Read Online Killer Getaway by Amy Korman - Free Book Online

for dating his estranged wife, and second, for all the money he was spending to re-­glitz the house.
    To make matters worse for Barclay, his doctors had ordered him to go on a strict diet for the entire fall and winter.
    This worked out fantastically for Joe, because Sophie—­using the time-­honored tradition of reverse psychology—­had gotten Barclay to hire Gerda to oversee his weight-­loss program.
    When Gerda lived with Sophie, she was always nagging both Sophie and Joe to do things like eat kale and give up vodka. As Joe told us, if there’s anything that kills romance, it’s having a live-­in Pilates teacher from Austria in the next room.
    â€œMr. Shields rented a house,” clarified Gerda. “In Magnolia Beach.”
    â€œWhat!” Joe groaned. “I’ve gotta call Sophie. I can’t believe Barclay followed us here! What a stalker.”
    â€œI might get in trouble with Mr. Shields if Sophie find out he’s here in Florida,” said Gerda, looking as nervous as I’d ever seen her, which wasn’t all that nervous. Gerda is nothing if not stoic, and doesn’t fluster easily. She once fell flat on her face from atop the bar at the Bryn Mawr Pub and emerged totally unscathed.
    â€œMr. Shields, he said he tired of cold weather, and he not going to tell Sophie he’s staying two blocks away from her,” Gerda elaborated. “His lawyers told him stay away from Sophie—­no stalking. I think maybe we keep it secret that you know he’s here in Florida. Okay?”
    We all considered this. No one wanted to see Barclay. No one wanted Sophie to have to deal with him. And Joe looked terrified. Barclay is a little scary, given his onetime mafia ties and also because of his sheer physical bulk. Even down sixty pounds, Barclay’s still roughly twice the size of Joe. We agreed to make sure Sophie didn’t throw a tantrum about her ex being in town.
    â€œHow’s Barclay planning to hide out in Magnolia Beach?” Joe asked. “It’s not that big a town.”
    â€œWe mostly stay home. Me, I’m not supposed to be here at the tennis match,” Gerda admitted. “I told Barclay I take taxi to the Delray farmers’ market. He has business meeting at the house, so he said it was okay, but he told me to keep low profile.”
    â€œDon’t worry about it,” Holly told her. “We’ll tell Sophie that she can’t let her ex know that she knows he’s here. Just don’t mention to Barclay that you saw us .”
    â€œNot on your life,” Gerda agreed.
    Holly gazed thoughtfully at Gerda. “I wonder why Barclay came to Magnolia Beach, though, if he didn’t want to run into Sophie. There are a million other towns in Florida.”
    Gerda perked up a little. “I have information about that. He has business down here, he’s working on some kind of secret deal. Plus, he gets a lot of calls from that chef.”
    â€œChef Gianni?” Joe asked.
    â€œYeah, that one,” Gerda confirmed.
    â€œGerda, this is huge, because we think Gianni might have tried to run me over with a Chevy the other night, plus kill the manager of a restaurant that Sophie and I have personally sunk a fortune in,” Holly told her. “And the fact that Barclay’s down here too seems like too much of a coincidence.”
    â€œYeah,” Gerda said. “When did you almost get nailed?”
    â€œTuesday night, around ten,” Holly told her.
    â€œI hate to tell you this, but Barclay got a rented Chevy at the house!” Gerda informed us. “I don’t think he drive much, though. He has Town Cars with tinted windows pick him up so he can go around and not be seen.” She paused to think for a second. “But it could have been Barclay who run you down,” Gerda said grimly. “We got to rented house in afternoon on Tuesday, and I went to bed at nine and had to take