Read Thrown Off: A Cozy Mystery (Brenna Battle Book 3) for Free Online Page B

superiority. I didn’t ask Amy if she’d helped Hayley steal time. I was pretty sure the answer was yes. The way she talked, I wouldn’t be surprised if she wasn’t the only one. I wasn’t here to get these people fired. I was here to find out who killed Millie.
    Maybe this Hayley Radiguet woman was angry enough about Millie busting her for stealing time that she stole the rest of Millie’s time on this earth in retaliation.
    “How long ago was Hayley fired?”
    “I’d say about four weeks,” Roberta replied.
    “I heard she hasn’t found another job yet,” Amy put in.
    “Yeah, I guess it would be hard to find work in Bonney Bay once something like that gets around.”
    Roberta said, “We should call Officer Riggins and tell him about Hayley.”
    “Takashi probably did already. But yeah, we should let him know, just in case. If this was murder, Hayley needs looking into.”
    “Thanks, Brenna,” Amy said. “You’re the one who got us thinking about that.”
    I shrugged. “No big deal. Well, I’d better let you two get back to work. And Blythe’s expecting me to be back with ice cream any minute.” I had some of my own investigating to do, too.
    We said good-bye, and I made a beeline for the frozen desserts aisle. I filled my basket with chocolate dipped cones, mocha almond fudge, and mint chocolate chip ice cream. Then I meandered over to the meat counter. I didn’t really know the meat cutter, but his name tag said Ed .
    “Hi, Ed.” I gave him a big smile. “Is Carlos working today? I want to say hi.”
    And maybe ask him a few questions. He might not be a part of the gossip circle Amy and Roberta contributed to. He was a guy, after all. But he might know something. And if, as I suspected, he was more closed-mouthed than these two, they wouldn’t know about whatever information he had.
    Carlos and his sister, Lourdes, were our neighbors. Miss Ruth, the lady who used to run a ballet school out of the building that now housed our apartment and judo dojo, had been like a mother to Lourdes and Carlos. She’d asked them to look out for me and Blythe when she retired and moved out of town and we took over the building.
    “Yeah, he’s probably in the back room,” Ed said.
    “Thanks!” I headed toward the back. I knew my way well enough after shopping here for a couple of months. The Cherry Bowl was an old building, and the only restrooms were still in the back room. I’d made plenty of trips back there.
    “Check the freezer!” Ed yelled after me.
    “Okay,” I called back.
    I pushed through the black doors with their rubbery flaps, into the back room. A stack of shrink-wrapped pallet boards was piled just inside the doors. Next to it was a power jack, the forklift-like machine they used to move loads of product around the store. I eyed it, then glanced around to see if anyone was watching. What would it be like to drive this thing? Not quite as fun as a four-wheeler, but how fast did these things go? Get a grip, Brenna. You’re on a mission.
    I couldn’t afford to get caught playing around with—and possibly breaking—very expensive and hard-to-replace toys. The Cherry Bowl would probably come to a grinding halt without that thing. Maybe if I found Carlos, he’d show me how to use it sometime. Okay, so I’ve always loved the idea of operating heavy machinery. Don’t judge.
    It wasn’t hard to find the cooler. The metal doors were clearly labeled cooler . The doors were shut. I hesitated, then rapped on them. “Carlos? Are you in there?”
    No answer. Wait, Ed had said, “Freezer.” I found it, right across from the cooler. I looked around again and didn’t see anyone, so I turned the handle and opened the door. “Carlos?” It was dark in there. I found a light switch on the wall right outside the door and flipped it on. There was a pile of boxes in the middle of the freezer, and I couldn’t see around it. I stepped inside, and the door swung shut behind me.
    “Carlos?” I looked