Demon on a Distant Shore Read Online Free PDF Page A

Tiff.”
    I squeezed his arm. “Thank you, but I want to go. It’s England - how bad can it be? It’s not like going to a real foreign country where you don’t understand a word anyone says.”
    I heard a low snicker from his direction, but when I glanced over he appeared serene as he looked at the pond.
    The sun hung in the west, hot on the side of my neck and bringing sparkles out in Royal’s eyes. For a second, I forgot Patty Norton. The background noise of kids’ laughter, the chatter from people and cheep of birds faded to a near-silent burr. I felt solid muscle through his sleeve; I remembered the silk of his skin.
    I shook myself.
    That’s the problem when you date a Gelpha; their proximity makes you feel too damn good even when they don’t use their magic.
    We got to our feet and walked the sloped concrete path to the parking lot. The sun slowly set as we drove through the gates in Royal’s pickup and headed south along Bracken Way. I looked up at the bare crag of Merlin Point and Waterfall Canyon to the south, where the waterfall gushed and tumbled down the cliff face.
    I leaned into Royal’s shoulder. “Are there mountains in England?”
     
    Tapping the blunt end of a pencil on the table, I checked the clock for the fourth time. Royal came down the stairs from my bedroom where he used my computer for a little snooping.
    He sat across from me, the table between us. “They’re both wealthy in their own right. Patty inherited millions from her father when he passed away. Scott invests diversely and heavily, which brings him in half a billion or so a year. He is also the beneficiary of his family’s Trust Fund. They have a good reputation in the business world as well as in their personal relationships. Just your normal, happily married couple with dollar bills seeping from their pores.”
    He shook back his long copper-gold hair, where it blended with the honey-gold of his shirt. “I think if nothing else, we get to see England. We will not work every minute of the day, we can take in a few sights.”
    “Then we keep a log of our time. We might tweak the rules now and then, but we don’t take a client’s money and use it to vacation.”
    He hiked both eyebrows. “ Tweak the rules? That is what you call sneaking in Purcell’s office and rifling his files?”
    I did not sneak ! I slipped in the attorney’s office while his secretary nipped to the bathroom. “Says the ex-cop, who watched my back while I did it,” I reminded him.
    I threw my pencil at him. He caught it from the air.
    My brow furrowed. “The question is, can we find Scott Norton’s nephew?”
    “Looks like a simple seek and find.”
    I wholeheartedly believe in Murphy’s Law. In retrospect, I should have seen that statement for what it was, an invitation for Murphy to step right in.
    Royal stood behind my chair. “I should get back to the office. I have not documented the Perkins case yet.”
    I looked through the window at the gathering dusk. I had a date in five hours time. “Okay.”
    He followed my gaze. “I heard the announcement on the morning news. I can come with you.”
    I shook my head. He would only feel uncomfortable watching me talk to someone he neither saw nor heard. “But I won’t object to finding you here when I get back.”
    “You can bet on it.” He angled his head to kiss my cheek, but I turned my face so our lips met.
     
    A bag lady, Brenda wore several layers of mismatched clothes, with a navy-blue beret centered atop her brittle gray- and yellow-streaked hair and torn and dirty hose wrinkled around her ankles. She stood in the Megaplex’s plaza, where a junkie killed her for the few dollars in her pocket when a mall and parking garage occupied the space.
    She peered at me. “I remember you.”
    She didn’t recall much about her life, but she had not quite forgotten me yet.
    “Nice of you to spend a minute with an old slut,” she said in her raspy voice.
    I felt awkward. Not only did I lie by