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.She could only pick at her meal.She started to order a second cup of coffee, but was already too wired.She ordered hot chocolate instead.After she had talked with Justin, Tootsie realized she couldn’t live with him.There was too much between them.He was a murderer.She couldn’t live with that.But she couldn’t keep the bowls.She should just give them to the Claxtons.She’d never stolen a thing in her life.She’d never been rich either.She was just a struggling artist trying to survive.Tootsie waited another hour.Justin never arrived.She had her food packed in a container to carry it back to her condo.She took a circuitous route, backtracking, stopping in a parking lot as if she was going in the store and glancing around to make sure she wasn’t being followed.Justin was sneaky.It was just like him to follow her home so he could get his hands on those bowls.On the other hand, she couldn’t call him just in case something went wrong with his meeting.If there had been a meeting.By the time she made it home, her food was cold.She watched through the crack in her curtains for him to show up.Finally satisfied that she hadn’t been followed, she turned on the TV and heated her food in the microwave.When she was about to take a second bite, pancake and whipped cream dropped off her fork.Justin was dead.Dead.The police had refused to give out the name, but the reporter said an anonymous source revealed the name and that he wasn’t from the area.According to the news, he’d jumped from the top-floor balcony in a Virginia Beach hotel.Tootsie sat stunned.Justin had a meeting at the hotel with Nicholas Doyle that morning.“No freaking way.Justin would never kill himself, not when he was about to come into some big money.Not when he owned a lovely home and business in Colorado.”But.if he didn’t commit suicide, then.Nicholas.Tootsie jumped up, pulled her suitcase out and began to pack.But where would she go? Justin had been deathly afraid of Nicholas Doyle.Had Justin kept her name out of it as promised? Had Nicholas tortured her name out of him? When the chips were down, it was survival of the fittest.She began to shake.Justin didn’t know where she was so he couldn’t have told Nicholas.But Nicholas could still find her.She had to leave the area.But first she had to get in Justin’s motel room.Tootsie grabbed her purse and drove to the Ocean Wave Motel.She still had a key to the room.She had to take the chance.If anyone found the paperwork, her name would be on it.She could be implicated in the murder if they ever figured out Justin committed it.She checked in to the room beside Justin’s just in case someone was watching.She peeped through the curtains for half an hour watching every car that arrived and left.There were no rooms across from hers.Finally feeling safe, she slipped into Justin’s room.There was a briefcase in the closet.She opened it.Her name was written on an envelope.She couldn’t hang around there.She snapped the briefcase closed and took it with her to the car and drove away.Again, she took a circuitous route back to her condo.27Mrs.Clark called Lisa’s cell phone that afternoon.“I’ve got important news for you,” she said.“When can you and Brian get here?”“We can leave on the next ferry,” Lisa responded.“What’s wrong?”“Just get here before somebody else dies on this street.” The phone disconnected.Lisa and Brian left immediately.They reached Ocean Front an hour later.Mrs.Clark’s brother wasn’t in this time.She was holding her dog in her lap.“I sent him to the store,” she said.“Didn’t want him ogling you.”“What’s wrong?” Brian asked.“Remember the guy I told you about? The renter who lived across the street?”Lisa and Brian both nodded.“He’s the one who pitched off the balcony at the high-rise hotel on the beach,” she said.“Been on the news all morning.They call it suicide, but I’m not so sure.He seemed a nice young man.I can’t imagine what kind of trouble he’d be in.Or why anyone would want to kill him, for that matter.”“You said he lived across the street?”“That’s right.”“You might want to check out his place before the police find out where he’s staying,” Mrs.Clark continued.“I don’t think they know yet.At least they haven’t been here.Somebody will call them before long if they already haven’t.”“Mrs.Clark,” Brian teased, “are you suggesting I break the law?”“You aren’t going to steal anything, are you?” she asked.“Depends on what I find.Information is valuable.”Mrs.Clark pinched her lips.“Just let me know what you find.”“Thanks for the info, Mrs.Clark,” Brian said.“Appreciate it.”As they left, Lisa asked, “What are we going to do now? I sure wish I had a contract with that house.”“You have any gloves in your car?”“Sure.My maids clean with them.”“We don’t want to leave fingerprints,” he said.“Like Mrs.Clark said, we should check it out.See what this guy was up to.”“I don’t know how to break into a house.”“I do.”They crossed the street and went around the back.It was a warm day.The seagulls were out.Sea grass swayed in the wind.The sand dunes gave them some anonymity.No one was about.They pulled on their gloves as they approached the back door.Brian quickly had them in the house.The place barely looked lived in.Justin’s clothes were still packed in the suitcase in the bedroom.A few were hung up in the walk-in closet.Lisa headed to the closet and went through all his pockets while Brian went through the rest of the room.Pulling out drawers, going through the suitcase, looking for any secret compartments.“Find anything?” Brian asked.“Not yet.”They continued to search.Lisa found a piece of paper in his pants pocket.It had Tootsie’s name written on it.Alyssa had mentioned that name the previous night.After dispensing with Justin, Nicholas checked in to a hotel closer to the ferry.He changed into a suit before he visited the morgue to identify Greg’s body.My God, my God.He balled his hands into fists as his brother’s pale face was presented to him.His stomach churned.Although he’d learned to control his emotions, this was hard.This was nearly impossible.Jaw clenched tight, he nodded and signed the necessary papers.Once in his car, he’d finally broken down and cried.He never cried.He’d learned from an early age tears were useless.Deana had tried to call him several times but he hadn’t responded.His cell phone was on silence.He didn’t want the distraction [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]