Read Online Deadly Valentine by Carolyn G. Hart - Free Book Online Page A

ends—Annie lifted her head and looked toward the open French windows and the balcony that overlooked their patio. She and Max enjoyed the cool night air and the sounds that drifted from the lagoon and the thick stand of yellow pines that separated the properties. Sometimes the noise could be piercing. Winter is the hootiest season for owls. Since female owls have a higher tone than the males, it was possible to tell when romance—or acrimony—was in swing. Their pines were home to a courting pair of Florida barred owls whose avian conversation was a mixture of hoos, cackles, barks, chortles, and aws. They were, in fact, hooting away, but there was nothing in their repertoire which sounded like the slap of tennis shoes against stone.
    The luminous dial of the bedside radio clock read 12:50 A.M .
    Slipping out of bed, Annie hurried to the open windows and stepped out onto the balcony. In the faint moonlight, the pool was a dark octagon. Water burbled softly in the spa. Nothing moved the length of the stone patio, but shrubbery quivered where a path entered the woods, though there was not a breath of wind. As Annie watched, the foliage ceased to move.
    Oh, damn.
    Laurel, of course.
    As to where she was headed and why, Annie preferred not to speculate. But Annie knew she had to go after her mother-in-law. It wasn’t safe to roam about in the woods atnight. Not, of course, for the same reason that one avoided solitary wanderings on night-shrouded city streets. Laurel would understand those dangers. But was she prepared to meet a hungry, perhaps irritable and love-starved raccoon? Or, worse yet, a gray fox out courting? Or a predatory wild boar? Male boars could weigh as much as four hundred pounds and their razor-sharp tusks could be lethal.
    Stepping back into the bedroom, Annie glanced at her sleeping mate. She didn’t want to wake Max and tell him that Laurel was on the loose. In more ways, she thought primly, than one. It would be better by far if she could retrieve her mother-in-law and perhaps suggest that it was a little unseemly to seek out a married man in the middle of the night, no matter how noble her intent.
    It did take time before she could set out in pursuit, even though she hurried. She slipped off her nightgown, pulled on a sweatshirt and pants and a pair of Reeboks. Downstairs, she stopped in momentary confusion. Where had they put the flashlight? In her treehouse, its customary spot was atop stacked, seldom-used blankets in the closet next to the bathroom. The new house had three bathrooms on the second floor and two on the ground floor and—Oh, of course. The kitchen pantry. Retrieving it, she carefully skirted her way across the room, still not quite sure where everything was. As expected, she found an open French window by the patio. Outside, she shivered in the cool, damp air, then headed for the pines.
    It was very dark. An occasional shaft of moonlight pierced the canopies of the trees. Every few feet, a dim light burned on a tree trunk, courtesy of the Scarlet King Homeowners Association since the path around the lagoon was considered property in common. That made it possible to follow the path but also made the woods beyond seem even darker and more threatening. Annie almost turned on the flash, then decided to wait. It would be better if she could spot Laurel before she advertised her own presence. When the path forked, Annie turned right without hesitation, heading toward the Cahill property.
    A sudden hoo-ooo at her shoulder made her jump convulsively. Another owl. That brought to mind otherdenizens of the forest who were about at night. Like cougars, who could measure nine feet from nose to tip of tail. Annie broke into a careful trot, hoping she didn’t stumble over a vagrant tree limb. She tried hard not to think about cougars. Or bobcats. Or skunks.
    “Oh, Jesus.” It was a man’s voice, hoarse and shaken.
    Annie froze. She strained to see through the darkness, but there was nothing but