The Possum Hollow Hullabaloo (The Penelope Pembroke Cozy Mystery Series) by Judy Nickles Page A

shivering like he was naked in the middle of a blizzard, he said, “So who told you the girls were here and to come get them? Jeremiah?”
    “I’m not real sure. There was a note under my door—told me they were either here or at the Hargrove place.”
    “So if the note told you to go stand in the middle of Interstate 30, you’d have done that, too?” Sam leaned into Bert’s face.
    “No, sir.”
    “Then what?”
    “There’s a code in the Hollow,” Jake said. “When it’s your kin, you do whatever you have to. Right, Bert?”
    Bert nodded.
    “What were you supposed to do with the girls?” Penelope asked.
    “Just take ‘em home with me.”
    “So they’d be with family, right?”
    “Yes’m.” Bert cupped his mug in both shaking hands and lifted it to his lips, then took a deep breath. “I got a phone call after I found the note.”
    “Who from?”
    “Can’t tell you, but it wasn’t Jeremiah.”
    “Can’t or won’t?” Sam snorted, crossing his arms over his chest.
    “You’re going to have to tell Bradley,” Penelope said. “You know that, don’t you?”
    “Can’t tell anybody, ” Bert insisted.
    “Bert, I don’t want to see you charged with anything. You’ll lose your job, and it’s a good one. You’ve got a family to support. You got out of the Hollow.”
    “Nobody gets out,” he said.
    “You mean away from the family? You’re in a better position to know that t han anybody else, I guess. I’m not going to press any charges. I’ll call Bradley tomorrow and tell him, but you need to talk to him yourself.”
    “I will, Mrs. Pembroke. Thanks for understanding.”
    Penelope sighed. “Unfortunately, I do. Now go home to your family.”
    “And remember you owe us for the window,” Jake added.
    “I’ll get somebody out here tomorrow, I swear. First thing in the morning.” Bert rose and started for the back door. “I’m real sorry, Mr. Kelley.”
    “You’re just going to let him walk out of here?” Sam exploded.
    Jake nodded. “He won’t be back. Not until tomorrow, that is. He’ll make sure the window’s replaced.”
    Sam shook his head. “I think everybody in this town is insane.”
    Penelope raked him with angry eyes. “I can think of one or two people who’d nail Bert’s backside to a tree just because he’s a Hadden, but I’m not one of them.”
    “I’m going to bed,” Jake said. “See you at breakfast, Sam?”

 
    CHAPTER ELEVEN
     
    Sam flung himself down on the loveseat under the window of Penelope’s bedroom. “Care to explain the little drama that just transpired?”
    Penelope detailed the day. “Bert wouldn’t have done me any permanent damage.”
    “You’re sure of that.”
    “Yes, I am.”
    Sam ran his fingers through his hair, which Penelope thought seemed whiter since she’d last seen him. “I don’t understand. Brad should arrest Bert Hadden for breaking and entering.”
    “You understand, Sam. You do whatever you have to do to get your job done, and so does Bradley. It’s just I know what Bradley’s job is and don’t have a clue about yours.”
    He was on the bed beside her before she realized it. “I didn’t plan to wake you because it was so late, but now that you’re up…” His voice trailed off as his lips met her neck just under one ear.
    “Oh, Sam, don’t blessed start.”
    “Missed you, Nell.”
    “Sam, stop it. You make me crazy when you do that.” She shivered as he stroked her shoulders through her robe.
    “Why don’t you just give it up, Nell?” His lips moved to her mouth.
    Why don’t I? I love you so much, Sam. But I want you in my bed every night, not just whenever you happen to show up.
    “God, Nell, I want you so much. I need you like you wouldn’t believe.”
    “I believe you,” she murmured. “I need you, too, but not like this.”
    He moved against her, sending shock waves through her body. “Nell, Nell, Nell…”
    “Mother? You up there?”
    Sam rolled to his side.
    “I’m here,