Read Online Gingerbread Man by MAGGIE SHAYNE - Free Book Online Page B

will."
    Vince walked out of the diner with the
envelope under his arm, got into his Jeep, and headed back to
Dilmun. He glanced at his watch and knew he was going to be
late.
    ***
    HOLLY PACED AS more and more of the locals
gathered, and she tried to keep her gaze from drifting toward Vince
O'Mally's cabin. She wasn't having much success. His Jeep had been
gone most of the day. Maybe he'd decided that whatever he'd come
looking for wasn't here. Maybe he'd gone back to Syracuse for
good.
    "It's early yet, hon." Her mother's hand
curled over Holly's shoulder with a reassuring squeeze. "He'll be
here."
    "Who?" Holly pasted an unconcerned expression
on her face. She couldn't very well tell her mother she half hoped
the man was gone for good. Or that the other half only wanted to
see him tonight, to try to find out what he was really after.
    Doris just shook her head and moved away,
toward the heap of deadwood that had been piled up for the bonfire.
Around the pile, in a concentric circle, people milled. Picnic
tables littered the area, and the early arrivals claimed them.
Others spread blankets on the ground, or unfolded lawn chairs. Off
to the left, on the round pavilion, a local band set up their
instruments. Farther from the woodpile, some of the locals were
erecting dome tents, planning to make a full night of it.
    Already the sun was drooping low beyond the
hills out past the lake. It had been a nicer day today than
yesterday. Chilly and breezy, but dry. The sky was dusky now,
violet and pink as the sun sank lower, and the wind stirred the
water with its breath.
    And still not one sign of life from O'Mally's
cabin.
    "You looking for someone?"
    His voice came from right behind her, and she
jumped. Then she bit her lip and closed her eyes, still not facing
him. Damn, he'd caught her staring off toward his place. He would
probably reach the same conclusions that her mother had.
    "I... was just wondering if your burglar had
come back." There, that was better. She turned, trying for a smug
expression.
    He said, "He might have for all I know. I
haven't been home all day."
    "I know." She frowned, and felt a stirring
discomfort because he stood so close.
    "Did you see anything suspicious?" he
asked.
    Holly shrugged. "It's not like I've been
watching."
    "No?"
    She shook her head.
    "Then how did you know I hadn't been home
yet?"
    "Lucky guess." She saw his Jeep now, in the
vacant area they used as a parking lot for lakefront gatherings.
He'd parked there and come straight here, rather than going back to
the cabin first. Almost as if he were in a hurry. He wore jeans and
a brown leather jacket, unzipped so that his blue button-down shirt
showed underneath. It wasn't tucked in tightly, so it bagged. She
wondered if he ate enough. A cop his age should have a paunch. He
had a haggard look to him—eyes slightly heavy lidded, and shadowed.
He didn't have laugh lines around his eyes. He needed them.
    His eyes met hers, and she knew he was aware
of her perusal.
    "Oh, Detective O'Mally, there you are!" Doris
called, hurrying from the table she'd commandeered to where the two
of them stood, gazes locked. "Holly was getting impatient,
wondering where you were."
    That was enough to make Holly break eye
contact. She jerked her gaze toward her mother and felt her face
heat. "I was not."
    Vince could have smirked at her, but he
didn't. He shifted his feet, maybe a little uncomfortable. "Sorry
I'm late, Ms. Newman."
    "Doris, please. And there's no need to
apologize."
    "Doris," he said. "And there is. I had some
errands to run, and it took longer than I expected."
    "Have you had any luck tracking down your
library book bandit?" She asked the question, Holly thought, as if
he were chasing down an armed bank robber, and it was the most
interesting case in the history of criminal justice.
    "None at all." He worked up a smile for her.
Holly thought his smiles always looked as if they took effort to
produce. "Fortunately, it doesn't matter, since I'm