Jessica Beck - Donut Shop 17 - Old Fashioned Crooks by Jessica Beck Page A

could have
waited for a month and my answer wouldn’t have been any different,” Jake explained.   “I don’t know what my near future holds.   Actually, that’s the beauty of it.”
    I had a sudden,
crazy thought, and before I talked myself out of it, I said, “You know, you
could always help Grace and me with the case we’re working on.”
    I glanced over at
my friend to see how she was reacting to my offer and saw her simply shrug.   What did that mean?   I’d have to deal with that after I got
off the phone.
    “Suzanne, what makes
you think for one moment that I want to dive back into another murder
investigation, especially working on the other side of the badge this time?”
    “Maybe it will be
a breath of fresh air seeing things from our perspective,” I offered.
    “I don’t see how,”
Jake replied.   “What other reasons
can you come up with?”
    “How about
because I’m asking you nicely for your help?   Does that change your mind?”
    There was a long
pause, but I knew better than to interrupt it.   Jake was thinking, and if I spoke before
he was ready to express his opinion, I knew that I’d blow any chance of getting
him to help us.
    After a few
moments, he finally said, “Okay.   How
about this?   I’ll advise you, but
that’s all that I’m willing to do at
this point.”
    “That’s plenty,”
I said, happy to have Jake in our corner.   “We gladly accept your kind offer.”
    “Is there
anything urgent that I need to know about the case right away?” Jake
asked.   “If not, you can catch me up
in the morning.”
    “That’s the
thing,” I said.   “Tomorrow might be
too late.   The new police chief
starts at eight AM tomorrow morning.”
    Jake whistled
softly before he spoke.   “That
didn’t take long, did it?”
    “I’m so sorry,” I
said.   “I don’t like it, either.”
    “It sounds as
though we need to expedite your investigation if we can,” Jake said after a few
seconds.
    “I couldn’t agree
with you more,” I said.   “How
exactly do we do that?”
    Jake laughed, and
then he said, “Let me make a phone call and I’ll get back to you.”
    “Thanks,” I said,
but it was to dead air.   Jake had
already disconnected the call.
    “You don’t mind
me asking him to give us a hand, do you?” I asked Grace as I put my phone
aside.
    “Why would I?”
she asked me impishly.   “Are you
asking if I should be offended that you solicited Jake to help us without
discussing it with me first?”
    “What can I
say?   I saw an opportunity, and I
took it,” I said as we neared April Springs city limits.
    “Well, since I’ve
been advising you to do that very thing for years, I could hardly be upset with
you, now could I?   As a matter of
fact, now that your brilliant boyfriend is on the case, you hardly need my help
anymore.”
    Was she hurt by
my plea to Jake for advice?   I had
to fix this, and quickly.   “Grace,
we’re a team.   Jake might pitch in a
little, but it’s still you and me, kiddo.   Nobody’s ever going to replace you as my partner in crimesolving; is
that clear?”
    My best friend
looked a little relieved by my declaration, though she tried hard not to show
it.   “Okay.   That sounds good to me.   I love working with you, Suzanne.”
    “Me, too, with
you,” I said.   “As things stand
right now, Jake’s just going to be acting as our advisor, and nothing more.”
    “Unless we need him
for something a little more direct than that,” Grace said.   “Let’s not rule that possibility out
just yet, either.”
    “Agreed,” I replied
with a smile.   “We should get our
notes together so we can present Jake with the complete picture of what we have
so far.”

 
    We were still
trying to organize our thoughts when my cellphone rang.
    “We were just
talking about you,” I told Jake after I answered.
    “I hope it was
all good things,” he said.   In a
lower voice, he asked, “I didn’t think to ask you before,