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Back A Penny for Your Thoughts
Chapters (62)
  1. Cover
  2. A PENNY
  3. Dedication
  4. Acknowledgments
  5. One
  6. Two
  7. Three
  8. Four
  9. Five
  10. Six
  11. Seven
  12. Eight
  13. Nine
  14. Ten
  15. Eleven
  16. Twelve
  17. Thirteen
  18. Fourteen
  19. Fifteen
  20. Sixteen
  21. Seventeen
  22. Eighteen
  23. Nineteen
  24. Twenty
  25. Twenty-One
  26. Twenty-Two
  27. Twenty-Three
  28. Twenty-Four
  29. Twenty-Five
  30. Twenty-Six
  31. Twenty-Seven
  32. Twenty-Eight
  33. Twenty-Nine
  34. Thirty
  35. Thirty-One
  36. Thirty-Two
  37. Thirty-Three
  38. Thirty-Four
  39. Thirty-Five
  40. Thirty-Six
  41. Thirty-Seven
  42. Thirty-Eight
  43. Thirty-Nine
  44. Forty
  45. Forty-One
  46. Forty-Two
  47. Forty-Three
  48. Forty-Four
  49. Forty-Five
  50. Forty-Six
  51. Forty-Seven
  52. Forty-Eight
  53. Forty-Nine
  54. Fifty
  55. Fifty-One
  56. Fifty-Two
  57. Fifty-Three
  58. Fifty-Four
  59. A Sample Chapter of Don’t Take Any Wooden Nickels
  60. About the Author
  61. Other Books by Mindy Starns Clark
  62. About the Publisher

After we looked around, I suggested to Marion that they didn’t need our help here and that we might be in their way. She looked ill and exhausted, and I told her that I thought she might do better to go home and talk more with the police there. Dejected, she let Nick lead her back to the car. Then we all got in and headed for the Smythes’ house.

By the time we got there, it was nearly five in the evening. The house was swarming with cops, but there was no sign of Carlos anywhere. They asked Marion for photos, and I overheard one cop say that if they hadn’t turned anything up in another two hours, they would try bringing in a K-9 unit.

I found a room that was quiet and empty and pulled out my cell phone to call Detective Keegan. The receptionist wouldn’t let me through to either him or Detective Sollie, so I tracked down Duane Perskie. I thought he would be angry with me for not contacting him again after our early morning phone call, but in the meantime he had heard about all that had happened to me today, which sort of let me off the hook.

“So do you know anything at all about the information they’re getting from Monty Redburn?” I asked. “I’m so afraid he may have had something to do with Carlos’ disappearance.”

“Redburn was shot in the leg when they apprehended him,” he said. “But they were able to question him a little bit, post-op.”

“And?”

“And Redburn’s been working for Alan Bennet, first as a plant in the Smythes’ home, then lately as a tail on you. But he’s a real piece of work, Callie. He denies trying to kill you this morning—said he was just trying to have a little fun.”

I felt a surge of anger, remembering the man’s glee as he attempted to run me down on the interstate. Yeah, he was having fun all right.

“A plant at the Smythes’ home—why?”

“We’re not sure, but we think it must’ve been to steal some item of value from the house. Unfortunately for him, Redburn made the mistake of copping a number of smaller items as well. The Smythes found out and let him go. Bennet didn’t want anything more to do with him until you showed up and started digging around. Then he needed some muscle, so he called Redburn back in.”

“At the airport, Redburn kept calling Alan a liar. What was that about?”