A Younger Man (Mount Faith Series: Book 7) Read Online Free PDF

herself to forget him.
    How many times had she futilely run over the same thing in her head? Even if their ages were not such a huge factor, there was her past. She rocked in her chair for a while. She had promised him that she would attend the singles retreat in St. Ann. She still didn't know why she had done that.
    "Am I a stickler for punishment, Chudney?"
    Chudney whined and sniffed the air. He was getting agitated. He jumped from her lap and started yelping at the left side of the porch.
    "I must have been born with a curse," she said to Chudney softly, as he pranced back and forth along the verandah, his little body bristling. "God knows why the most difficult of things always happen to me."
    "Stop griping," a voice said in the dark, "or at least that's what Chudney would say if he could talk."
    Anita jumped and her eyes widened as a shape came out of the dark.
    "I drove all the way up here to visit, and I don't get even an hello." She recognized the voice instantly, and with shock, gasped, "Carol?"
    "Yup." Carol stood before her in the semi-dark. "This place is so deliciously secluded. Where is my greeting? Is this the way you treat old girlfriends now?"
     
    *****
     
    Anita walked into her office at seven forty-five, feeling a little jittery after last night. Her unexpected visitor had really thrown her off-kilter.
    She entered the office space and realized that Davia was already at her desk. Anita winced. She was not up for Davia's usual inane chatter. Why, of all the secretaries in the world, was hers always early, and always cheerful as if she ate rainbows and sunshine for breakfast.
    "You have an appointment with Natasha Jackson at eight-thirty," Davia said when Anita grunted a good morning. "Was her wedding as beautiful as I heard it was?" Davia asked before Anita reached her door. "Ah, never mind, I'll ask Pastor Vanley tonight."
    Anita stiffened, and despite herself, looked at Davia enquiringly. "So, you are seeing Pastor Vanley now?"
    "No," Davia said, giggling, "but he is going to be at Wednesday night service, and he did walk me home on Sunday. I think he likes me. What do you think?"
    Anita was tempted to lecture Davia once again about professionalism but she shrugged. She had always been a stickler for punishment. She wanted to hear everything about Vanley even if it meant that he was seeing someone else.
    "I think," Anita said softly, "that he is a great guy, one of the best." She then headed inside her office and closed her door, leaning on it.
    By the time Natasha and her partner Harry came into the office, Anita was somewhat composed, even though her composure slipped when Detective Harry introduced himself. A mere three years ago, he had caught her passionately kissing Vanley. She wondered if he remembered, but she doubted it, seeing that his face was schooled in a neutral expression.
    "As you know," Natasha started, "I work part-time with the Malvern Police. Harry here works for the regional office. He is now head of the fugitive division."
    Harry nodded. "We were alerted by the Kingston office that one Carol Perth has escaped the Half Way Tree Detention Center. She is wanted for conspiracy to murder her husband, Selvin Perth, the journalist."
    Anita frowned, hoping her acting was intact. "I don't understand. What does this have to do with me?"
    Harry cleared his throat. "We had to thoroughly investigate Carol Perth's background to find out likely places that she would run to, and your name was found on some old documents of hers, as next of kin."
    "Me?" Anita squeaked. "Why would she use my name?"
    "Do you know her?" Natasha asked.
    "Yes," Anita said, her mind was running a mile a minute. What or how much she could tell them was another thing. "She was Carol Parks...er...Carol King."
    "Which one of them was it?" Harry asked suspiciously.
    "Carol King." Anita breathed out shakily. "I knew another Carol Parks years ago." Her hands were trembling slightly so she pushed them under the table.
    Natasha