Read Online With Baited Breath by Lorraine Bartlett - Free Book Online Page A

sound his usual cheerful self when we last talked. He was distracted—like he had other things on his—mind, and that wasn’t like him. He was always happy to hear from me, but that night he ended our conversation pretty quick.”
    “Did you tell the police this?”
    “Yeah, but it doesn’t mean anything to them.” She shook her head, her eyes filling with tears once again. “How does that get a good man killed?” she asked, her voice breaking.
    Again, Tori had no idea what to say, how to comfort the woman. Her grandmother had died unaware, but Michael Jackson’s death had been violent—and his body dragged and dumped not ten feet from where she now stood.
    Anissa wiped her eyes and blew her nose once more, staring off in the direction of the bait shop. “You doing some fixing up for your grandfather?”
    Tori nodded. “Yeah. Trying to see if I can help him get this place back in the black. He took care of my grandma the last couple of years and things kind of got away from him.”
    Anissa nodded and sniffed. “If you need some odd jobs done, I’m available. I can do demo, drywall, electrical, and plumbing.”
    “Right now the budget is practically nil, which is why my friend, Kathy, is here to help me paint the bait shop. She’s got it in her head that I should try to reopen the Lotus Lodge.”
    Anissa turned back to look at the motel. “Girl, if that’s your plan, you’ve got your hands full. Still, if you decide you want to do even a little sprucing up so it doesn’t look like such an eyesore, you know where to find me—at least for the next week or so.”
    “I’ll keep it in mind,” Tori said.
    Anissa started back for her truck. She opened the door and climbed inside. “I guess I’ll see you around.”
    “I hope so,” Tori said.
    Anissa started the engine and backed up, leaving the lot and heading up Resort Road. Tori watched until she was out of sight, then started back for the bait shop. Kathy had finished her call and was already up the stepladder, slapping paint on the now-dried cinder blocks.
    “Who was that?” she asked, not bothering to look away from her task.
    “Mr. Jackson’s daughter, Anissa.”
    “I had a feeling,” Kathy said.
    “How did your phone call to the realtor go?”
    Kathy kept her gaze fixed on her paintbrush. “Fine.”
    “When do you get to see the wreck?”
    “This afternoon around four. Want to come?”
    “Sure. In fact, you might want to invite Anissa to come along with you. She’s into fixing up old houses.”
    Kathy’s head turned so fast she was in danger of whiplash. “Really? Is she a contractor?”
    “I don’t think so. But it sounds like she’s worked for a few.”
    “Do you have her number?”
    Tori shook her head. “But she’s going to stay at her father’s house for the next couple of days. We could drive over there and see if she’s interested. Maybe you could offer to pay her a few bucks for an opinion on the place. I think she could use the money.”
    Kathy nodded and dipped her brush back into the can that sat on the stepladder’s little shelf. “Maybe we can head over to her place after lunch. In the meantime, grab a brush and let’s get this sucker painted. We’ve got lots of other stuff to do today.”
    Tori glanced at her watch before she stooped to grab one of the four-inch brushes that sat on the tarp. It was a little after ten. That didn’t give them much time to paint, visit Anissa, and head over to the wreck. Then again, the June days were long and the sun was shining. Perhaps they could finish the first coat today. Perhaps.
    #
    Irene didn’t leave for another twenty minutes. It was ten minutes after that when Herb poked his head out of the bait shop and hollered, “What in God’s name have you done?”
    “Great color, huh, Mr. Cannon?” Kathy said enthusiastically.
    “In the tropics. Girl, don’t you know this is Western New York?” His angry glare was aimed straight at Tori.
    “Kathy thinks, and I agree,