Whack The Mole (Lucy McGuffin, Psychic Amateur Detective 2)

Sally laughs. “You’re funny, Lucy.”

“I don’t know about that, but thank goodness you came by when you did. I’m not sure what I would have done.”

She nods like she understands.

I’ve met other people with sciurophobia (there’s more of us than you think), but I’ve never met anyone with a family member who suffered from it. Most people think squirrels are cute. But then most people

haven’t been on the other end of a squirrel mob.

“I was seven when it happened,” I blurt.

She doesn’t say anything, so I take that as a sign to continue.

“It was my birthday party and my mom made this great cake. My whole class was there, and I was about to blow out the candles when a pack of squirrels flew out of the trees and went after my cake. So I grabbed the cake and took off running, but they chased me down. They were about to attack when Will scared them off. I know it sounds ridiculous. I know they wouldn’t have really hurt me, but…”

She places her hand on my arm. “It’s okay, Lucy,” she says gently. “We all have our personal demons, don’t we?”

“I can’t imagine you have any. You seem so put together.”

“Looks can be deceiving. We all have our Achilles heel.”

It occurs to me I don’t know much about Sally. “Do you live around here?”

“No, my place is just a few blocks from the library, but it’s such a beautiful day I thought I’d go for a jog around town.”

Sally, I notice, looks like she must jog a lot. She always looks put together in her work clothes, but in her black leggings and slim fitting nylon top, she looks ultra-fit. In comparison, I’m a little embarrassed by my baggy sweat pants and my child-bearing hips.

She eyes my binoculars. “So what are you doing here?”

“Oh, um, the same thing you are, except instead of jogging, I’m bird watching.”

“Bird watching, huh? You probably want to leave the dog home next time.”

I flush. I’m not the only one who can spot a whopper. I hope she doesn’t think I’m some sort of creepy stalker.

We walk along the sidewalk, chatting, with Paco trotting between us. I wish I could go back toward the cul-de-sac, but I’m not sure how to do that without making Sally suspicious.

“How are things going with the Cooking Channel show?” she asks. “Any news yet on whether or not Whispering Bay will be selected?”

“It’s looking pretty grim, especially now with this new murder at The Harbor House.”

She nods sympathetically. “I heard you found the body.”

I shouldn’t be surprised that Sally already knows about the dead body at The Harbor House. After all, this is Whispering Bay.

“I was there eating brunch.”

“With Will?”

“No, with…someone else.”

“Really? Please don’t tell me you were on a date with that hunky Travis. I called dibs on him, remember?” she teases.

“Not Travis. It was someone else.”

“You’ve surprised me, Lucy. I could have sworn…never mind.”

“What?”