One Adventure Too Many Read online

  One Adventure Too Many

  One Adventure Too Many

  A Sandi Webster Mystery

  by

  Marja McGraw

  Other Books by Marja McGraw

  The Sandi Webster Mysteries

  A Well-Kept Family Secret

  Bubba’s Ghost

  Prudy’s Back!

  The Bogey Man

  Old Murders Never Die

  Death Comes in Threes

  What Are the Odds?

  Great Crime – Wish You Were Here

  Entrance to Nowhere

  Gin Mill Grill

  The Bogey Man Mysteries

  Bogey Nights

  Bogey’s Ace in the Hole

  They Call Me Ace

  Awkward Moments

  How Now Purple Cow

  Black Butterfly

  Non-Series Books

  Mysteries of Holt House

  Choosing One Moment – A Time Travel Mystery

  ONE ADVENTURE TOO MANY – A Sandi Webster Mystery, Copyright 2018, by Marja McGraw. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations used in critical articles and reviews. For information, please contact Marja McGraw at [email protected].

  First Edition, August, 2018

  Cover by Marja McGraw

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  DEDICATION

  For Dorothy Bodoin, my friend and Partner in Crime,

  who continually encourages me and who makes sure I stay on track.

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  Thank you to Dorothy Bodoin, my friend, a fellow mystery writer, and a great critiquer. I call her my Partner in Crime, and the title fits. We’ve (fictionally) been through a lot of crimes together.

  Thank you to Jill Shelton, my daughter, who’s always by my side when I need a word of encouragement and a little cheerleading.

  Thank you to Patricia Gligor, another mystery writer, who also does a lot of cheerleading for me. We mystery writers have to stick together.

  I’d like to thank the City of Vancouver and the City of Battle Ground for providing me with great locations for this story. Since this is a work of fiction, don’t look for the places or people I’ve written into the book. You won’t find them. The police departments in these cities would most certainly have solved the crimes without the help of an out-of-state private investigator, but for purposes of this story the P.I. had to stay a step ahead of them.

  Chapter One

  I hadn’t expected to spend a month in Washington, but sometimes unexpected situations cross our paths. In this case, my pregnant friend, Felicity Hawks, decided she wanted to have her baby in Washington instead of California. I have no idea where that decision came from, but I’ve heard that hormones can play with your mind. I don’t know if that’s true or not. On second thought, I have a menopausal mother and I’d seen what her hormones could do to her and those around her.

  Thankfully, my husband and I have a second home in Washington, and there’s also a guest house on the property.

  Stanley, Felicity’s husband, had reached a point where he’d go along with any decision she made. If she decided he needed to jump off a bridge, he’d probably do it. Her hormones again? Maybe, but he was a docile man to begin with, although he’d never admit it.

  Pete and I are private investigators in Los Angeles. We decided we deserved a break, so we closed the office and the four of us took off for Battle Ground, Washington. We caravanned because my dogs, Bubba and Clementine, rode in

  the back of our Jeep. That didn’t leave a lot of room for a

  month’s worth of luggage plus our friends.

  By the time we reached Northern California, it had started raining. The farther north we drove, the heavier the rain, and by the time we reached our house we started seeing lightning and hearing thunder. A portent of things to come?

  Clementine hated thunder and did her best to climb over the back of my seat. I took pity and turned, picking her up and setting her in my lap. She immediately climbed up my chest and onto my shoulder. She would have tried to wrap herself around my neck, but the headrest was in the way. She took the alternate route and started licking my face. I returned her to the back seat where she licked Bubba.

  Felicity’s parents passed on many years ago, so my mother, Livvie Brewster, decided she wanted to be the baby’s surrogate grandmother. She and my stepfather live in Arizona and run a bed and breakfast. He said he’d take care of the business while she and my Aunt Martha met us up north. My aunt wanted to fill the role of a great-aunt when the baby arrived.

  I got a chill every time I thought about being near both my mother and my aunt at the same time. Like I said, my mother is menopausal and my aunt is… Well, she’s kind of a terror. She got married not long ago to Griz, a man who’s her match. I hoped she’d calmed down a little. They were coming up about two weeks before the baby was due. The saving grace was that they’d be staying at a bed and breakfast down the road from our vintage farmhouse.

  Looking back, I never expected to become involved in a mystery while we were away from the office.

  Let me tell you how this all came about.

  ~ * ~

  It was a long drive up to Washington, but we took our time, mostly because my closest friend and her husband were along and she was very pregnant, about eight months along. The weather we ran into didn’t help.

  Felicity had already made contact with a doctor in Vancouver, near Battle Ground, and she’d flown up to meet with him earlier in the pregnancy. Her regular doctor in Los Angeles and the doctor in Vancouver kept in close touch. There aren’t any hospitals in Battle Ground, so Vancouver was the place to go. It wasn’t a typical situation, but there ya go.

