Blessed are the Meek Read Online Free PDF

do? Move back to the sticks in Modesto and live with my parents, become a maid for my sister?” Her body shudders. “Come, let me show you something.”
    She leads me to a small door off to the side of the kitchen. She flings open the door, and I spot a few steps going down, leading to utter darkness beyond.
    My heart begins to race erratically. I was the one who found my father’s body in the basement. When my mother came to find out what was taking us so long, she went into some form of shock, and the two of us spent the night on the floor with my father’s body until my aunt found us the next morning. Ever since, I’ve had an unholy fear of basements and underground places. I don’t do them.
    After a few seconds, Annalisa flips on a light. Relief spreads through me. It’s a garage. A red Ferrari flanks one wall. There is an empty space where Laurent must have parked his fancy car.
    â€œI’ve become accustomed to a lifestyle that most men could not provide for me. This house. This car. Weekend getaways to Paris, London, the French Riviera. Do you understand?” She gives me a cunning look.
    â€œWho gets this now? This place,” I say, gesturing to the living room. “That car?”
    â€œI’m listed as an owner on both.” Annalisa turns off the light, closes the door, and returns to the living room. She settles back onto the couch and takes a sip of her wine. “After we started having problems, Sebastian never got around to changing that—­or his will. I guess in that respect, I am lucky.”
    â€œLucky? Or it makes you look like you killed him before he could cut you off. Did you know the police found a pair of lacy underpants in the car with his body?”
    Annalisa has a look of nonchalance on her face and ignores my comment. “The police, of course, think I did it. They have been following me. They even came to the gallery last night. They can look for evidence, but there is none.”
    This woman has more motive than Catherine the Great. Well, it’s now or never. I take a breath. “Did you kill him?”
    Her eyes grow wide. I don’t know if she plans on answering me or not because we are interrupted by pounding from the front of the house that coincides with a chiming noise that can only be a doorbell.
    â€œIt’s probably someone from the police department,” she says with a sigh, unfurling her legs and standing. “The detectives said they were sending someone over to talk to me again today.”
    If the cops are here, it’s time for me to go. I stuff my notebook in my messenger bag as I follow her to the front door. The ceramic ashtray clinks against my keys in my bag. I wonder if the gift is considered graft or swag. I’m pretty sure it’s against newspaper policy to accept it, but I don’t make a move to return it.
    Annalisa undoes the dead bolt. The door swings open, along with my mouth, when I see who is standing outside.
    It is a cop. But not one I expected to see.
    It’s my boyfriend.

 
    Chapter 6
    â€œH ELLO, S EAN,” A NNALISA PURRS.
    He doesn’t say a word as we stare at one another.
    â€œOh, pardon me, Gabriella,” Annalisa says. “Let me introduce you to Detective Sean Donovan.”
    Silence.
    Annalisa must sense the tension because she adds, “Don’t worry. He’s not here to question me. He’s here to help. He’s my ex-­boyfriend.”
    Ex-­boyfriend? It takes me a second to process this information. When I do, I don’t like the conclusion I come to.
    â€œGabriella, I saw your car out front. What are you doing here?” Donovan finally says. We lock eyes, ignoring Annalisa.
    â€œDoing my job,” I say, biting the words out. “I didn’t know Rosarito police were involved in this case.”
    Annalisa is looking back and forth at us with one arched black eyebrow.
    Donovan looks down for a second at his shoes,