Mystery of the 19th Hole (Taylor Kelsey, Mystery 1) (21 page)

             
And they continued to the car, walking under the alpenglow of the assuaging sun, as Susan babbled endlessly, and they all laughed.

             
There’re only a few loose ends to tie up.  First, the men that were shooting at the lieutenant were found on a hill near the golf course, up a tree, hiding from all the angry animals.  Their own thefts had become their curse.

             
The owner of the golf course and several members of the board were incarcerated, thanks to the work of Mike Adamson.  Many more are currently under investigation.

             
Jeff’s arm healed up perfectly, and he was offered the position of captain.  He humbly turned it down and remained a lieutenant.  But “humbly” is a loose term.  When he’d decided to turn down the position of captain, he was acting out of dread of all the paperwork captains had to maintain.

             
Instead of him, a police chief from a small town came to be their captain.  His name was Howard Horner.  A haughty guy, but straight and clean.  Squeaky.  Took real pride and commitment to his job.

             
Captain Howard Horner’s first order of business was to eliminate the ten codes.  The ones that Jeff could never remember.  His argument for eliminating them was that if you had something to say, say it.

             
Also, it took two months, but Jeff finally figured out that Susan wasn’t British.  He was angry at first, but applauded her for her extended performance.

             
Taylor and Chad never did get romantically involved.  Taylor did, however, purchase him a pair of good-looking prescription glasses, as opposed to those goggle-things he liked.

             
Taylor and Abby also got along from then on and became good friends.  Jason, on the other hand, drove his motorcycle without permission, wrecked, and missed the dance altogether.  He was also held back that year, and Taylor and Abby didn’t see much of him after that.

             
The insurance company never fixed Taylor’s old car, the one that had crashed off the cliff.  After a few weeks, they admitted it was beyond repair.  They instead provided her with a brand new car.  A shiny red one.

             
And as for the reward money, Taylor did receive a hefty sum, which she split with Susan and Chad.  She gave her cut to her dad so he could purchase architect software and computers.  In just a week, he gained two accounts back, including one large track-home developing account.

             
Finally, Taylor’s mom Christina finished her one hundredth novel and began seeking publication.

             
As for Taylor in general, well, nothing exciting presented itself in the weeks following.  But she was sure something would come up soon enough.

             
Adventures have a way of changing people.  Take Taylor for example.  She framed the yellow golf shirt—signed by Jeff, Susan, Chad, Abby, Mike, and her parents—and hung it over her bed. 

             
Hanging something yellow in her room was something she would have never even considered before.  Every day it reminded her of the tremendous adventure she’d had and all the lessons she’d learned.

             
And how much she dreaded the color yellow!

AJ Diaz hopes his author biography will soon include the words “york,” “new,” bestseller,” “times.”  (Not in that particular order.)  Then he’ll be happy.

Until then, he’ll stay behind his computer writing until doomsday.  Or dinner time.  Or Jeopardy time.  Or other times when he’ll take breaks.  You must know that he’s written eight novels and is currently working on the ninth, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth.

His favorite color is ten.  ???

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