Read Online Dark Water by Sharon Sala - Free Book Online Page A

out. I’m over Michael…really. It’s just that all this has been so horrible and shocking. Each day I wake up, thinking it will all have been nothing more than a bad dream.”
    â€œYou’re a strong woman. You will do what has to be done.”
    â€œYesterday I went to the lake.”
    Lorett said nothing, waiting for the rest of Sarah’s pain to spill out, knowing it was the only way to cleanse the horror from her mind.
    â€œIt’s different than I remembered. The surface of the water was like black glass.” She shuddered. “I can see it from Tony’s house.”
    â€œAnd this is a problem?”
    â€œJust thinking about Daddy being down there for all that time gives me the creeps. Oh, Aunt Lorett, say prayers for me, will you?”
    â€œYou know I will. Now go to your man and remember what I said about shadows.”
    â€œYes, all right,” Sarah said, and then added before Lorett disconnected, “I love you, Aunt Lorett.”
    â€œ Oui, ma chère, I love you, too.”
    It wasn’t until Lorett disconnected that Sarah realized she had referred to Tony DeMarco as her man.
    Â 
    By the time they got to the cemetery, the rain had changed to a cold drizzle, leaving the air feeling thick, almost too thick to breathe. Moisture dripped from the harlequin-colored leaves, splattering onto the ground in intermittent patterns as they got out of the car.
    Sarah looked out across the acres of tombstones and shuddered. Almost instantly, Tony was at her side. He slid a hand beneath the collar of her coat and gently squeezed the nape of her neck.
    â€œAre you all right?”
    She looked at him, seeing the concern and compassion in his eyes, and shrugged out of his grasp, unable to accept the tenderness for fear that she would cry.
    â€œI haven’t been all right for twenty years.”
    Tony ignored her quarrelsome attitude. Truth was, he wasn’t so damn sure that he wouldn’t feel the same way—maybe worse.
    â€œDo you know where your mother’s grave is located?”
    Sarah turned, her gaze shifting to the area on their left.
    â€œOver there somewhere.”
    He held out his hand. “Come on. We’ll find it together, then I promise to give you some space.”
    â€œYou don’t have to, you know.”
    He frowned. “Damn it, Sarah, I’m not the enemy. Let me help.”
    She hesitated before she shrugged. “Yes…all right. I—”
    â€œJust a minute,” Tony said, and went back to the car.
    Sarah watched as he popped the trunk and leaned down.
    When he stepped back, he was carrying a handful of amber chrysanthemums. She recognized them from the flower beds in front of his house.
    â€œI thought you might want something to put on her grave,” he said, and thrust them toward her.
    His thoughtfulness shamed her as she took the bouquet and clutched it close to her chest.
    â€œI don’t know what to say.” She lowered her head, inhaling the crisp scent of the blossoms.
    â€œâ€˜Thank you’ will suffice.”
    She looked up. He was smiling. Tears filmed her vision and thickened her voice.
    â€œYou’re not as tough as you would have people think, are you?” she asked.
    â€œIf you tell, I’ll deny it,” he said softly, and cupped her elbow. “Come on, honey. Let’s go find your mother.”
    Sarah let him guide her, not because she felt incapable of dealing with the moment, but because he seemed so sincere in wanting to help.
    â€œThe day of the funeral, I remember standing next to a tombstone that was a praying angel.”
    â€œThat should make it easier to find,” he said, and started searching the horizon for something other than the traditional grave markers.
    But before they’d gone far, a car pulled into the cemetery and parked behind Tony’s car. Because they were intent on their search, the driver had gotten out of the car and was