Amanda's Blue Marine Read Online Free PDF Page B

catching brunette in her thirties wearing vivid lipstick and carrying a small envelope purse.
    Mandy tried to recall the name she had seen on the woman's badge. Grant? Grody? Grady. Janet Grady.
    "Your table is ready, sir," announced a waitress who arrived to shepherd Kelly and his companion onto the patio.
    Kelly smiled and shrugged. "Good to meet you," he said to Tom. He glanced at Mandy once and then followed the waitress though the glass doors, the woman in black at his side.
    "Well, that was painless," Tom said to Mandy as they sat at their table. "I usually have to spend more time stroking the egos of the local constabulary when I get trapped with one of them."
    Mandy picked up the menu and stared at it ostentatiously, hoping that he would drop the subject.
    Of course he didn't. "That guy is a detective?" he said to Mandy. "He looks awfully young."
    "Promotion is based on merit, not age," she said flatly. "And performance in the military helps a lot. He got a Purple Heart in Iraq before he joined the police force."
    "Bravo. I'm sure his little girlfriend there is very impressed."
    "She's not his girlfriend. They're both detectives."
    "She could still be his girlfriend. How do you know about his background?"
    "I was given some information about him after he was assigned to my case. I think his boss, Lieutenant Manning, wants my father to know that I'm in good hands."
    "And are you?"
    "So far," she said lightly. "The veal scaloppini special sounds good," she added, trying to redirect his attention.
    "He looks like an escapee from a war movie," Tom observed, snapping his fingers for the wine steward to come to their table. “Hair’s too long for the army, though.”
    "Marines," Mandy corrected, wondering what Kelly’s relationship with Janet Grady was.
    "Oh, then he's a Blue Marine," Tom observed.
    "What's that?"
    "A cop who used to be a Marine. The two careers go well together. Same skill set, I guess."
    "I see."
    "Well, I hope he can afford this place on a cop's salary," Tom said jovially.
    Mandy looked toward the patio as Tom engaged the steward in conversation. She wondered where Kelly and his friend were sitting and then forced herself to think about something else.
    * * * * *
    It was ten o'clock by the time they finished dining, and Mandy went to the ladies room while Tom summoned the car. She was walking back toward the entrance when she saw Kelly at the bar, turning away from the counter with a drink in his hand.
    "Hello again," she said to him.
    "Hi," he said. His tie was off, sticking out of his jacket pocket, and his collar was unbuttoned.
    This was not a man who liked to dress up, even though he wore the fancy clothes to perfection.
    They gazed at one another as an awkward silence grew between them.
    "You look...beautiful," he finally said, as if he had tried to come up with something more original and failed.
    "Thank you."
    The silence lengthened.
    "Do you come here often?" she finally said desperately, dissolving into laughter as she heard herself reciting a tired cliché also. This was going well.
    He grinned. "Never."
    "Well, did you enjoy it?" she asked lamely, and his smile widened.
    "Not much. Green spaghetti is a new one on me."
    Mandy bit her lip to suppress another giggle. "Sometimes I'd love to ditch this place and inhale a hamburger," she said honestly.
    "Maybe we can do that soon," he answered, his smile fading as his gaze sought hers. “I think the department can afford to front you a hamburger.”
    Mandy's phone buzzed and she realized Tom was calling her from the parking lot.
    He didn't like to be kept waiting.
    "You have to go?" Kelly said.
    She nodded.
    They looked at one another, lingering, while the crowd at the bar swirled around them.
    "I'll see you tomorrow," he said.
    "Yes."
    He saluted her with two fingers before moving off and blending into the crowd.
    * * * * *
    Kelly and Amanda spent a couple of days each week for the next three weeks reviewing Mandy’s old cases. One day almost