Murder In the Past Tense (A Giorgio Salvatori Mystery Book 2) by LYNN BOHART Page A

Giorgio killed the engine.
    “Hey!” he called after them. “Take Grosvenor with you.”
    Tony raced back to the car, opened the door and grabbed the dog’s leash. A moment later, they had disappeared into the forest of trees, while Giorgio and Rocky sauntered behind.
    “So what are you looking for?” Rocky asked as they approached the first line of trees.
    “Tony wants a big tree,” Giorgio replied, heading straight for the stand that sold hot apple cider and hot chocolate.
    “A big tree?” Rocky chuckled. “Remember that year dad talked us into going out to that tree farm in upstate New York?”
    Giorgio laughed. “Yeah, he found the biggest tree there and convinced mom that it would fit into our living room.”
    “God, I was only eight or something,” Rocky said, following Giorgio to the refreshment stand. “I just remember that monstrosity of a tree looming over me in the dark. I couldn’t even see the top of it. And mom kept saying, ‘Robert, it’s not going to fit. I’m telling you, it’s not going to fit.’”
    He imitated his mother’s high-pitched voice, which got Giorgio laughing.
    “It took him forty minutes just to cut the damn thing down,” Giorgio said, chuckling.
    “Right,” Rocky cut in with a snort. “And then, of course, it didn’t even fit onto the top of the car.”
    The brothers shared a moment of laughter as Giorgio ordered two hot chocolates. An attractive woman in her thirties walked past them, holding the hand of a little girl. She turned an appreciative eye towards Rocky as she passed.
    “Poor dad,” Giorgio murmured, paying for the drinks. “He had to cut off so much of that tree, that in the end it was just this fat bunch of pine needles in the corner of the living room, and mom…”
    “Dad!” Tony called out in alarm, running up with his sister right behind. “Grosvenor tried to bite someone!”
    Tony was having trouble catching his breath. Marie stopped behind him with her arms folded across her chest and tears in her eyes.
    “There was this man,” Tony rattled on.
    Giorgio squatted down. “Slow down, Buddy. Tell me what happened,” he said, glancing at the dog.
    Grosvenor was panting, even though the night air was cold.
    “A man started talking to us about the Christmas trees,” Tony said breathlessly. “Then he squatted down, like you are now, and told Marie how pretty she was.”
    Giorgio looked over at Marie, who dropped her chin.
    “Then what?” Giorgio said, his voice taking on a hard edge.
    Tony glanced at his sister.
    “He reached out and touched my chest,” she said with a whine.
    “He said, ‘look at that, you’ll be a woman soon,” Tony reported. “And that’s when Grosvenor lunged at him! He almost took the guy’s hand off.”
    Giorgio immediately stood up and looked around, his adrenalin pumping.
    “What’d this guy look like?”
    “He was wearing a dark stocking cap,” Tony said. “And had really dark eyes.”
    “Rocky,” Giorgio snapped. “You take Tony. I’ll take Marie.”
    His brother didn’t need any additional instruction. Rocky grabbed the boy’s hand, while Giorgio took Marie’s. They tossed their hot chocolates into a nearby trash can and split up.
    “Marie, tell me if you see him,” Giorgio said.
    They wove in and out of the tree lines, searching for the man in the stocking cap. They even searched the area in back, where the owner’s RV was parked, but saw no one in a stocking cap.
    Giorgio reported the incident to the two men who worked there. As he and Marie were returning to the refreshment stand, Giorgio noticed the tail lights of a car peeling out of the far end of the parking lot. He watched it disappear up the street, unable to see the license plate. But the car had a boxy shape and a spare tire attached to the rear. Maybe a jeep, Giorgio thought.
    “Did you find him?” Rocky said, appearing to Giorgio’s left.
    “No,” Giorgio said.
    “Think we ought to report it?” Rocky asked