Read Online New Growth (Spook Hills Trilogy Book 2) by Jayne Menard - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Jayne Menard
Ads: Link
fashioned herself into a man of style and information, known in the underworld simply
as Julio.
With a tall, slender and flat-chested torso and narrow hips,
Julio resembled an Italian male model. Even as a child, he had dissembled, sliding away from somber
conversations, avoiding arguments and learning how not to be seen. Like now, Julio found sitting with Cruze and facing the reality of the brothers’ deaths too
painful to endure.
He walked briskly along past the shops in the mall. Even in these chic surroundings frequented by
movie stars, people regarded him with admiration as he passed. Julio smiled to himself, glad to still be a
metrosexual head-turner in his early forties. He slipped into a shop to
disappear. The fashionable mall functioned as one of his haunts. He tipped the sales
staff in several shops to let him use their back doors. Wherever he went, he always plotted a safe
departure path.
Chapter 6
On a warm Thursday morning of that same week, Mathew sat
on the green knoll near the tree house where the contractor was winching up the
walls. They had closed on the additional
property late the previous afternoon. With all the paperwork in order, he was coordinating with an architect to
obtain the required building permits. First on a nearby slope, he planned a manager’s cottage, expanding an
existing small house into a duplex with one-half for Lenny and the other for Fred. On the
far side of a third hillock, he foresaw a
gravity-based wine facility, allowing the liquid to flow downward with the
hillside to reduce the amount of mechanization. To minimize any damaging impact on the environment, he intended each aspect
of the winery to operate organically.
He glanced over at the current building site when one of the
workers let out a yell as the materials they were yanking up swung too
wide. The structure had two stories,
each with ten-foot ceilings. The entire top floor of the hexagon flaunted expansive
windows, including skylights in the rooftop. Steve expected to position a telescope on the deck for honing in on
constellations and for general observation. Even though more of a gazebo on stilts than a tree house, the edifice
gave the illusion of nestling in the branches of the low , spreading walnut canopy. The three concentric circles of grass, sweet woodruff and lavender
should protect the adjacent fields from a toxin produced by the walnuts that could harm the grapes.
When he gazed downhill, he spied his neighbor Rick driving
fast up the grassy road between rows of grapevines. Rick’s expression of deep stress when he
jumped out of his old Land Rover made Mathew scramble up and jog over to meet
him.
“Hey, Rick. What’s
wrong?”
“Got a call from
Callie. She’s hysterical. Someone kidnapped Susannah!”
“No, no, not that darling child. When?”
“This morning. Callie
had a doctor’s appointment that morning. She left Susannah with John Henry.”
“And?” Mathew could feel himself sliding away from his new
life as a winegrower back into his former role as an FBI agent.
“He dropped Susannah off at her school for a morning summer
program and headed off to Berkeley. Someone snatched Susannah. The
school called a couple of hours later inquiring about her.”
“Why was she taken? John Henry and Callie are not the type of wealthy parents kidnappers
usually target.”
“Maybe not, but I am,” Rick said grimly. “Someone must have found out that Callie has
a rich uncle.”
“Which means whoever is behind this who knows them pretty
well. After all you’re not exactly next
door since Callie lives down in
California.”
“The kidnappers phoned right after the school did, demanding
five million for her return.”
“Can you raise that much money quickly?”
“I may need help, but I’m here for a different reason. Callie wants you to come down to California
with me.”
“She
as Julio.
With a tall, slender and flat-chested torso and narrow hips,
Julio resembled an Italian male model. Even as a child, he had dissembled, sliding away from somber
conversations, avoiding arguments and learning how not to be seen. Like now, Julio found sitting with Cruze and facing the reality of the brothers’ deaths too
painful to endure.
He walked briskly along past the shops in the mall. Even in these chic surroundings frequented by
movie stars, people regarded him with admiration as he passed. Julio smiled to himself, glad to still be a
metrosexual head-turner in his early forties. He slipped into a shop to
disappear. The fashionable mall functioned as one of his haunts. He tipped the sales
staff in several shops to let him use their back doors. Wherever he went, he always plotted a safe
departure path.
Chapter 6
On a warm Thursday morning of that same week, Mathew sat
on the green knoll near the tree house where the contractor was winching up the
walls. They had closed on the additional
property late the previous afternoon. With all the paperwork in order, he was coordinating with an architect to
obtain the required building permits. First on a nearby slope, he planned a manager’s cottage, expanding an
existing small house into a duplex with one-half for Lenny and the other for Fred. On the
far side of a third hillock, he foresaw a
gravity-based wine facility, allowing the liquid to flow downward with the
hillside to reduce the amount of mechanization. To minimize any damaging impact on the environment, he intended each aspect
of the winery to operate organically.
He glanced over at the current building site when one of the
workers let out a yell as the materials they were yanking up swung too
wide. The structure had two stories,
each with ten-foot ceilings. The entire top floor of the hexagon flaunted expansive
windows, including skylights in the rooftop. Steve expected to position a telescope on the deck for honing in on
constellations and for general observation. Even though more of a gazebo on stilts than a tree house, the edifice
gave the illusion of nestling in the branches of the low , spreading walnut canopy. The three concentric circles of grass, sweet woodruff and lavender
should protect the adjacent fields from a toxin produced by the walnuts that could harm the grapes.
When he gazed downhill, he spied his neighbor Rick driving
fast up the grassy road between rows of grapevines. Rick’s expression of deep stress when he
jumped out of his old Land Rover made Mathew scramble up and jog over to meet
him.
“Hey, Rick. What’s
wrong?”
“Got a call from
Callie. She’s hysterical. Someone kidnapped Susannah!”
“No, no, not that darling child. When?”
“This morning. Callie
had a doctor’s appointment that morning. She left Susannah with John Henry.”
“And?” Mathew could feel himself sliding away from his new
life as a winegrower back into his former role as an FBI agent.
“He dropped Susannah off at her school for a morning summer
program and headed off to Berkeley. Someone snatched Susannah. The
school called a couple of hours later inquiring about her.”
“Why was she taken? John Henry and Callie are not the type of wealthy parents kidnappers
usually target.”
“Maybe not, but I am,” Rick said grimly. “Someone must have found out that Callie has
a rich uncle.”
“Which means whoever is behind this who knows them pretty
well. After all you’re not exactly next
door since Callie lives down in
California.”
“The kidnappers phoned right after the school did, demanding
five million for her return.”
“Can you raise that much money quickly?”
“I may need help, but I’m here for a different reason. Callie wants you to come down to California
with me.”
“She
Similar Books
