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

love,
obsession maybe, but . . .”
    Embarrassed, he looked away from her.
    “ But?”
    “ Oh, nothing,” he said. “I
was going to say that I don’t love the press of composition or the
moment the music comes. It’s like an overpowering urge for sex – an
almost physical pain that requires a kind of desperate release. But
the truth of the matter is that I feel so alive when the music
comes. It’s as if every fiber, every tissue, every cell in my body
vibrates with passion. It’s a rush that . . . well,
I guess is . . . hard to explain.
    “ I’m miserable if I only
play the piano. I can retreat from the world in my basement and
play for days at a time. Once I’ve been down there for a week or
so, I start to think of drugs and alcohol and . . .
Well, let’s just say it doesn’t suit me.”
    “ That’s why you’re a cop?”
Éowyn asked.
    “ Music and mysteries go
hand in hand,” Seth said. “My agent says my music is better when
I’m working on a case. I think the mysteries occupy my thinking
mind and get me out of the house. That leaves the rest of me open
and receptive to music. I solve puzzles while I’m composing. In the
last ten years or so, I’ve written a new piece for every big
case.”
    “ This is a big case
then.”
    “ I guess so,” Seth said.
“Can I ask you a question?”
    She nodded.
    “ What do you love to do?”
he asked.
    As if she’d never heard the question before,
her mouth fell open. She gave a slight shake of her head and
scowled.
    “ Not being a lawyer,” he
said.
    “ How . . .?”
    “ We’ve tried two cases
together?”
    “ Three,” she
said.
    “ If you watch the DA in
court, he loves being there. He struts around like a peacock in
heat,” Seth said. “I’ve had lunch with him where he repeats every
glorious word from his day in court. He loves everything about
being in court. He even loves the politics. But you . .
.?”
    “ If you’re saying I’m not
any good at being a DA, you’re wrong,” she said. “I have the best
record of any deputy DA in the state. No one else is even
close.”
    “ I asked you what you love
to do.” Seth’s tone was even and kind, but she reacted as if she’d
been hit. She jumped from her seat and raised her index finger like
a dagger.
    “ I’ll tell you that I
graduated Phi Beta Kappa at CU Boulder and was first in my class at
Stanford,” she said. “I didn’t need my father’s help getting my
job. Prosecutor’s offices lined up to get a chance for me to work
with them. I don’t expect to have any trouble replacing my job.
None.”
    “ And?”
    As if he’d pulled a string attached to her
belly button, she collapsed into the chair. She covered her face
with her hands and cried. To give her some privacy, he waded
through his email. There was lots of chatter about his case, but no
new facts.
    Who was behind all of this murder? He’d
almost forgotten Éowyn was there when she gave a kind of cough or a
laugh. He rotated his chair to look at her.
    “ Knitting.” Her voice was
light and her face lit up in a smile. “I love to knit.”
    He was so surprised by her words that he
couldn’t think of anything to say. She gave a sad shrug.
    “ Can’t make a living
knitting things,” she said.
    “ What about owning a
store?”
    She blinked at him for a few moments before
she looked away.
    “ A knitting store,” Seth
said. “A yarn store. Something high-end to suit your . .
.”
    “ My snotty ways?” she
smirked. He smiled. “How am I going to launch my own store when I’m
flat broke?”
    “ How does anyone?” he
asked.
    “ That’s what I’m
asking.”
    “ I have no idea,” he
said.
    “ Oh.”
    He watched her closely as the silence
dragged into almost a minute. When she said, “Who would?” he
smiled.
    “ My agent, James Schmidt,
Jr., has a step-mother who owns a little fashion shop,” Seth
said.
    “ Which one?”
    “ Annabel’s.”
    “ Nice,” Éowyn
said.
    “ I bet she’d tell