Honeysuckle Homicide (Trash-to-Treasure Crafting Mystery) by Rose Pressey Page B

clothing toward the back of the store. She glanced over her shoulder several times. The bee was taking me right to the queen. The woman paused in front of a rack of clothing. When she saw that I was near, she stuck her head into the rack of clothing. I closed the distance between us in two steps. The woman stepped back when she figured out I was right behind her. I grabbed the clothing with both hands and pushed them back, revealing Doreen hunkered down behind the clothing. It was like discovering the boogeyman hiding in a closet. I was at a loss for words.
    “ What are you doing?” I asked.
    Doreen pulled off the dark sunglasses and looked at me with a wide-eyed innocent look. “What do you mean? I’m shopping. What does it look like I’m doing?”
    “ It looks as if you followed me here,” I said.
    “ Don’t be ridiculous. Why would I follow you?”
    “ That’s exactly what I’d like to know. Why don’t you come out from behind that rack?” I stepped back and motioned for her to come out.
    The other women had gathered around. At least they’d taken off their sunglasses too. What had they been thinking? I’d been followed by a gang of gray-haired, kitty cat shirt wearing seniors.
    Doreen stood and straightened her shirt. “Fine. I did follow you. I want to know what you’re up to. If you had something to do with the murder then I want to know about it. I wouldn’t put it past you to try to frame my poor little Ross and I won’t let that happen. Besides, you are in co-hoots with the sheriff. What a coincidence that they arrested Ross since you are dating the police.”
    “ That is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. You’re being paranoid.”
    To think she thought I had something to do with the murder.
    “I should call police the police and tell them that you are stalking me.” I placed my hands on my hips.
    “ You wouldn’t dare.” She pointed at me.
    “Oh, yes I would.” I pulled my phone out of my purse.
    She glared at me. “We’r e leaving now, but I will tell Ross about this.”
    I smirked. “I’m shaking in my flips flops. I don’t think he will say anything about the fact that you followed me.” I continued to let my finger hover over my phone so that she would know I was seconds away from calling the police.
    Doreen motioned toward the women. “Come on, ladies. Let’s get out of here. Raelynn Pendleton is obviously off her rocker.”
    The women pushed their shoulders back, stuck the sunglasses back on their faces , and marched down the racks of clothing toward the exit. I couldn’t believe Doreen had taken the time to follow me here with her friends. And after I’d given her a ride. What did she think she would catch me doing? I’d have nightmares about those kitty cat shirts and sunglasses ganging up on me.

Chapter Fifteen
     
    To my relief, I didn’t leave the store empty-handed. I found a couple cute glass dishes that I was sure I could make into something useful and a small table that I could redo with a little sanding and a couple coats of paint. After paying for my items and placing them in the car, I headed around to the various trash bins. After searching through several containers, I didn’t find anything worthwhile. That was the thing with treasure-hunting, it didn’t always pay off right away. A little bit of something was better than nothing though and I was happy with my finds. The key was to come back often and that was exactly what I would do.
    After grabbing a turkey sandwich at a little deli, I headed back toward Honeysuckle. I’d read about the women’s club sale recently and decided to check it out. I’d never been and I hoped to find a few good items. It was at the building on the corner of Main and Second Street. Luckily there was a parking lot right in the back. I parked the Mustang and headed for the door. The parking lot was full of cars, which kind of surprised me. I hadn’t expected such a big crowd. I hoped that all the good bargains