Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 90472 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 452(@200wpm)___ 362(@250wpm)___ 302(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90472 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 452(@200wpm)___ 362(@250wpm)___ 302(@300wpm)
“True enough, but if I shared the case file with you, I could lose my job,” my dad cautioned.
“I understand, but I’ve solved mysteries before with less evidence.” I reached out and took hold of Ian’s hand. “I have another partner now besides my usual sidekick, Amy.”
My dad smiled. “Beau as well, I would suspect, since he’s always with Amy.” His smile faded. “How is Amy doing?”
“Confused and wondering why her father returned after all these years. Any ideas?” I asked.
“No doubt he wants something. Good looks, sweet talk, and lies upon lies upon lies, that’s what Noah Berwick was about. I never expected him to last six years. Though he’d disappear for a few days every now and then. I don’t know how Nancy trusted him.”
“Love can be blind,” I said.
“Love can be stupid,” my dad argued. “And I am relieved you are neither.” Dad placed the empty coffee mug on the island counter. “Please tell me Beau is with Amy.”
“He is,” Ian said.
I looked at my dad, alarmed.
He shook his head. “I don’t think Noah would hurt Amy. He did love her. You could see it in his eyes when he looked at her when she young. But I don’t want her falling for any of his sweet talk like her mom did.”
“I’m having breakfast with her tomorrow,” I said.
“Good, tell her I said to be careful and not believe anything he says,” my dad said and went to retrieve his hat and jacket.
Ian and I followed after him.
Once his jacket was zipped, he reminded me, “I can’t provide you with any information about this case, but I can’t stop you from digging into it yourself.”
“I understand perfectly,” I assured him.
My dad grinned. “I knew you would.”
“One thing, Dad,” I said as I walked him to the door. “Did you stop to think that Mayor Jim Barrett was…” I scrunched my brow and did the math quickly. “Sixteen years old at the time of Rita’s murder and that he more than likely knew them both since they were in high school at the same time. Who’s to say that the mayor didn’t have something to do with the murder?”
5
Ian gave me a quick kiss after walking to the door with him. “I miss you already, Pep.”
He was such a romantic. I was not. I should talk with Amy about romance. She’d know better than me since she read so many romance books.
I lingered at the door to watch him jog off down the path that led to the lodge. The man not only was romantic, he had stamina. I could vouch for that and smiled, recalling last night. We had gone to bed early, though not to sleep. It was an extremely enjoyable night.
I closed the door against the cold, glad the snow had stopped yesterday and went to the kitchen to finish my tea. I had more than an hour before I was to meet Amy at the diner. My smile grew when I caught sight of the several stacks of notes my mom had given me piled neatly on the island counter. She had put the dates on each one, bless her, making it easier to decipher my dad’s line of thought. I was surprised to see that on occasion he had written, Travis???? The multiple question marks meant he’d been having second thoughts about Travis, something he had never mentioned. He’d also written down names I didn’t recognize, and I wondered if the names were of men that had been in the area at the time.
He might not be able to share things about the case with me, but there was nothing saying he couldn’t discuss his notes with me.
My ear caught the sound of a plow coming up my road. I’d been surprised to see the driveway hadn’t been done when I woke, Marsh always getting to it at first light, but then I wasn’t the only person’s driveway he plowed.
I got a thought and waited until I saw that Marsh was nearly done, then fixed a cup of coffee for him in one of the disposable cups I kept for my dad and wrapped a slice of banana bread in a napkin. I hurried into my jacket and stepped outside, Mo following me out, to wave him down and held up the cup of coffee.
He left his truck idling and walked toward me, grinning and rubbing his hands together in anticipation. Marsh was a bulky guy, one who intimidated with one look, which was why people were surprised when they discovered his pleasant nature. The man just didn’t get angry. He was a auto mechanic, owned his own garage, and did towing, and plowing in the winter. He was married with two kids and was fifty years old, which would have made him sixteen thirty-five years ago and put him in high school with Rita and Travis.