Read Online Nowhere to Hide by Nancy Bush - Free Book Online Page B

“You met Greg Dempsey face-to-face, right? Sheila’s husband?”
    â€œEh . . . I only went to The Barn Door a few times, especially after eating that seventy-two-ounce steak,” he said. “Dempsey was there once with Sheila, and they were in a corner, havin’ a big fight. He was mad ’cause she was there and he had to go to work. He told her to go home and she told him where he could stick that. Got kinda ugly and I was startin’ their way, when he stalked out.”
    â€œYou called him a narcissist,” September reminded him.
    â€œYep. From what Sheila said. You know the type: they’re only thinkin’ about what’s next for them. They’re bored with everythin’ you say. Don’t even hear ya. And everythin’ that comes out of their mouth is about them.”
    â€œI know the type,” September agreed, thinking about both her current and ex-stepmother.
    â€œYou lookin’ at Dempsey for Do Unto Others?” he asked.
    â€œWell, he sure can’t say anything nice about Sheila.”
    â€œHis kind can’t say anythin’ nice about anyone. Much as I’d like to take it to that guy, he didn’t kill Emmy Decatur, and if you check, he was probably puttin’ in the hours at work when the Tripp homicide went down, too.”
    â€œYou sound just like I feel.”
    â€œHow’s that?”
    â€œDepressed. I want it to be Dempsey, too.”
    They talked for a few more minutes, then September hung up, a smile lingering on her lips. Her cell phone rang a few minutes later and she recognized the ring tone as the one she’d assigned to her brother. She’d put a call into him and it had taken him a while to call back. She answered, “So you are still on the planet.”
    â€œI’ve been busy. Portland’s got another task force and they want me to be a part of it.”
    â€œIt’s hell to be popular.”
    â€œYeah, well . . . you know what I want to do.”
    â€œAnd you know what I said about that,” she responded.
    â€œDon’t worry. It ain’t gonna happen. D’Annibal’s practically assigned me to the task force before I was asked. You guys are down to a skeleton crew with Weasel laid up.”
    â€œWes is getting better. I just talked to him.”
    â€œHuh. Well, what’s the big news you alluded to?”
    September smiled faintly and said, “Just checking to see if you’re ready for another sister.”
    â€œAnother sister? What do you mean?”
    â€œOur current stepmama is pregnant with a girl.”
    There was a suspended moment, and then he barked, “Rosamund? No way!”
    â€œâ€™Fraid so, Bro.”
    â€œWhat month?”
    September grinned. All of them always went to the same place. “January. But never fear, she’s naming it Gilda.”
    â€œBullshit.”
    â€œThat’s pretty much what I said.”
    â€œThis isn’t some kind of joke, is it?”
    â€œNo joke.”
    September had left a message on Auggie’s cell when she’d gotten back from seeing Rosamund and March and told him to call her. She was glad Auggie was so sought after and unavailable so he would quit bugging her about Do Unto Others. Especially now, when Jake Westerly’s name had cropped up.
    â€œI’m going to have to talk to our father,” he said in a long-suffering tone.
    â€œAh, you can skate for a while more. Rosamund’s already pregnant. A little late for changing anyone’s mind.”
    â€œMan, I don’t want to deal with him.”
    â€œThen don’t,” was September’s advice. “You’ve got along this far without him, let it go. Maybe after the blessed event you might want to meet your new sibling, but I wouldn’t sweat it till then. Me, I’ve got to go back. Rosamund barred me from the attic and basement, so until I talk to Dad, I can’t get to my grade school artwork