  Pete and I had stayed at the B&B located down the street from our house before we bought it and we ended up solving two old murders. Some people thought the B&B was haunted, but you couldn’t prove it by me.

  A couple who’d been staying there at the same time we were there ended up buying it from Bea, who owned and ran the place. Phil and Gloria Stewart played up the haunted house stories to attract visitors. Surprisingly, it seemed to have worked, although there was no mention of the supposed ghost returning or any sightings. Gloria had been beside herself with joy over the idea of a resident ghost.

  We arrived at our house and while Felicity and I unpacked, Pete and Stanley went for a walk in the country – or tried to – in the pouring rain.

  Everything was starting to bloom in our yard, although things looked a little water-logged, and May was turning out to be a good month. I’d hired someone to take care of the yard while we were away, and he’d done an excellent job.

  After unpacking, I walked back to the guest house to see how Felicity was doing. I knocked and waited for her to answer.

  Bubba wandered around the yard and sniffed, well, everything.

  Clementine waited on the guesthouse porch.

  Lightning flashed and thunder roared across the sky.

  Fel opened the door and Clem ran inside, ears back and her tail between her legs. Obviously she didn’t like the noise.

  My friend is about four feet, ten inches tall, or thereabouts, and her baby belly looked huge on her. The doctor had told her she could probably expect a fairly large baby, and looking at her made me have second thoughts about pregnancy. She kept her long, almost black hair pulled back now. Her face had filled out with the pregnancy, but her dimples stil
l made their appearance from time to time.

  I ran my hands through my own long light brown hair, and ended up pulling it back, too.

  “Are you ready to go to the store?” I asked.

  She waddled out to the kitchen to grab her purse. “Let’s get it over with.”

  “Fel, I can do the shopping if you’d rather stay home. You look so uncomfortable.”

  “I’m fine, and you’d never be able to find everything I want. I’m eating for two, you know.” She sounded a little snippy, but I ignored her. I felt like I should wrap her in my arms and tell her everything would be okay, but I was half afraid she’s slap me.

  Hormones and discomfort.

  “Let’s sit down for a few minutes before we leave. It’s been a long day.” I sat down on an over-sized easy chair.

  She sighed and sat down on the couch. “I guess I could use a few minutes off my feet.” She glanced toward the front door. “Can you believe those idiots are out for a walk on a day like this?”

  Thunder clapped overhead again and Clem jumped up on my lap, climbed up my chest and onto my shoulder, and pulled on my hair. I pulled her off my shoulder and set her on my lap. “No.” She was frightened and I wrapped her in my arms.

  The door opened and Stanley and Bubba hurried in, with the dog madly sniffing the legs and shoes Stanley was wearing. His waterproof jacket hadn’t helped a lot. The pant legs of his jeans were soaked, and his shoes were wet and muddy. His thinning brown hair was dripping water.

  “Stop right there, buddy! Don’t you dare drip water on

  the floor. I’m not cleaning it up.” Felicity sounded close to tears.

  “Now, honey bunch, don’t you worry. I’ll do all the cleaning while we’re here.” Just the same, he turned and walked back outside where he furiously wiped his feet on the doormat. He took off his shoes and carried them back inside. Bubba was on his trail and Stanley kept pushing him away.

  “What’s the matter with you, Bubba? Leave Stanley alone.” My dog ignored my command.

  Stanley ran through the house, trying to get away from Bubba while also trying not to drip on the floor. Clem was on their heels. “I’ve got a story to tell you after I change into something dry. Pete and I discovered…” His voice was muffled when he closed the bedroom door. Clem had managed to squeeze through the space before he closed it.

  Felicity twisted and turned and tried to finagle herself off the couch.

  I reached out to help her and she took my hand. I pulled while she pushed herself up.

  “You’ll have to save your discovery until I get back from the store,” she called out.

  Stanley opened the door, sticking his head out. “But – “

  “It’ll have to wait. I’m running out of energy.”

  The door closed. Another thunder boomer claimed our attention and I heard Stanley tell Clem to get down. I imagined her climbing up his chest while he was probably sitting on the bed, trying to put on dry shoes.

  Felicity waited on the porch while I pulled the Jeep around.

  Pete was walking out the backdoor heading for the

  Guest house. He waved and motioned for me to put down the window.

  The wind had picked up, and when I rolled down the window I got a blast of rain water in my face. I rolled it back

  up and looked at Pete, shrugging.

  He saw Felicity standing on the porch and hurried over to help her into the car.

  With the door open, he said, “Stan and I discovered something that I know will whet your appetite.”

  “It’ll have to wait until we get home,” I said.

  We drove to the store where I intended to drop my friend off at the door before parking the car. I’d seen her struggling and hurried around to help her out of the car. Grabbing a basket, I pushed it to her so she could hang onto it and balance herself.

  What a day this was turning out to be.

  I walked through the store with her and we each loaded our baskets with enough food to get us through several days. I tried to pay attention to what she was buying so if I had to come alone next time I could pick up the kind of things she liked.

