Read Online All the World by Rachel L. Vaughan - Free Book Online Page A

like arms, stretching upward with thin, bony fingers.
                  A figure lurking around Dr. Lindegaard’s office window caught her attention. She tossed her water bottle into the passenger seat and straightened up. Was someone listening in on a session? Dr. Lindegaard always had the most confidential cases. The longer she studied the figure, the more familiar it became. It wore a dark blue jacket with the hood pulled up. She frowned and quietly got out of her car. She was peering from behind a tree when the figure turned and bolted right into her. Lexie and the figure hit the ground hard. Lexie was gasping for air when she grabbed the figure’s arm and yanked back the hood.
                  “What the—”
                  Lexie scrambled to her feet and stared at Nickolas Lindegaard. His face was flushed and his eyes gleamed with adrenaline. He looked just as shocked to see Lexie as she was to see him. His eyes darted toward his stepfather’s window for a moment before returning to Lexie.
                  “Well, good afternoon, Lexie,” Nickolas said. “I suppose you’re on your lunch break. I didn’t mean to disturb you.”
                  Lexie raised her eyebrows. “Are you spying on your stepdad?”
                  “My uncle,” he answered sharply. “He’s my uncle.”
                  “And you are spying on him?”
                  “Who said anything about spying?”
                  “You’re sneaking around his window,” Lexie replied. “I believe that’s what you call spying.”
                  Nickolas straightened up. “If you must know, I have an appointment today.”
                  Lexie remembered the schedule. “Oh, yeah, I saw that. Well, most people go to the lobby to wait.”
                  “When does Dr. Lindegaard have lunch? I’d rather avoid him today. I found some interesting information about my dad’s death. I think he owes me an explanation, but not yet. I want guilt to gnaw at his heart first. I’ll catch the conscience of my uncle later,” Nickolas said with intense eyes. “Have you ever heard of cyanide?”
                  Lexie felt her heart tighten. “Nickolas, your dad died from respiratory failure.”
                  “That is what we are supposed to think. How was he exposed to cyanide? It isn’t exactly in abundance in Vernon Hills. He didn’t work where he could be exposed to such a chemical, and he died very suddenly.”
                  “Have you discussed your…suspicions with Braedon?” Lexie asked. She had seen little of Braedon, but Lexie had the impression that he was Nickolas’s closest confidant.
                  “Good, just Braedon,” Nickolas said with a smile. “I envy him at times. If I needed help from a man who is not passion’s slave I would choose him. I wish I could let my suspicions about Uncle Phillip die, but I cannot.”
                  “Flora told me you’re still upset about your dad,” she started, “but I don’t know where you got this idea. Who would want to poison your dad?”
                  Nickolas crossed his arms. “Who would marry his dead brother’s wife within three weeks of the funeral? People were still sending sympathy casseroles the day before the wedding.” 
                  “They’d been having an affair for years. I agree that they should have waited, but it’s not surprising that they got married. Do you really think your mother would marry a man if he murdered her husband?”
                  Lexie flinched inwardly at her callous remarks. Flora would be furious if Nickolas told her how Lexie had just treated him.
                  “I don’t know if she loved my dad,” he replied.
                  “If she didn’t love him