A Killer Read Read Online Free PDF Page B

your rights.” Lizzie glanced at her watch. “I’m sorry, but I have to run, Molly, or I’ll be late for the class. I’ll see you tonight. It’s literacy night, remember?”
    “That it is. And, thanks, Lizzie. I appreciate you coming by.”
    Lizzie scrunched her into a big hug before driving off. Molly had slipped easily into the role of family member when Lizzie’s Grandmama Beata, one of Molly’s close friends, died and then again when Lizzie had to deal with her mama’s illness and eventually choose a residence with the proper level of care for her. She knew it was thanks to Molly that the weekly visits took place in the brightly decorated sunrooms rather than a depressing bedroom. It helped to have pull with a board member and bypass the lengthy waiting list.
    She owed Molly a lot, but she also cared and worried about her. Molly had been devastated when her husband, Claydon, had died suddenly of a heart attack many years before. Lizzie knew that the brave face she showed to the community was strictly that, even after all this time. This new trauma was not something Molly would have to face alone.
    Lizzie made it to the school in record time. Ashton Corners Elementary School had celebrated its seventy-fifthanniversary last year. The halls were now painted a brighter, noninstitutional peach color, the windows in most of the rooms had been replaced by single-pane glass, the floors had been redone with a heavy-duty laminate, the old wooden desks had given way to new plastic ones, and even the blackboards had been replaced, but the character of the school remained in the twenty-foot ceilings, the crown moldings and the wide hallways.
    Whenever she entered room 12, Lizzie had a fleeting memory of being back in sixth grade, listening intently to Mr. Bigelow, absolutely the most gorgeous teacher the young impressionable girls had ever seen. They’d giggled through many a lunch hour discussing his rumored romance with Miss Tays, the stunning fifth-grade teacher in room 8. Lizzie wondered now if that relationship had been pure adolescent fantasy or if the rumor had been true and the two were actually happily married after all these years.
    And outside, the school had long ago shed its white and green government image in favor of an updated, smarter beige with taupe trim. The front boulevard sported mature oak and maple trees, and the schoolyard offered two play structures, one for the primary-grade students, one for the older kids; a paved area on which boards and boundaries for various games had been painted; and way back behind it all, a softball diamond.
    Lizzie had never shined as a softball player, tending to close her eyes when the ball got into her comfort zone, but she’d spent many afternoons after class, lazing on the grass, reading while her pals played ball.
    She made her way through the thinning groups of kids in the hall, entering the classroom at the same time as the teacher, and settled at the back to observe for the next hour. After class, she tucked herself into an armchair in the staff room and wrote down some observations of the class she’d just left. The teacher had her hands full with a couple of new students, and the disruption that caused for the other kidsneeded attention. Sometimes Lizzie wished she had a magic wand and, with one wave, could make everything run smoothly. But then she’d be out of a job.
    Lizzie enjoyed working as a reading specialist. She’d been with the Ashton Corners School Board for four years now and loved the challenge of assessing young readers and suggesting methods to help them acquire the necessary reading skills, developing the programs when necessary. This allowed her to work with the children, their parents, the teachers and the school board administration. Never a dull moment.
    The lunch bell jolted her out of her musing, and she slid her notes into her tote. After a quick stop at Tessa’s Tex-Mex Cafe just around the corner for a spicy chicken burrito, she