Elusive (On The Run Book #1) Read Online Free PDF Page A

farther
downstream, spinning on its endless track in a bend of the creek.
    ––––––––
    Dallas
    Tuesday, 9:48 p.m.
    ––––––––
    ZOE was in the kitchen when the
doorbell rang. Two dozen double chocolate chip cupcakes were cooling on the
island while she vigorously stirred a bowl of mint-flavored frosting. Zoe
enjoyed baking, especially cupcakes. Helen said it wasn’t a hobby, more like a
fetish. Helen didn’t understand why Zoe would want to spend two hours in the
kitchen in the evening instead of watching television or reading a magazine. Of
course, Helen never had any qualms about eating any of the cupcakes Zoe made.
    Zoe dipped her finger in the icing
for a taste before she put the bowl on the counter and headed for the front
door, wondering why Helen would come to the front door instead of the kitchen
door. With the sharp, minty flavor still slightly stinging her taste buds, she
swung open the door. “Decided you couldn’t wait until tomor—” Her words died
away as she realized that it wasn’t Helen standing in the bright glare of the
porch light. Instead, there were two men in uniforms, one tall with a ruddy
complexion and the other darker and more thickset. The shorter man asked, “Zoe
Hunter?”
    “Yes,” she said, frowning.
    “Hello, ma’am,” There was an air
of tension about them that suddenly made her nervous and worried at the same
time as the man said, “I’m Officer Clements with the Texas Highway Patrol. This
is Officer Isles. May we come inside? We have some information about Jack
Andrews.”
    “Umm...I don’t know why you’d want
to talk to me. He’s my ex-husband. We’re not together anymore.”
    “Does he have any other next of
kin?” Officer Clements asked.
    “No,” Zoe said slowly. “Only a
distant cousin in Vegas.” She gripped the door handle. “Is something wrong? Has
something happened?”
    “If we could step inside,” Officer
Clements asked again.
    “Of course.” Zoe nodded jerkily
and stepped back. The men removed their hats as they filed into the narrow
hallway. Zoe closed the door and they followed her into a small living room.
She sat on the corner of the rickety black couch that Jack had owned before
they got married. She’d paired it with some chairs upholstered in a black and
white patterned fabric and bought two end tables at a garage sale in a burst of
newlywed nesting, but no one ever came in the living room, and a thin layer of
dust had settled on the tables.
    A single black and white print, a
cityscape at night, was propped up on the wall behind the chairs. She had taken
it down months ago when she started painting the room a robin’s egg blue in an
effort to brighten up the dull room. Jagged swaths of blue covered half of one
wall. The rest were still white. Zoe had never noticed how depressing the print
was—the city looked bleak and sort of ominous.
    As they sat down, the officer with
the ruddy complexion, Officer Isles, spoke. “When was the last time you saw
your ex-husband?”
    “He was here around noon or
twelve-thirty. He was upstairs. He stops by here to shower after his run.” She
saw the glance they exchanged and she explained their living arrangements.
    “Did you see him?” Isles asked.
    “No, but that’s not unusual. We
don’t check in with each other.”
    “When was the last time you spoke
to him?”
    Zoe shrugged. “A couple of days
ago, I guess,” she hedged, thinking of the snippy words they’d exchanged about
the electric bill. So what if she’d paid her half a day or two late? Just
because the electric company said they were going to turn everything off,
didn’t mean they were going to do it. The first notice was only a warning.
She’d paid it. She couldn’t understand why he got so worked up. She’d even sweet-talked
the customer service guy into removing the late payment notation from their
account, so there was absolutely nothing to worry about.
    “We don’t keep tabs on each
other...”