Page 8 of Pepper, the Biker & the Vanishing Body

“And you could see if she got any romance books in that you don’t already have and maybe an antique pin or two,” I said, aware that she had an ulterior motive for going there. “Then we can head to the diner for lunch and work out what else we can do to get inside the mausoleum.”

Amy loved romance novels and collected the older ones and antique pins as well. You don’t see many people wearing such pins nowadays, but Amy did, and she did justice to them.

“Sounds like a plan,” Amy said with a grin.

Mo’s bark caught my attention as he trotted over to me, keeping his eyes focused on the distance.

“What’s wrong, Mo?” I asked, scanning the area but not seeing anything, then I heard it… motorcycles.

It wasn’t long before Amy and I spotted the bikers. There looked to be half a dozen in all, and wouldn’t you know, they pulled up behind and in front of my truck.

“I’m texting your dad,” Amy said and wasted no time in doing so.

Only three of the bikers approached us.

“Wouldn’t you know one of them has to be gorgeous looking,” Amy whispered.

“Motorcycle boots,” I said, more interested in their footwear than their faces.

Amy looked at me strangely. “Of course, they’re wearing motorcycle boots, they’re bikers.”

“The guy in the mausoleum was wearing motorcycle boots. I wonder if he has any connection to them.”

“Good heavens, look at that smile. He could rival Ian,” Amy said, her eyes glued to the guy in the lead approaching us.

But she did get my eyes off their boots to take a look. “He doesn’t come close to Ian.”

“Better your eyes on them than their boots,” Amy warned in a whisper. “But he is a good-looking guy.”

Amy was right. The fellow who took the lead was a good-looking guy and he knew it. Tall, muscular build, dark, shoulder-length hair, dark eyes, and a brash smile.

Pepper expected his glance to fall on Amy, since most men found her blonde hair and curvy shape attractive, but his eyes went straight to me.

He took overzealous steps toward me, his smile far too confident. “Well, hello, gorgeous.”

Mo lunged at him, teeth bared, snarling viciously, warning him away.

The guy wisely backed up but the two idiots behind him pulled out knives.

I whipped out the small spray can in my pocket and pointed it at them. “Don’t even think about it.”

They laughed and the good-looking guy said, “Pepper spray is illegal, and you don’t look like the type to break the law.”

I grinned. “How do you feel about skunk spray?”

CHAPTER 3

“Skunk spray, Pepper? Really?” my dad asked, waving away the stink that drifted off the three bikers who stood a good distance away.

“Pepper spray is illegal,” I reminded him with a smile and was glad Amy, Mo, and I had hurried away from the three bikers after spraying them, though one of my fingers had a stench to it.

“What happened here?” my dad asked, having responded quickly to Amy’s phone call.

I explained it all to him.

He called for backup, then yelled out to the bikers, not wanting to be anywhere near them, “Put what weapons you have on you on the ground now! That goes for all of you.”

Several knives began to litter the ground.

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