Death and Deceit Read Online Free PDF Page A

for more. She cursed herself for being so needy. She and Liz had spent a lot of time together after they’d met at the health club, but the earth seemed to have swallowed Liz. She hadn’t heard from her since the night they’d set up the computer.
    Jessie reached for the phone and called her. After five rings she hung up. Liz’s answering machine wasn’t even on. Maybe she was home but not alone. Maybe she didn’t want to be disturbed. Sitting now on her off-white sofa, chewing at her nails, Jessie was miserably lonely. It seemed everyone had a life but her. She was drawn to the computer and soon Gary’s words flooded the screen.
    I’ve been waiting for you, Miss Jessica. Where have you been? You’ve been home for a while now, haven’t you? You shouldn’t keep Zorro waiting.
    Jessie missed the part about her being home for a while. She was caught up in the excitement of reaching him on first try. She laughed. Cut it out, Gary. We’re beyond the Zorro thing now, aren’t we?
    Just where are we, my sweet one?
    A tremor ran up her back and she smiled as she typed. Well, I’m home. And how come you are? Don’t you ever work?
    Sometimes I work at night...like a vampire. Tell me, are you ready to meet me yet? I’m anxious to meet you. I’ve been waiting all my life.
    He really was romantic Jessie assumed. But the thought of meeting him in person half thrilled her and half scared her to death. I hardly know you, Gary, or you me. That’s why I hesitate.
    I think it’s time we met. I’m dying to meet you. Don’t you want to meet me too?
    She was just about to agree that they might have a coffee at the restaurant near the end of her street, but Gary wrote again.
    There’s no need to be reluctant. I know all about you. Your last name is Albright, and you work right here in Harbourside, the same city as me. I’ve even seen you leave work, and you’re wrong, you are beautiful. You’re so hot I can’t wait to be close to you.
    Jessie gasped. It wasn’t his forwardness that got to her. But the fact that he was actually spying on her! The thought that he knew everything about her — even where she worked and what she looked like — gave her chills. His words, You’re so hot, I can’t wait to be close to you, seemed to jump off the screen.
    Jessie plunged the computer into darkness then trembled. Unable to stop her hands from shaking, she sprang from the chair and checked her door lock, then raced around the apartment making sure all the windows were locked down. She snapped her drapes closed even though she was on the forth floor. There was a fire escape stairway off her living room window, right by the computer, and even though it was broad daylight with strong sunlight forcing its way through the material of the drapes, she felt like a scared child in the dark.
    If he knew where she worked and saw her leave, what stopped him from following her home? “He knows where I am.” Her own quivering voice frightened her even more.
    Ten minutes and two glasses of wine later, she calmed down and laughed at herself. All she had to do was stay off line. Gary would find someone else to take his fancy, and she would use her computer for better things, like research and furthering her hunt for what she called, real employment, a library job with a future.
     
    ****
     
    Kent Morgan was new in town. He never figured himself for a Romeo but he’d dated seven girls since his arrival, Liz being his latest. If it hadn’t been for his record, since arriving in Harbourside, he would have already called Liz again. But he was going through women like someone with a cold going through a box of tissues. One after the other, discarding them like something no longer wanted. What was wrong with him? All of the women he’d met so far were decent, pretty women. Not one of them had turned him down. They’d hung on his every word, batted their beautiful eyes and smiled on cue. Damn. Safe, boring women. Liz, on the other hand, didn’t