  Interestingly, she’d pick something up, study it, and put it back. Her face lit up when we reached the bakery. Still, she managed to load her basket with some healthy food as well as desserts.

  “I wonder what the boys found,” I said.

  “With them, there’s no telling. I’m sure we’ll find out when we get home. I hope Stanley builds a fire while we’re gone. I’m so hot all the time, but today I’m cold. It’s kind of a welcome relief, and yet… Sandi, this is no picnic.”

  “I know. It’ll all be over soon, Felicity. And just think of the little baby you’ll be holding in your arms in a month.”

  She started to cry.

  Desperation took hold. “Maybe they’ve found something exciting.”

  Something to distract us all from the coming event, I thought.

  Chapter Two

  I drove home and pulled back to the guest house so Stanley could unload groceries for his wife.

  Pete walked out to the porch and raised his eyebrows as though asking if I wanted help with the unloading, but I waved him off. “I’ll be back as soon as I put everything in our house,” I hollered out the open car door.

  “You sure you don’t want help?”

  “Yes.”

  Pete had a bad habit of unpacking my grocery bags and setting things on the sink for me. I say it’s a bad habit because he really just wants to see what I bought, and he gets in my way. I have a system, and he doesn’t help.

  I put everything away, including my stash of chocolate, and headed for the guest house.

  I knocked and heard Pete yell, “Come on in.”

  Felicity sat on a kitchen chair. My assumption was that it would be easier for her to navigate than the couch. I noticed that Stanley had built a fire for his wife.

  “Okay,” I said, taking a seat, “what’s so exciting that you didn’t want to wait to tell us?

  Pete grinned. “It’s the kind of thing that you love.

  Something to keep you from getting bored.”

  “I’d love to be bored for a change. I could use some down time.”

  “You’ll be talking out of the other side of your mouth after you hear this,” he replied, sounding quite proud of himself.

  Stanley was nodding and grinning.

  “We were walking down the road and we found – “ Stanley was trying to sound dramatic.

  I smiled.

  Unfortunately, a knock at the door cut him off.

  “Who could that be? We don’t know anyone around here.” Felicity tried to push herself off the chair, and I motioned for her to stay where she was.

  I opened the door and heard, “Surprise!”

  My jaw dropped and I heard an intake of breath behind me. I had to assume it was Pete.

  “Mother? Aunt Martha? You’re not due for another two weeks,” I said, feeling helpless.

  My mother was grinning from ear to ear. Aunt Martha? Not so much.

  “I tried to talk her out of it,” my aunt said.

  “Oh, shush.” My mother gave my aunt a light punch on the arm.

  My mom and Aunt Martha are known to fuss with each other, but both of their lives had changed so much since they’d each married that I thought that might make a difference. Apparently not.

  Both women were relatively small, my mother reaching about five feet, and my aunt towering over her at five foot two inches. My mother had gotten a make-over a few years ago and she stuck with it, wearing her slightly curly hair short and natural, without a lot of styling. She’d started coloring it a dark blonde with highlights.

  My aunt had long hair, also slightly curly, and where

  she used to wear it combed into a severe bun, she now wore

  her salt and pepper hair in a French braid or a ponytail most of the time.

  Mother placed her hands on my shoulders and gently shoved me out of the way. �
�Well, aren’t you going to invite us in? We want to see the little mother.”

  “Come in,” Stanley invited.

  Bubba looked up at my mother adoringly, and wagged his tail so hard that he whole behind shook. Clem had the same reaction to my aunt and threw herself on the floor for some scratching.

  “At least someone is glad to see me,” Aunt Martha said. She’d been with Pete and me when we adopted Clem.

  “We’re all glad to see you,” I said as convincingly as possible.

  My husband and friends chimed in.

  Pete stood and approached the two women, giving them each a hug in turn.

  Stanley followed suit. “Come in and have a seat. Would everyone like some hot chocolate?”

  Hot chocolate sounded good, so Stanley excused himself while he retreated to the kitchen. Yes, it really was a retreat.

  “So, what made you come so early?” I asked.

  “We didn’t want to miss a minute of our time with all of you,” Mother replied. “This is quite an occasion, and we wanted to be here to help you, Felicity,” she said, turning to my friend.

  “Speak for yourself,” Aunt Martha said. “Well, I wanted to be here, but I feel like we’ll be in the way.”

  “Nonsense,” Felicity said, smiling at the two women. “I’m flattered that you came early.” And she started to cry.

  My mother ran to her, bent over and wrapped her arms around the mother-to-be. “I used to cry a lot, too, when I was pregnant with Sandi.”

  After a moment she backed away and sat on the chair closest to Felicity.

  “I never did when I was preggers,” Aunt Martha said. “I just sucked it up and did what I had to do. Now I have daughters whom I love, but I seem to get on their nerves.”

  “Maybe if you’d stop trying to live their lives for them…” my mother said.