veins popping out of his neck.
“My entire family has been taken away from me,” said Mrs. Bernstein. “First Amber and now my husband. He will never be himself again and neither will I.” The words were sincere, but her voice was flat and monotonous, in contrast to her husband’s. It sounded as if Mrs. Bernstein was on some heavy sedatives. Susan couldn’t imagine being in her shoes.
“You will pay for this,” continued Mr. Bernstein. “The School Board, the Westbrook Police Department. I’ll destroy them all singlehandedly if my daughter’s killer isn’t found soon. Incompetence will not be tolerated.”
“Mr. and Mrs. Bernstein, we are doing everything we can. We will find your daughter’s killer,” said Lynette. Mr. Bernstein spit at her, then grabbed his wife’s hand and stormed back to his car.
Chapter 20
“So what’s on your agenda today?” asked Mike. He and Susan had just finished their daily walk, and Mike was about to get into the shower and go to work. “Do you still want to have Zach and his wife over for dinner?”
“Sure. That would be nice. I’m volunteering at the school today. I’ll go out to the construction site and ask him if you’d like. Do you think he’ll be out there?”
“Well, he made a point of saying how hands on he was being with this project. You could try. Otherwise, I’ll see him tonight at the poker game.”
“His wife is probably going stir crazy at the Rocking Horse Ranch while he’s at work. After I leave the school, I have to go by Julie’s. She and Joey are out of town. Joey has a big cross country meet and Julie asked me to feed her cat while she’s gone.”
Mike finished his shower while Susan made the bed and hung up the clothes that were draped over the treadmill. Once it started getting colder, she’d be relegated to doing her exercise indoors.
“Hey, I lost five pounds this week,” said Mike. Susan heard the familiar creak of the scale and began feeling guilty about yesterday’s cheeseburger...and fries…and milkshake. Boy, that Lynette is a bad influence, she thought. Lynette could eat like a truck driver and never gain a pound. Mike had been that way too, but now his age was catching up with him and his metabolism had slowed.
“That’s great, Hon. What we’re doing must be working.” Susan hadn’t lost a single pound since they started this regime. Men just lose faster , she thought.
She left the house shortly after Mike did, and drove over to the school. Janet was always happy to see her and Susan felt both useful and appreciated. Handling the media center was overwhelming for one person. At lunch time, she walked outside behind the science building and worked her way over to the construction trailer.
“Excuse me,” she said. “I’m looking for Zach Chichester. Is he here today?” Both of the men in the trailer looked confused.
“There’s no Zach here,” answered the taller of the two.
“Oh, maybe he’s not on site today. I imagine he has lots of office work to manage.”
“We don’t have anyone named Zach involved in this project at all,” said the shorter worker.
“Are you sure? He’s middle-aged, dark hair, about six feet tall,” said Susan.
“No, we know everyone who’s involved in this project. We’ve been working together for months. There definitely isn’t anyone named Zach or even anyone who fits that description on our team.”
Susan walked away from the trailer feeling very confused. Why would Zach claim to be involved in this project if he wasn’t? And if he wasn’t working on the new housing development, why was he in town? Mike would see him tonight and he could do the inviting. She was now more anxious than before to spend some time with him and his wife. Her curiosity had been aroused. She put in a few more hours at the media center, then drove to Julie’s apartment. When she opened the front door, she called for Julie’s cat. Susan knew better than to expect the cat to come
“My entire family has been taken away from me,” said Mrs. Bernstein. “First Amber and now my husband. He will never be himself again and neither will I.” The words were sincere, but her voice was flat and monotonous, in contrast to her husband’s. It sounded as if Mrs. Bernstein was on some heavy sedatives. Susan couldn’t imagine being in her shoes.
“You will pay for this,” continued Mr. Bernstein. “The School Board, the Westbrook Police Department. I’ll destroy them all singlehandedly if my daughter’s killer isn’t found soon. Incompetence will not be tolerated.”
“Mr. and Mrs. Bernstein, we are doing everything we can. We will find your daughter’s killer,” said Lynette. Mr. Bernstein spit at her, then grabbed his wife’s hand and stormed back to his car.
Chapter 20
“So what’s on your agenda today?” asked Mike. He and Susan had just finished their daily walk, and Mike was about to get into the shower and go to work. “Do you still want to have Zach and his wife over for dinner?”
“Sure. That would be nice. I’m volunteering at the school today. I’ll go out to the construction site and ask him if you’d like. Do you think he’ll be out there?”
“Well, he made a point of saying how hands on he was being with this project. You could try. Otherwise, I’ll see him tonight at the poker game.”
“His wife is probably going stir crazy at the Rocking Horse Ranch while he’s at work. After I leave the school, I have to go by Julie’s. She and Joey are out of town. Joey has a big cross country meet and Julie asked me to feed her cat while she’s gone.”
Mike finished his shower while Susan made the bed and hung up the clothes that were draped over the treadmill. Once it started getting colder, she’d be relegated to doing her exercise indoors.
“Hey, I lost five pounds this week,” said Mike. Susan heard the familiar creak of the scale and began feeling guilty about yesterday’s cheeseburger...and fries…and milkshake. Boy, that Lynette is a bad influence, she thought. Lynette could eat like a truck driver and never gain a pound. Mike had been that way too, but now his age was catching up with him and his metabolism had slowed.
“That’s great, Hon. What we’re doing must be working.” Susan hadn’t lost a single pound since they started this regime. Men just lose faster , she thought.
She left the house shortly after Mike did, and drove over to the school. Janet was always happy to see her and Susan felt both useful and appreciated. Handling the media center was overwhelming for one person. At lunch time, she walked outside behind the science building and worked her way over to the construction trailer.
“Excuse me,” she said. “I’m looking for Zach Chichester. Is he here today?” Both of the men in the trailer looked confused.
“There’s no Zach here,” answered the taller of the two.
“Oh, maybe he’s not on site today. I imagine he has lots of office work to manage.”
“We don’t have anyone named Zach involved in this project at all,” said the shorter worker.
“Are you sure? He’s middle-aged, dark hair, about six feet tall,” said Susan.
“No, we know everyone who’s involved in this project. We’ve been working together for months. There definitely isn’t anyone named Zach or even anyone who fits that description on our team.”
Susan walked away from the trailer feeling very confused. Why would Zach claim to be involved in this project if he wasn’t? And if he wasn’t working on the new housing development, why was he in town? Mike would see him tonight and he could do the inviting. She was now more anxious than before to spend some time with him and his wife. Her curiosity had been aroused. She put in a few more hours at the media center, then drove to Julie’s apartment. When she opened the front door, she called for Julie’s cat. Susan knew better than to expect the cat to come
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