Beautiful Dead 02 - Arizona Read Online Free PDF Page A

control.'
    'But not this time, huh? For once she has to rely on someone.'
    'And that someone is you.' Summer nodded. 'Now do you get it?'
    'Darina, are you ready?' Arizona demanded.
    I was sitting with her and Phoenix on the steps to the hayloft, maybe thirty minutes after my conversation with Summer. The afternoon light was already fading and every centimetre of me was wishing it was just me and Phoenix on those stairs.
    'What is this, the hundred-metre sprint?' Summer had said not to react, but there was an energy between me and Arizona that meant conflict, like putting two chemicals into a Petri dish and standing back to watch the reaction.

    Arizona glared at me. 'Hunter said for me to give you the key facts.
    Here they are. It was late October, Thursday, not a warm day. I don't remember planning to go for a swim.'
    Ha-ha! 'Did you meet anyone? Who did you speak with?' I asked.
    'My parents, I guess. I don't recal . Dad was busy that morning so I skipped class and took my car for repair.'
    'In town?'
    She nodded and failed to meet my gaze. Some place behind the mal . I don't remember the name.'
    'Did anyone go with you?' I had to squeeze real hard to get the details. Who gave you a ride home?'
    'I didn't go home.'
    Phoenix punctured the silence that fol owed. 'Give Darina a break,' he
    told Arizona. 'She's having a hard time here.'
    'And I'm not?' she spat back at him, and for a moment they did their silent zombie mind-reading deal. Angry looks shot between them but I wasn't included in the unspoken exchange.
    I always think of Arizona as someone you would spot in a style magazine - tight-fitting T-shirt and jeans, boots with heels that make her tal er, skinnier stil . Her face is framed by long, silky black hair. She has eyes the colour of green glass and a scornful pout to her ful lips.
    What had I learned about the way she died? I had a car service garage 28
    without a name, a time of day. Not a lot. And it had been like extracting teeth. I was glad when we were interrupted.
    'Hey, Darina,' Iceman said, as he walked into the barn. 'I just came back from Government Bridge.'
    Then I realized Iceman hadn't been part of the welcoming committee for Lee Stone. Al the Beautiful Dead had gathered, except for him.
    How

    could I have overlooked him, another guardian, along with Eve and
    Donna?

    'Hey, Iceman,' I replied with an embarrassed smile.
    'Hunter sent me down there to check out the guys at the new engineering works,' he explained. 'I didn't like what I saw.'
    'How many people?' Phoenix asked.
    'Five one surveyor and four guys to do the work. And a whole heap of machinery - diggers and flatbed trucks, mainly. They plan to strengthen the bridge, starting today.'
    Government Bridge was a couple of miles downstream from where we sat - a creaky wooden structure that groaned under the weight of SUVs driven by the hunters and picnickers. It was National Forest territory and evidently someone in the planning section had decided it needed an overhaul before winter set in.
    'What makes you think they'l head this way?' Arizona wanted to know. Her tone suggested she didn't understand what was the big deal.
    'OK, so the creek here runs on down to Government Bridge, but I wouldn't have those guys down as students of the local flora and fauna.'
    In other words, the workers dug holes and sank steel supports into the ground, then in the evening they drove straight to the nearest bar.
    'Exactly - our creek runs under the bridge,' Iceman said calmly. 'The
    surveyor is heading upstream to check water flow as we speak.'
    Phoenix stood up and vaulted over the wooden stair rail on to the barn
    floor. 'Does Hunter know?' he asked.
    'I already told him. He said to take you and Arizona with me. We have to cut the guy off before he gets here.'
    Straight away everything changed. Arizona dropped the snooty attitude, took a band from her pocket and tied back her hair, ready for action. Phoenix was already out through the door when I sprinted