Read Online Tax Assassin by Claudia Hall Christian - Free Book Online

and the Civil War –
Confederate Army specifically,” Seth said.
    Jocelyn shrugged.
    “ Anything?”
    “ In that area? Sure,”
Jocelyn said. “Why don’t I take a look? I’ll let you know if I can
pin down anything specific.”
    “ Thanks,” Seth
said.
    Jocelyn looked as if she was going to say
something. Instead, she turned in place and walked back across the
library. Seth watched her go, then set the map book back on its
shelf. Rachel stirred and he took her into the bathroom to change
her diaper. She smiled at him and fell sound asleep.
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NINE
    Somewhere between dropping Rachel off in
Uptown and his house in Park Hill, the passageway to where music
lived clicked open. As it had since that day in second grade, music
flooded in. The rhythm pounded in his brain. The sound filled his
ears. His nose filled with the sweet smell of melody. He had to
lean forward to focus on driving. He made it to his driveway before
his sight filled. Before his eyes, he saw dancing black notes on a
white page.
    Seth stumbled from his car and fumbled with
the lock on the garden gate. He was about to call the house when
the gate opened. Ava stood in front of him. Under music’s spell, he
had the overwhelming desire to make love to her right there. She
smiled with the memory of the times they had done just that. They
both looked in the direction of the sound of her mother’s
laugh.
    He was infused with music, not insane. There
was no way he was going to get caught making love on the lawn by
her mother. Ava leaned forward to acknowledge his thoughts.
    Taking his hand, she helped him through the
gate. She slipped down the backstairs to avoid their house guests.
She took his key from his hand and helped him into his piano
sanctuary. When he turned, Ava kissed him with hard promise and
touched her hand to his heart. He smiled. With a nod, she closed
the door.
    He sat down at the piano and felt the music
well. His last conscious thought was to turn on the digital
recorder.
    The music took him away.
    He played until his fingers hurt. He played
until he had to fight to keep his eyes open. Closing his heavy
lids, he played until the music slipped away.
    He stumbled from the bench to the bathroom.
When he returned, he noticed Ava curled up on the leather couch.
Wrapped in his mother’s quilts, she had been there for hours. He
lay down on the rug in front of her and fell sound asleep.
    When he woke a couple of hours later, he
knew two things – that the music he’d created last night was good,
and that all of this killing was connected in some way to property
taxes in southeastern Colorado. Once he’d polished and finished the
music, his agent would package and sell it.
    It was up to him to find the killers. With
murder-for-hire, he knew where to start.
    Like always, his music surge left him awake
and invigorated. He touched Ava’s sleeping face. She opened her
eyes and smiled.
    “ Are you back?” she
asked.
    “ For you,” he
said.
    She joined him on the floor.
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TEN
    Seth leaned back in his office chair to look
at the map of the U.S. he’d tacked on the wall. He’d placed a
yellow self-sticking flag over every city with a cluster of three
or four unsolved killings over the course of a summer. The map was
covered with yellow. Hearing a sound behind him, Seth rotated his
office chair around to find Ava’s sister Éowyn standing in the
doorway.
    “ So, that’s what you do
here?” Éowyn spoke in her usual sneering tone. Seth heard Éowyn’s
desperate unhappiness echo between her words. He smiled.
    “ What is?” He rotated his
chair back around to look at the large map. He gestured to a chair
near him. She slunk into the room.
    “ Music, mystery, sex,”
Éowyn said as she dropped into the seat.
    “ I was supposed to be on
vacation,” Seth said.
    “ Seems like a vacation,”
she said.
    “ Don’t tell anyone,” Seth
rotated to