can wait here and—”

“We’ll go with you,” Darlene insisted. “We can take the surprise to her.”

“All righty then.” Griff looked from one to the other. “I can get my keys or we can walk. It’s only about three quarters of a mile.”

“We should take your truck,” Ted suggested.

Griff went to the kitchen and snagged his keys from the rack by the back door. When he turned to go back to the living room, he wasn’t surprised to find Darlene watching him from the doorway.

“I simply can’t wait to see the look on her face,” she said, feigning excitement.

Or maybe she was excited by what she had planned for Meg. Griff felt sick at the idea.

“I’m sure she’ll be happy to see you.” It was the best he could come up with, given what he expected was about to go down.

Raymond had stretched out on the porch along with the other dogs.

“You have a lot of pets,” Darlene noted.

“I rescue pets,” Griff explained. “These are all animals that have been abandoned.”

Ted grunted as he scanned the dogs. “I never understood why someone would abandon a dog when it’s far easier just to put them out of their misery.”

If Griff hadn’t already disliked the guy, he damned sure did now. “Some people shouldn’t have pets.”

Another grunt was the guy’s only response.

Griff climbed behind the wheel. Ted opened the passenger side door and waited for Darlene. It was a flat-out miracle in Griff’s opinion that the guy had any sort of manners.

“Maybe I’ll just walk,” Darlene said. “It’s a nice day. You two go on and get a head start on changing that tire.”

Griff didn’t like the idea, but there was little he could do about it. Instead, he started the truck and backed toward the barn, then headed to the road. He drove slower than usual and kept an eye on the woman strolling along the gravel road behind him.

“You don’t need to drive so slow because of her,” Ted mentioned. “She’ll catch up.”

“I’m driving slow,” Griff said, resisting the urge to clench his teeth, “to prevent leaving a cloud of dust for her to walk through.”

He could drive faster without that concern; the road was mostly gravel after all. But he was banking on this guy not knowing the difference.

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