Read Online Dear Killer (Marley Clark Mysteries) by Linda Lovely - Free Book Online Page A

the container. Its viscous
contents splashed over the rim, and bloody splatters exploded across his chest.
Henry’s gleaming weapon spiraled to the ground like a kamikaze glider.
    My heart sank. The Cuthbert boys weren’t alone. Chief
Dixon’s twelve-year-old granddaughter Sammie and her friend Amy sprawled on a
rotting log, transfixed by the twins, my gate-crashing, pot consumption,
alcohol, or all of the above.
    “Stay where you are,” I yelled. “Don’t move a muscle.”
    I holstered my gun and attempted to lower my heart rate. Did
I need my Taser? While I know young teens can—and do—kill, these kids
seemed unlikely murder suspects.
    Dressed alike, the twins wore two-hundred-dollar sneakers
and dirt-streaked iridescent mesh shirts cut off to expose nonexistent abs. The
crotches of their baggy britches swayed around their knees. Wearing those
getups, the boys stood no chance of gathering sufficient knee-pumping speed to
outrun me in the rugged terrain.
    “Oh, man,” Jared whined. “You ruined everything, you bitch
pig. We were about to powwow with old Stew’s ghost. You freaked his spirit,
man.”
    “Freakin’ ’ho,” Henry chimed in. “You made me drop my holy
blade.” He paused then resumed his chant. “She grabbed his head and massaged it
a-quiver…I snatched a gun and ventilated his liver.”
    Though I figured Henry was spouting bad rap lyrics, he was
weirding me out.
    “I’m snowboarding on blood-stained ice. I yanked out her
cheating eyeballs and rolled ’em like dice.”
    “Knock it off, Henry,” I ordered.
    “Hey, man, your chrome don’t scare my bro’,” Jared
interjected.
    “Shut your traps,” I barked. “The nearest ‘hood’ is at least
two-hundred miles away, so ice the attitude. Sammie, cough up an answer now:
What’s going on?”
    “Just a séance,” the young girl mumbled. She tugged at the
peasant blouse sliding down her skinny arms. The drooping top exposed a strap
on what we called a training bra in my day, though this girl had zilch to
tutor. The child’s attitude was sullen, and the eyes she flicked my way were
bloodshot. Bollocks .
    The aroma of burning leaves made me cough. Marijuana.
    “Jared, what’s the red stuff?” I motioned at the decanter.
    “Tomato juice.” He added a theatrical cackle as an
afterthought. “It’s a hell of a mixer. Like whad’ya think it was, blood? What a
dork.”
    “Bring it here.” I grabbed the container and took a whiff.
Yes,my nose said, tomato juice. I stuck in a finger and extracted a
sample. A Bloody Mary. Pot and vodka. Great.
    “Okay, party’s over. It’s way past island curfew. And we
won’t even talk about the marijuana or booze. I’m taking you home and talking
with your parents. If we had a jail, you idiots would call it home tonight. As
it is, my decision on pressing charges will wait till morning.”
    My threat struck no fear in the pubescent quartet. Only Amy
seemed abashed.
    “Hey, she’s going to talk to Mommy . This should be
fun,” Jared smirked.
    “We get a ride in a berry,” Henry added.
    “Can it.” I snatched the swaying lantern from a tree branch,
then slipped on thin leather driving gloves to scoop up Henry’s knife and a
reefer as potential evidence.
    “You guys, pick up everything else. You’re not leaving a
mess.”
    Their nonchalance infuriated me. “Didn’t it occur to you
bozos that you could be the next murder victims? What were you thinking,
sneaking out in the middle of the night when a killer’s on the loose?”
    “Hey, what are you thinking, coming here?” Henry mimicked.
“You couldn’t find a turd floating in a fish tank.”
    Would I be found guilty if I took out my pistol and capped
him? Unfortunately, jurors would only acquit if they could hear his garbage
mouth.
    No signs of remorse. The foursome was simply miffed at being
caught. The girls kept cutting their eyes to the twins. A case of misplaced
hero worship.
    We trooped to my patrol car and I shooed everyone