The Trouble With Bulldogs
Jonesy Carlson
- Morgan’s
- Crossing,
- California
- –
- home
- to
- blue
- skies
- and
- sunshine,
- cows
- grazing
- peacefully
- side
- by
- side
- with
- their
- calves,
- and
- an
- itinerant
- cowboy
- whose
- eyes
- remind
- Bri
- of
- a
- death
- row
- inmate
- she’s
- seen
- recently
- on
- tv.Nasty,
- nasty
- stuff.
- All
- of
- it.
- Even
- if
- the
- cowboy
- is
- a
- hunk.
When
- Briana
- –
- tarantula
- in
- hand
- and
- boa
- in
- bag
- –
- arrives
- in
- the
- teeny,
- tiny
- can’t-believe-people-live-here
- town,
- she
- has
- two
- goals
- in
- mind:
- sell
- her
- aunt’s
- estate
- and
- get
- back
- to
- the
- city
- in
- time
- for
- her
- gallery
- debut.She
- doesn’t
- count
- on
- being
- saddled
- with
- a
- hundred-year
- old
- Victorian
- two-story
- that
- definitely
- looks
- like
- it’s
- seen
- better
- days
- and
- a
- mini-Sherlock
- Holmes
- who
- sees
- criminal
- activity
- around
- every
- corner.According
- to
- little
- Johnny
- Jacobson,
- the
- most
- recent
- bull
- stomping
- is
- really
- a
- murder.
- He
- believes
- her
- aunt
- was
- murdered
- too.
- Problem
- is
- –
- he
- can’t
- get
- anyone
- to
- believe
- him.
- Bri
- quickly
- realizes
- Johnny
- Jacobson
- could
- be
- right.
- The
- town
- is
- full
- of
- suspicious
- types:
- Arin
- Conners,
- the
- real
- estate
- broker
- who
- wears
- a
- lumberjack
- shirt
- and
- grabs
- unsuspecting
- girls
- with
- his
- hook-like
- prosthesis;
- the
- super-size
- sheriff
- whose
- bark
- is
- worse
- than
- his
- bite;
- the
- woman
- with
- the
- nasty
- black
- dogs
- who
- just
- happens
- to
- be
- married
- to
- the
- grumpy
- sheriff.And
- then
- there’s
- that
- cowboy
- with
- the
- dead
- eyes.It’s
- hard
- to
- keep
- her
- mind
- on
- funeral
- preparations,
- a
- chore
- she
- totally
- dreads,
- and
- Bri
- finds
- herself
- intrigued,
- repulsed,
- and
- angered
- at
- the
- thought
- that
- her
- aunt
- might
- really
- have
- been
- murdered.
- Johnny
- has
- proof,
- or
- so
- he
- claims.
- Bri
- decides
- to
- back
- the
- boy
- up.
- That’s
- when
- she
- finds
- out
- the
- sheriff
- has
- a
- temper.And
- he
- isn’t
- afraid
- to
- use
- it.Then
- Arin
- Connors
- drives
- his
- car
- off
- a
- cliff.
- Another
- accident?Johnny
- doesn’t
- think
- so.
- Neither
- does
- Bri.There’s
- a
- killer
- at
- work
- in
- Morgan’s
- Crossing.But
- how
- can
- they
- prove
- it?The
- world
- turns
- completely
- mad
- when
- Bri’s
- jeep
- is
- raked
- by
- gunfire
- the
- way
- to
- her
- aunt’s
- house.
- As
- the
- Jeep’s
- engine
- dies,
- she
- escapes
- up
- the
- hill
- to
- her
- house,
- only
- to
- find
- her
- friend
- unconscious
- on
- the
- kitchen
- floor,
- her
- mother
- in
- the
- hands
- of
- a
- madwoman,
- and
- little
- Johnny
- Sherlock
- missing.
- She
- puts
- her
- trust
- in
- the
- dead-eyed
- cowboy,
- a
- trust
- that
- could
- prove
- her undoing.
