Coughing & Donuts: A Mercy Mares Cozy Mystery by Ava Mallory

curious owner.
     
    The guards watched from a safe distance as I got out of my car and followed what I believed to be the same path I'd taken the other night. I kept an eye out for security cameras and there were plenty of them on this side of the campus. I made a mental note to check the cameras in the other lot, nearer the guard tower.
     
    As I approached the front entrance on foot, I could hear the engine of the security vehicle. They were in movement. I figured as much, because if I were a security guard, I'd want to know what everyone was doing at all times and there was something kind of fun about having armed guards see me as some sort of a threat. What they didn't know was the first sight of a spider or any other variety of creatures and I'd be out of there like nobody's business. Although, I had aspirations of being a runner someday, the reality was unless I were being chased by someone brandishing a weapon or a giant spider landed on my head, the chances of me running anywhere were null and void. True story.
     
    While I kept my eyes peeled on the camera up above my head, I hadn't noticed the people sitting in the lobby, watching me curiously through the window. I must have looked like a loon to them.
     
    When one of the employees tapped on the glass to get my attention, I nearly leaped out of my skin.
     
    Where did she come from?
     
    After I screamed like a banshee, I offered her a friendly wave and had the sudden urge to flash my name badge at her. She read it and smiled before turning to the patients waiting to be seen for their appointments and saying something that made them all burst out in laughter.
     
    The guards in the vehicle honked to get my attention. One of them called out, “You lost?”
     
    I tried the brightest smile I could conjure up so early in the morning and turned to answer them. “No. I just wanted to see what it looked like over here during daylight hours.”
     
    They looked at each other. I could see that they were contemplating whether or not to believe my story, but they quickly let it go and drove on, but not too far. I saw them park in the next parking lot over, where they could still keep an eye on me from a safe distance.
     
    I took the opportunity to sneak between the buildings to follow the trail I'd taken the other day. Just as I thought, there were cameras strategically placed near the roofs to capture any activity between them and the adjacent building. As much as I wanted to convince myself that maybe Mike hadn't noticed me lurking on the lot, I couldn't. All it did was prove that he was a lazy jerk.
     
    “Great! Smile you're on candid camera, Mercy.” I said out loud.
     
    “And, they say I'm crazy. You always talk to yourself?” A voice coming from somewhere behind me started laughing.
     
    I turned, my heart ready to leap from my chest. “Eli?” He stood on the other side of a window, in what looked like a maintenance building. “What are you doing in there?”
     
    “Quiet!” He hissed at me. “Are you trying to get me arrested?”
     
    I lowered my voice and moved closer to him, but not close enough for him to be able to get his hands on me and do who knows what with me. I was virtually defenseless. Ruby and my daughter, Diana, kept urging me to take self-defense classes, but up until recently, I didn't think I needed self-defense classes. It's not like I wandered the streets at night or frequented seedy locations. I'm a middle aged woman with a bad knee and an aversion to the outdoors on most days.
     
    “What are you doing?” Eli looked me up and down, shaking his head at my stance. “I'm not going to hurt you. You can put your fists down and, by the way, your thumbs shouldn't be tucked into your balled up fist. That's a good way to get them broken.”
     
    Embarrassed, I put my hands down to my sides and gave him my sternest voice. “Do you realize what kind of trouble you're in? They think you...”
     
    He interrupted me. “I know what they