Page 95 of Pepper, the Biker & the Vanishing Body

“You’re not setting me up again to take the fall,” Anderson warned, waving the knife at him.

The tension in the mausoleum thickened, and I wasn’t sure who was going to lunge first. But then?—

A sudden noise behind us made Amy and me spin around.

Bootsteps. Fast. Closing in.

I barely had time to react before Ian and Beau came bursting into the mausoleum, their faces creased with worry and looking ready to do whatever was needed to rescue Amy and me.

I opened my mouth to reassure Ian, not wanting to ignite the hostility already flaming the situation. Unfortunately, Anderson and Swatcher didn’t feel the same. They simultaneously lunged at each other.

And that’s when all hell broke loose.

Swatcher knocked Anderson back, the bloody knife clattering to the stone floor. Anderson went for a tackle, but Swatcher dodged, sending the professor stumbling straight into?—

Me.

I was knocked backward, colliding with Amy, which sent both of us toppling into Beau, who let out a startled yelp as we all crashed to the floor in a heap.

Beau hurried to help us to our feet while asking anxiously if either Amy or I were hurt.

Meanwhile, Ian—bless his soul—was attempting to separate the scuffling men who obviously had little fighting experience. Ian looked more like a teacher breaking up a playground fight.

“Okay, enough!” Ian barked, grabbing Swatcher’s arm while trying to wedge himself between them.

It almost worked—until Swatcher shoved backward.

Ian, caught off balance, crashed straight into me, Amy, and Beau who had approached to help him calm the two men.

The four of us landed on the floor.

Amy wheezed. “How are you getting us out of this one, Pepper?”

I barely had time to respond before the mausoleum doors creaked open.

Light flooded in.

I slowly turned my head—only to see my dad standing in the doorway, arms crossed, looking very much like an annoyed sheriff.

“Hands up, everyone!” he ordered.

Beside him stood my mom, who took one look at the pile of bodies on the floor and sighed deeply. “My goodness, Pepper, what’s going on here?” She smiled suddenly. “And congratulations on finding the secret passageway.”

My dad exhaled, long and slow, as he shook his head. “Everybody outside. NOW! And don’t any of you touch that bloody knife on the floor.”

CHAPTER 27

Professors Anderson and Swatcher were talking over each other to my dad while Josh sealed the evidence bag with the bloody knife in it.

“Enough,” my dad snapped. Both men immediately fell silent. “You’ll have plenty of time to tell your side of the story at the police station.”

I rolled my eyes at their bickering and Ian moved closer beside me when a black SUV pulled up at the curb. The doors opened, and out stepped Stone—along with the man from the hospital stairwell and the garden incident.

“Agent Stone.” I greeted him with a grin, then glanced at his companion. “And this must be Agent?—”

“Agent Sadler,” the man supplied, his expression unreadable.

“I win that bet, Agent Stone,” my dad said, his arms crossed. “My daughter figured you for an agent, and she found the secret passageway.”

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