by Jeff Shelby
“Next time, we'll do the beach,” Jake announced. “It's only an hour away.”
Both little girls jerked their heads up. “Next time?” Sophie said, her eyes shining with excitement.
“Really?” Grace asked. “With the ocean?”
Jake nodded. “Yep.”
“And it's only an hour away?” Sophie asked. “That's it?”
“Yep.”
“No way.” Will was already shaking his head. “There are sharks in the ocean. No way. We should go skiing or something.”
Emily frowned. “Go somewhere cold? Why? We live in the cold, genius.”
“I'd rather have cold than sharks.”
“I like sharks,” Grace announced. “Sharks are cool. And they don’t want to eat people. They accidentally eat them.”
We’d done a unit study on sharks and I was pleased she remembered this.
“I like them, too,” Sophie agreed. “Especially hammerheads.”
“You wouldn't like them if they bit your arm off,” Will said. “When they accidentally attack you.”
Both girls glanced down at their arms.
“We need more trips like this,” Jake said, his eyes on me.
I nodded. “Agreed. So let's start robbing banks so we can afford them.”
“I was thinking you might be able to steal money that's brought in during arrests,” he said. “But I guess we could rob banks because you could provide some misdirection inside police headquarters.”
“Is that a dig at my investigative skills with this particular case?”
He grinned. “Not at all.”
I whacked his arm. “Not like you had it figured out. Irv.” I rolled my eyes. “You thought it was Irv.”
“Look, that dude is shady,” he said. He lifted his sunglasses and parked them on top of his head. “Any guy who two-times a woman is bad news.”
“You can say that again.”
He picked up his soda and clinked it against mine. “Here’s to more vacations with my beautiful, amazing wife and partner in crime.”
I grinned. “Bonnie to your Clyde.”
“Butch to your Sundance,” he shot back. “Or Sunshine. We’ll call you Sunshine.”
“That might work.”
He smiled, but then his expression changed. He looked at me solemnly. “But if we are going to plan more vacations, I need to ask one thing of you.”
I frowned. “What's that?”
“I mean, seriously,” he said. “You have to promise.” He held out his pinky.
I eyed him. “Promise what?”
He reached for my hand and hauled me out of my chair and into his lap. His mouth found my ear and after a quick, breathy kiss that made goosebumps pop on my skin, he whispered, “No more dead bodies.”
THE END
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Hello folks!
Thank you for reading ASSISTED MURDER, the 6th book in the Moose River Mystery series!
One of the things I get asked most frequently when someone finishes a book is “When will the next one be out and what will it be about?” Well, I can't give you the exact release date of Moose River #7 (but it should be sometime this summer), but I can give you a quick hint as to what it's about.
Emily has her first job, waiting tables at Pablo's Pizza in Moose River. She's happy to have the extra money, and Daisy and Jake are thrilled she's taken on the responsibility of a part-time job. Until a customer of hers is mysteriously poisoned. The owner of the pizzeria insists he was set up. With no shortage of suspects, Daisy has to figure out just what happened. For his sake, as well as Emily's.
The usual mayhem and hijinks ensue.
As always, thank you for reading, for spreading the word about all of my books, and for your support!
Best,
Jeff
