Read Online Adelaide Upset by Penny Greenhorn - Free Book Online Page B

“Yes,” he said slowly, as if he were
thinking. He paused to wipe the side of his mouth carefully with a
crumpled napkin. “He had a friend, Marks, but anyone who worked at
SL&S back then could’ve told you that, everyone knew they were
close.”
    “Does Marks still work for SL&S?”
    “Sure does,” Bill answered, stuffing the
disgusting napkin back into his front pocket. “How about I fetch
him for you while I pick up another burger?”
    I had no desire to get
near the pavilion again, let alone root around for this Marks guy.
He couldn’t have suggested anything better. “Thanks,” I said
gratefully. “That would be good.”
    He seemed intent on his
mission as he waddled off, and sure enough, he went for the burgers
first. I followed him with my eyes, watching as he lathered on the
mayo, as if he weren’t close enough to a double bypass already.
After that he disappeared into the crowd.
    It was a few minutes
before he reappeared, walking out of the pavilion with a bear-like
man. They talked together, Bill waving his hands, the other, Marks
I assumed, was scowling down at him, looking
disconcerted.
    I hurried over, watching them as I went.
Marks growled something and stalked off before I could stop him. I
ran faster, panting by the time I reached Bill. “Where’d he
go?”
    Bill was agitated, but
calming. “He left,” he said, waving toward the parking lot. “I told
him you were curious about David, but he said he had to go and just
left. Couldn’t stop him.”
    I took off, running for
the parking lot without so much as a thank you or goodbye. I made
it in time to see the back of an SUV fishtail in its rush to be
gone, kicking up rocks as it sped away. Whoever had been driving
left more than a wake of dust and pebbles, they’d left their
feelings.
    Guilt.
    Fear.
    The driver was volatile,
desperate. And for me to know that, to pick up emotions from so far
away, it meant that they were strong. Strong like a scream is
loud.
    The murdered theory was
looking more likely by the minute.

Chapter 9
     
    My eagerness to see Lucas was only slightly
dampened by the picnic, though I couldn’t really call it a bad turn
of events. Marks was my new lead, and possibly Smith’s killer, so
that was something.
    I passed Divot Drive,
turning into Luke’s cul-de-sac instead; the only other house on the
circle was condemned and covered in ivy. His SUV was in the
driveway, and soft light spilled out from the windows.
    I ran inside, calling,
“Luke!”
    “ Up here,” his voice
rumbled down from above.
    I climbed the stairs just
in time to watch Lucas empty his pockets. It was a little ritual of
his; every time he came home he would set his wallet, keys, and
phone on top of the chest of drawers.
    I took up perch on the edge of his bed,
letting him unwind.
    “ I just got back,” he
said, glancing at me as he unlaced his boots. I noticed his fingers
were cleaner than usual, the black smudges faded with washing. I
kept staring, which I’m sure was creepy, but I’d missed him. All I
wanted to do was sit on his lap and give him a kiss, but the
picture was holding me back. How did I bring it up?
    “What’s the matter?”
    “What? Nothing,” I lied.
    He’d been watching me as
closely as I’d been watching him. “I was hurrying to get back,” he
said, his deep, quiet voice carrying across the room in a low
whisper. “It must mean I missed you.”
    He said things like that,
stating straight forward facts. It was the closest he got to
romantic.
    “I need a shower. Care to join me?”
    And then he said stuff
like that. Both comments made me shift around awkwardly, but for
different reasons.
    “So you think I’m ready then, for sex?”
    “Nope,” he said, giving his head a blunt
shake. “But I’m ready to see you naked.”
    “Come off it, I know you think I’m ready,” I
argued. “Why else would you keep condoms in your nightstand?”
    He shrugged.
    “ I went through your
stuff,” I said impulsively, hoping to