A Body to die for Read Online Free PDF Page B

Ameleth looked up. Her gray eyes settled on Jack.
    “Step outside?” Ameleth asked. “Are you calling me out or something? You want to start a fight with me, broad?” The double meaning was intentional. Falcone took the insult like a man, but I could tell it bothered her. I wondered if Ameleth wouldn’t rather scrap with me. Regardless, she didn’t step outside. Instead, she gently rubbed Barney’s cheeks like she wanted to know if he’d crumble or flake. Her leggings were straining against her knees from kneeling so long. Her tiny thighs began to shake slightly. Suddenly, she jumped out of the kneel and began stretching her legs. She leaned to one side.
    “This stinks,” she said while touching her toes. I didn’t know if she meant the situation or the body. I She shook out each leg and then pushed past Falcone and me in the doorway.
    Jack waited just outside with a fresh Virgin Mary and arms outstretched for a hug. I found it to be a particularly inappropriate beverage choice. Ameleth agreed and threw the drink across the room, decorating the white carpet with a spin art splatter of tomato juice. As for the hug, she wasn’t interested. “How much attention do you need?” she asked Jack. “You must really miss the big time, don’t you, Tennis Star?” A low blow. “Now it’s just us two, Ameleth,” Jack f said. “It’s just me and you again, honey.”
    I heard a tsk in my ear. Falcone revved up her Newton and started punching keys.
    I said, “Jack, can I talk to you for a second?” If he was about to confess, I needed to know right away. Not for any technical reason. I just like to be the first one to learn these things.
    “We talked already.” Jack stared at the object of his attention. She gave him the finger.
    “I’ve got a train ticket, see, and I have to get to the railroad .” I make stabs at subtlety.
    He looked confused. “So go catch your train.”
    Ameleth had taken the opportunity to sob alone behind the juice bar. She rummaged in the fridge for something other than a Virgin Mary. I took the opportunity to calm Jack down and try to shut him up. He said, “I think I’m dehydrated. I need something to drink. Excuse me a moment.” He actually tried to go to Ameleth again.
    “Look, Jack,” I said. “You’re blowing this. You’re acting guilty.”
    “Ameleth talked about it all the time,” Jack said, the most testy he’d been all night. “She never said who, but I heard all about the sex in repugnant detail. He liked her to put on pink cotton panties. Not white. Not red. And pink cotton ankle socks. With ruffles. That man was sick. He was disgusting. I’m glad he’s dead.” Jack’s boyish veneer beamed raw hurt. Falcone watched him, but didn’t appear to be listening. I recalled that jocks weren’t generally known for their massive brainpower.
    “You kill this guy, or what?” I asked in a whisper.
    “You don’t mince words, do you?”
    “Just tell me the truth.”
    “If I’d killed him, I’d have drowned him,” he said thoughtfully. “That way, there’d be no evidence. But I didn’t kill him. I found him. Thank God, you’re on my side.” Ah, the appreciation of a desperate man. I learned a lot about this in my early twenties. Those days were long gone, and I had no plans to return. But Jack—he seemed honest. I believed him. If he was guilty, I’d eat a bag of doughnuts, then my beret. “Ameleth hates me,” he said coldly.
    I countered, “It’s more of a twisted psycholove.”
    “You’re right.” He nodded his head as if that were better.
    The paramedics finally arrived. I checked my watch —over an hour since I’d called the police. Good thing Barney was already dead because he wouldn’t have lasted that wait. The guys in white entered the Jacuzzi room and wheeled the body out in a green plastic bag. It was a long day’s gurney into night for Barney. For the first time all evening, I got that sick rush of panic and dread. A life had been snubbed