A DEAD RED HORSE THIEF : A Lalla Bains Humorous Mystery

Book 7: The Dead Red Mystery series

by RP Dahlke

Genres: Private Investigators; Female Sleuths; strong female protaganist

Synopsis

When P.I. Lalla Bains is asked to look into a cowboy's missing horses and fiancée, she will uncover a con-artist with a secret agenda and a parolee on the lam with a deadly agenda of his own.

 

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Release date: September 21, 2019

Publisher: Dead Bear Publishing

Print pages: 109

Content advisory: none

Sample

When our office phone rang, I snatched up the receiver, hoping for anything besides following a cheating spouse to the unhappy conclusion. Lucky for me the road grader voice on the other end belonged to my dad’s lady friend, Gabriel, aka Gabby. Still, anxiety punched my blood pressure up a notch. Was there a hiccup in Dad’s recovery from his recent surgery?

“Oh no, he’s fine,” she said with a laugh, “though I’m not so sure about his housekeeper.”

Everyone knew Coco Lucero was angling for more than just housekeeper status, but my father was an expert at side-slipping manipulative women. Still, after a recent heart issue, he was taking his recovery seriously and keeping stress to a minimum, which meant that Coco's hours went from three days a week to full-time. Full-time meant she would need a bedroom. A week, two at the most, I told Dad's two foster boys and hauled in the air mattresses we kept for when they stayed with Caleb and me. We put the beds in the living room, and if they kept the TV sound low, everything would be just fine.

I was sure that for now, my dad could tolerate Coco's sly hints for a marriage proposal, and when he was feeling better, he'd tell her that he and the boys were good with three days a week. And if she didn't like it, he’d send her packing, but Gabby's call made me wonder.

“Are the boys driving her crazy?”

Gabby laughed again. “Noah says she’s smothering him, but that’s not why I called.”

Relieved, I sighed and relaxed.  “So, what’s up? You need a P.I?”

“Not me. It’s my friend, Janey Dobbs.”

“Name sounds familiar. She's a local?”

“You and Caleb met her and her family last year at my Christmas party.”

“Oh, yeah, I remember her now. Janey and I hold the status as the tallest women in Wishbone. Nice lady. So, what's up with her?”

“Her son’s fiancée is missing.”

Since we safely returned the kidnapped mother of the murdered judge, Bains and Bains Private Investigations, Inc. now has a reputation as victim recovery specialists. But all that notoriety from Phoenix, Tucson, and Sierra Vista TV stations has dried up faster than a corn fritter on a hot stove, and we needed all the work we could get. 

I said, “Not that I’m trying to talk myself out of a job, but has she called the police?”

There was an interesting pause. “Yes, but the police told her they needed three days to consider it a missing person case, but with no communication from the girl for two days, the family is frantic, and Janey would like you to look into it.”