Read Online Birthdays Can Be Deadly by Cindy Bell - Free Book Online Page A

about how much money James had, and James was saying that it was none of Mike's business.”
    “Sounds pretty vicious,” Eddy said. “Did they say anything else?”
    “I don't know,” Dale shrugged. “Unlike you, if it isn't my business, I stay out of it. I just went back to cleaning. But if you ask me, he didn't deserve to inherit a dime, so I don't really care about a missing watch.”
    “But you do know who stole it?” Eddy posed the question again with increased determination.
    “No,” Dale argued and again tried to get past Eddy. Eddy shifted in the same direction, blocking his escape.
    “So, you have something to lose in all of this, Dale?” Eddy demanded. “You're either protecting yourself, or you're protecting someone else.”
    “I don't know what you're talking about,” Dale insisted, though his voice had grown more desperate. “All I do is clean up around here, you know that.”
    “I think you’re hiding something,” Eddy challenged and towered over the young man.
    “I’m not,” Dale shot back with anger in his voice.
    Eddy glared at him, but he took a step back slightly.
    “I’ll find out if you have anything to do with this,” he warned Dale through gritted teeth. “This isn't over.”
    “Yes, it is,” Dale snapped back in return. “Now, if you don't mind, I have work to do!”
    Eddy had to clench his jaw to keep from saying something he might regret to Dale. Dale shoved up the sleeves of his shirt and began pushing the mop across the floor once more. Eddy sneered a little as he noticed the snake tattoo that wrapped around the man's forearm.
    “Appropriate,” he muttered under his breath before he turned and walked out of the hall. As Eddy was storming down the path towards his own villa, he noticed that Samantha was near the mailboxes, talking to one of the women from the party committee. He frowned as he knew he hadn't gotten much information. He hoped that Walt and Samantha would have better luck.
     
    ***
     
    Walt sat back in his chair and stared at his computer screen. He was more than a little surprised by what he had found. He picked up his phone and dialed Eddy's number.
    “Hello?” Eddy asked.
    “Can you and Samantha meet me at my place?” Walt asked and tapped a few keys on the keyboard.
    “Sure,” Eddy replied. “Did you find something?”
    “I think it's better to talk about it in person,” Walt explained.
    “All right, I'll get a hold of Samantha and we'll be over in a few minutes,” he said before hanging up the phone. Walt hung up his phone and began paging down through the document in front of him. By the time there was a knock on the door he was lost in the numbers he was calculating. It took a second set of knocks to get him to react.
    “Come in,” he called out. “It's open!”
    The door to his villa swung open. Eddy and Samantha walked in. Samantha walked over to the desk where Walt was seated. Eddy walked up to him on the other side.
    “I have some information about James' finances,” Walt said and swiveled in his computer chair to face them. He lifted his glasses from his nose and wiped the tender area just beneath each eye. “Computers,” he said with a short laugh.
    “What did you find?” Samantha asked.
    “It turns out James was loaded,” Walt said with a shake of his head. “Which makes me wonder how he ended up here. But that doesn't matter now I guess. What matters is that he had plenty of money. Which in my opinion gives people motive to kill.”
    “Love or money,” Eddy nodded in agreement.
    “The question is who stood to gain the most from James' death,” Samantha said.
    “Well, it would be safe to assume that James would leave his fortune to his son. Don't you think?” Eddy asked.
    “It's possible, but not definite. Remember they were just recently reunited,” Samantha said.
    “And it's easy to reconnect when you know that your estranged loved one has plenty of cash to leave behind,” Eddy said. His brow creased with