Death Before Diamonds (Sky High Pies Cozy Mysteries Book 10) by Mary Maxwell

plenty of
people who wish they could still have a rotary dial phone.”
    “Yeah? That seems pretty extreme.”
    “It’s a retro thing,” I said,
watching as he flipped through the notebook to the last page of entries.
    “Remind me,” he said. “What are we
looking for again?”
    “I’m trying to learn which driver
handled a particular fare yesterday afternoon,” I explained. “It was one
passenger, and I’d guess that it was around three or four o’clock.”
    “Okay, cool. It looks like
yesterday was super slow. Most of these things are just about impossible to
read, but I can definitely make out the time.” He leaned closer and squinted. “And…here
we go! The customer called dispatch at ten before three. The driver picked them
up at a place called Java & Juice about five minutes later. And they went
to…” He paused, squinting at the hand-written entry for a few seconds. “I can’t
read the house number, but it looks like he went to…uh, maybe Edgewater Road?”
    “Here in Crescent Creek?”
    “Yeah. It looks like Edgewater Road.”
    “Could it be Edge wood ?” I
asked. “Edgewater Road doesn’t sound familiar.”
    He held out the register of
scribbled information. From where I stood, the series of dots, dashes, arrows
and lines looked like a toddler’s handiwork.
    “I’ll go with Edgewood,” I said, smiling
that it matched what I’d already learned from Tessa. “That sounds about right.”
    “Works for me,” Ken said, studying
the taxi log again. “If you don’t mind my asking, why are you so interested in
where this guy went?”
    “Super top secret,” I joked. “I can
only tell you that I’m trying to help him find someone.”
    Ken closed the notebook and leaned
back in his chair. “Aren’t we all?”
    I smiled, but didn’t comment.
    “I mean, I was dating this really
amazing woman for six months, right? And I just knew she was the one, like,
marriage and babies and a white picket fence. But then she decided that I was too
self-centered because it took me twice as long to get ready in the morning than
her.”
    “I’m sorry that it didn’t work
out,” I said, hoping for the right balance between compassion and courtesy.
    “I’m not,” he said, beaming another
showy smile. “An hour after we broke up, I went to a casting call for a new
Burger King commercial. I got the gig, made enough to pay my rent for the month and met this amazing beauty named Lola.”
    “Sounds like it was meant to be!”
    “We’ll see,” he said. “She’s
driving up from Denver tonight to meet my brother and hang out here with me for
a couple of days.”
    “That’s nice,” I said. “How long
have you and Lola been dating?”
    He glanced at his watch. “Eighteen
hours, thirteen minutes and thirty-two seconds!”
    I couldn’t stop the laugh before it
was out of my mouth. “Oh, wow! That is a reallynew thing!”
    He nodded proudly. “Yeah, but I’m
pretty sure she’s the one.”
    I resisted the urge to laugh again.
Then I asked if he’d take another peek at the notebook to get the name of the
driver that chauffeured Rex to Edgewood Road.
    “For sure,” he said, opening the
journal. “It was…um, this looks like it says Rory Thurber. Does that sound familiar?”
    “Yes,” I said. “Rory has been
driving a taxi longer than I’ve been alive.”
    “No kidding?” Ken asked in disbelief.
“Who could do the same job for twenty-three years?”
    I felt my cheeks redden. “You think
I’m twenty-two?”
    He nodded. “Isn’t that about right?”
    “Well, that’s really sweet, but I
haven’t been twenty-two for a long time.”
    A sly smile appeared between his
dimpled chin and perfect nose. “So, what’s the real number?” he asked. “Twenty-four?”
    I laughed. “Add another six years
and you’ll be right on the money.”
    His mouth dropped open. “Wow! You
still look awesome for someone that old!”
    For a fleeting moment, I considered
dispensing a few words of sage