Read Online Plundered Christmas by Susan Lyttek - Free Book Online Page B

things to talk about if they did indeed plan on marrying.
    “James,” Dad said. “Can you quickly check all the rooms? Maybe William and his mother are sleeping or resting and don’t know about the current situation.”
    James agreed, but took Charlie with him as the person who knew the most about the house. “I’ve only seen about a third of the rooms,” he said.
    I didn’t think I’d seen that many of them. What could all those rooms hide?
    They weren’t gone long before they brought back Anne. She had been sleeping.
    William, however, was not in his room.
    Charlie and James renewed the search.
    Mary and I, though, wanted to know if Anne knew anything about her son’s whereabouts.
    “No, nothing,” she said a bit defensively. “He’s a grown man. He said after lunch that he was going fishing.” She looked to the windows as if to see his face or some other sign of his presence. “But that was hours ago.”
    I pointed outside. “A storm is also coming our way. I do hope he’s not on the ocean right now. Even the Coast Guard can’t get to us.”
    At that news, her haughty demeanor dropped. Briefly. “He’ll be back. My boy’s an excellent seaman. Did you know he grew up on this island?”
    I shook my head, no.
    “Well, he did. My brother even told him that he would inherit. Raised him to take over the family shipping business. But then she,” the woman indicated her unconscious sister-in-law. “She talked my brother into selling the entire business to a conglomerate. All they kept was the island. What could my William run then? The kitchen?”
    Margo stirred, but did not open her eyes. When she spoke, I could barely hear her. “We paid for his schooling. He could do with that whatever he wanted.”
    Dad glared at Anne. “Margo has been seriously injured and you dare slander her? On Christmas Eve? In her own home?”
    I thought Anne would look more repentant, but the anger in her expression didn’t lie. She seriously believed that Margo and her husband had mistreated William. She turned away and looked at the tree.
    Dad leaned in to Margo. “Can I get you anything to make you feel better?”
    “I-I don’t know. It hurts.”
    Mary started up a laptop. “I’m going to see if I can get that doctor online that Charlie told us about.” She tapped rapidly on the keys, logging in and trying to connect. After several minutes of tapping, she cursed. “I can’t get a signal.”
    “Where’s your cell tower? Or router hook-up?” I used up all of my computer knowledge and techno-speak in less than thirty seconds.
    She pointed to the tree. It took me a moment to realize the word that came out next. “Upstairs. Not the safest place to be if the wind kicks up too high. Even with the hurricane glass, we’ve had to replace windows over the years. But I need to try.” She turned to her aunt. “Auntie Anne, can you come with me? I need someone to keep an eye on the storm and warn me when we should head back down.”
    The woman didn’t bicker or argue. She simply followed Mary up the stairs.
    “That’s odd.” I didn’t realize that I’d said those words aloud until Margo answered me.
    “My daughter and evil sister-in-law? I know.” She coughed, and then groaned when it moved her shoulder. “They’ve always been close. Why do you think I invite the woman for Christmas year after year? It’s certainly not because of any love between us. At least that husband of hers didn’t have the nerve to show his face. I caught him robbing the manor last year.” The emotion made her shake and then cry from the pain.
    “Shhh,” my dad urged. The last years with Mom had given Dad an amazing bedside manner. He plumped her pillow without moving her body or having any impact on the injured shoulder. “You shouldn’t be talking. You have a serious wound.”
    Margo used her good arm to push herself up on the couch, evidently trying to find a more comfortable position.
    “Stay still.” ordered Dad. “James