Before he Kills (A Mackenzie White Mystery—Book 1) Read Online Free PDF

The topic of where she works is bound to come
up. We have to handle this thing with kid gloves—no pun intended.”
    She fumed. He was doing that thing where
he spoke down to her as if she were a child.
    “Let me lead. You can be the comforting
shoulder if they start crying. Nelson says the sister will also be there, but I
can’t imagine she’d be any reliable source of comfort. She’s probably just as
wrecked as the kids.”
    Mackenzie actually didn’t think it was
the best idea. But she also knew that when Porter and Nelson were involved, she
needed to choose her battles wisely. So if Porter wanted to take charge of
asking two grieving kids about their dead mom, she’d let him have that weird
ego trip.
    “As you want,” she said through clenched
teeth.
    The car fell into silence again. This
time, Porter kept the radio turned down, the only sounds coming from the
shifting of pages in Mackenzie’s lap. There was a larger story in those pages
and the documents Nancy had sent; Mackenzie was sure of it.
    Of course, for the story to be told, all
of the characters needed to be revealed. And for now, the central character was
still hiding in the shadows.
    The car slowed and Mackenzie raised her
head as they turned down a quiet block. She felt a familiar pit in her stomach,
and she wished she were anywhere but here.
    They were about to talk to a dead
woman’s kids.

CHAPTER FIVE
     
    Mackenzie was surprised as she entered
Hailey Lizbrook’s apartment; it was not what she had expected. It was neat and
tidy, the furniture nicely centered and dusted. The décor was very much that of
a domesticated woman, right down to the coffee mugs with cute sayings and the
pot holders hanging from ornate hooks by the stove. It was evident that she had
run a tight ship, right down to the haircuts and pajamas on her sons.
    It was very much like the family and
home she always dreamed of having herself.
    Mackenzie recalled from the files that
the boys were nine and fifteen; the oldest was Kevin and the youngest was
Dalton. It was clear as she met him that Dalton had been crying a lot, his blue
eyes rimmed with puffy red splotches.
    Kevin, on the other hand, looked angry
more than anything else. As they settled in and Porter took the lead, it showed
perfectly clear when Porter tried speaking to them in a tone that was somewhere
between condescending and a preschool teacher trying too hard. Mackenzie winced
inside as Porter spoke.
    “Now I need to know if your mother had
any men friends,” Porter said.
    He stood in the center of the room while
the boys sat on the living room couch. Hailey’s sister, Jennifer, was standing
in the adjoining kitchen, smoking a cigarette by the stove with the exhaust fan
running.
    “You mean like a boyfriend?” Dalton
asked.
    “Sure, that could be a male friend,”
Porter said. “But I don’t even mean like that. Any man that she might have
spoken to more than once. Even someone like a mailman or someone at the grocery
store.”
    Both of the boys were looking at Porter
as if they were expecting him to perform a magic trick or maybe even
spontaneously combust. Mackenzie was doing the same. She had never heard him
use such a soft tone. It was almost funny to hear such a soothing tone come out
of his mouth.
    “No, I don’t think so,” Dalton said.
    “No,” Kevin agreed. “And she didn’t have
a boyfriend, either. Not that I know of.”
    Mackenzie and Porter looked to Jennifer
over by the stove for an answer. All they got in response was a shrug. Mackenzie
was pretty sure Jennifer was in some sort of shock. It made her wonder if there
might be another family member that could take care of these boys for a while,
since Jennifer certainly didn’t seem like a fit guardian at the moment.
    “Well, how about people that you and your
mom didn’t get along with?” Porter asked. “Did you ever hear her arguing with
anyone?”
    Dalton only shook his head. Mackenzie
was pretty sure the kid was on the brink of