Read Pushed to the Limit (an Emma Cassidy Mystery Book 2) for Free Online Page A

we’re
obviously wasting our time here.” With final glares of disgust, the two women
marched off, muttering to each other.
    Emma pressed her fingers to her temple,
hoping she wouldn’t be saddled with an unwanted crock pot at the end of the
yard sale. She was still kneading her head when thirty dollars was shoved in
front of her.
    “You owe me three dollars change,” Faye
declared.
    “Excuse me?”
    “I’ve added up everything, and it comes to twenty-seven
dollars.”
    Emma eyed the capacious shopping bag
dangling from Faye’s fingers. “Do you mind if I check what you have in there?”
she asked as politely as possible.
    The older woman instantly bristled. “I beg
your pardon? Of course I mind. How outrageous.” She gripped the bag tighter.
“You don’t think I’d try to cheat you, do you?”
    Indecision knotted Emma’s stomach. She
could insist on seeing inside the shopping bag, but that pugnacious scowl on Faye
indicated she was in no mood to comply. And within an hour the news would be
all over Greenville that Emma had accused an innocent, law-abiding woman of
theft. Emma would be cast as the villain trying to bully a helpless senior; not
the best image for someone trying to build up her business. And besides, Faye may
have a lot of personal flaws, but Emma didn’t really think petty theft was one
of them.
    “No, of course not,” Emma conceded. She
reached into her fanny pack for three dollars in change. “I hope you chose some
nice things.”
    Faye shrugged. “They’re okay. I have to tell
you some of your stuff is pure junk.”
    Emma pressed her lips together and tried to
sound upbeat as she replied, “Well, you know what they say—one man’s trash is
another man’s treasure.”
    “Huh. You got the trash part right.”
    Emma’s jaw was in danger of cracking when Stacey
arrived with Jackie in tow. Glad to see some friendlier faces, Emma greeted
them.
    “We would’ve been here sooner if I didn’t
have trouble starting the car,” Stacey said.
    “I’m just glad you could make it,” Emma
replied.
    “Ooh, a crock pot.” Stacey opened the lid
and peered inside. “I’ve always wanted one of these. And look, it’s got all
these different functions.”
    “It might be broken,” Faye said, as helpful
as ever. “And you can’t bring it back if it is. That’s what Emma said.”
    Once more Emma bit back the retort that
rose to her lips. She moved to the far end of the stall where Jackie was
squinting at the goods on the table. “See anything you like? I’ve marked
everything as cheaply as I could, so you might find a bargain or two.”
    Jackie wore the same baggy jeans and
checked shirt from the night before. “I’m just looking,” she murmured, head
down, a swathe of hair obscuring her face. Her long, thin fingers scratched
through a box containing costume jewelry. Picking up a necklace of crystals,
she peered more closely at it.
    “Hello, dearie. New around here, aren’t
you? Where are you from?” Faye asked Jackie with her typical bluntness.
    Jackie’s fingers tightened around the
necklace. As she glanced up, Emma fancied she caught a glimpse of consternation
in her half-hidden eyes. “What’s it to you?” Jackie said with equal directness.
    Faye wasn’t fazed a bit. “I like to know
who’s in town. You’re staying with Stacey, I take it?”
    “Yes.” Not that it’s any of your
business , Jackie’s wooden expression seemed to convey.
    Clearly Jackie was reluctant to inform Faye
that she’d met Stacey through a women’s shelter, and Emma didn’t blame her. If Jackie
had fled an abusive relationship, the last thing she needed was her circumstances
and whereabouts broadcast by a human megaphone like Faye.
    With pointed deliberateness Jackie turned
her back on Faye to continue her search through the jewelry. A dark frown
descended on the older woman’s brow. Every resident in Greenville knew that you
snubbed Faye at your peril. Issuing a very loud and indignant sniff,