Read Online Picture Them Dead by Brynn Bonner - Free Book Online Page B

hit the ground running if we’re going to clear this case quick. Unless I’m interrupting something here,” he said, sweeping a hand toward the pizza box.
    â€œNo, no, it’s fine,” Jack said, though I silently begged to differ. “I need to get going anyhow. I’ve got a job over in Greensboro tomorrow. Need to be on the site by eight a.m. sharp. I’d better get some shut-eye.”
    â€œI’ll walk you out,” I said, jumping up from the ottoman.
    I was still hoping we’d be able to pick back up on the conversation we’d started, but the moment had passed.
    â€œWe’ll talk later,” he said, stopping to pull on his jacket. He gave me a brotherly peck on the cheek, which I enjoyed but also found woefully inadequate.
    As I watched him run through the rain to his truck, I was quite put out with Esme and Denny. All I’d wanted was a little more time for Jack to tell me what he wanted to talk about. They’d ruined it. Or saved me, delayed an inevitable heartbreak. Who knew?
    *   *   *
    My mind kept jumping from one thing to another as I drove to the Raleigh-Durham airport on Tuesday morning to pick up Dee Thompson, Marydale’s daughter. She was coming in early for the wedding so she could be a part of all the hubbub and was planning to stay a week afterward to help run Marydale’s paper-craft shop while Marydale and Winston were on their honeymoon. Dee is the closest thing I have to a sister. Our mothers had been the closest of friends and we’d grown up side by side. We still stay in constant contact, mostly through texts, emails, and phone calls. I was excited about a real visit.
    Denny’s few questions the night before had turned into an exhaustive exegesis of every detail we’d observed when we’d found the woman at River’s place. It was what made him a good cop, and I usually appreciated his thoroughness, but I hadn’t been in the mood. I knew it was unforgivably callous, but I’d been more concerned with Jack and the missed opportunity for a talk that might have resolved some of our issues.
    But now, in the clear light of day, I was thinking of the dead woman, the image of her ruined face ingrained in my mind. Who was she and why had she been at that place at that time? She hadn’t appeared to be carrying anything to leave as a tribute, but maybe she’d already left it by the fence. Was this somehow tied up with the Forgotten Man or was it simply a bizarre convergence of ill timing and bad luck? If the man who killed her was someone she knew, it probably hadn’t been planned. If it had, he would have come with a more efficient weapon than whatever he’d used to bludgeon her. And what had he used? A rock? I didn’t see any bloody rocks anywhere near her. And why did I assume the murderer was a man?
    A stray thought hit me like a bolt out of nowhere and I almost veered off I-40 into the breakdown lane. River had been highly annoyed by the people invading his property. What if he’d finally had enough? What if he’d snapped? What did I really know about River Jeffers? I knew he was a driven businessman and that underneath his laid-back, man-of-the-land persona, there was a wealthy man who could afford just about anything he wanted and was accustomed to having his way. It was clear that establishing himself on this land according to his vision was important to him. How important? I pushed the thought away. It was ridiculous. Though I’d known River only a short time, I trusted my own judgment and I was convinced he was a good guy. A principled guy. A compassionate guy. I’d sooner suspect Jennifer, which might not be so far-fetched, I mused, considering how protective of her father she was. Then I caught myself. I didn’t have the warm fuzzies for Jennifer, but she certainly wasn’t a murderer. What was wrong with me?
    I shook my head and tried to concentrate on