Fatal Storm Read Online Free PDF

conducted a seance,” Venus
added with a sigh.
    Leyton opened his mouth but John held up his
hand to head him off.
    “Anyway,” Josh continued, “we were all on the
second floor. Then Venus and I made our way to the first floor. We
were looking for candles in the kitchen because we were losing
power.”
    “And where was Miss Monroe at the time?”
Padre asked.
    “She went off on her own,” Josh replied. “We
each had flashlights and she wanted to, I don’t know, check things
out for herself.”
    “Why didn’t you just turn the damn lights
on?” Leyton snarled.
    “You don’t investigate haunted houses with
lights on,” Josh snapped.
    “What? The light hurts their eyes?” Leyton
rolled his eyes toward John.
    “Besides, the power went out,” Venus reminded
them.
    Padre suppressed a smile. “So then what
happened?”
    “When Josh and I returned to the library, we
heard her,” Venus offered.
    “Miss Monroe?” Padre asked.
    “No, the little girl.”
    “Little girl?” John asked.
    “It was Julia,” Venus clarified. “That’s who
went missing back in...”
    “We don’t need a history lesson.”
    “Leyton, if you don’t mind.” The chief was
ready to send Leyton home. “Just let them finish.”
    “Our research identified the original owners
of the house as Jonathan and Marian Sebold. Julia was the
daughter.” Venus started to add.
    “Back to Sheila Monroe,” Padre said.
    “So, Venus and I were in the library, Flea
was still upstairs, but Blondie...”
    “She has a name, dammit,” Leyton huffed.
    “Uh, yes. Sorry. Sheila was god knew where,”
Josh replied.
    “There was a terrible storm,” Flea
interjected. “We lost power, it like knocked out all of our
electronics. We thought we heard a scream but it was only the wind
howling. Must have been a tornado because, like man, I have never
seen a storm that severe before. Anyway, we took candles and
searched the entire house. We called out her name. None of our cell
phones were working. The walkie-talkies were out so we waited in
the ballroom for daylight.”
    “So you left her.” It almost sounded as
though Leyton’s voice had cracked. “I’ll sue the lot of you for
neglect.”
    “Hey, her car was still parked outside so we
knew she was still somewhere in the house,” Josh argued. “Besides,
she signed an agreement not to hold us accountable.”
    “And I have ten lawyers on staff who will
drill holes in that agreement.” Leyton’s threat was interrupted by
John’s walkie-talkie.
    “Go ahead, Jack”
    “We have a body, Chief.”
     
     
- 7 -
     
    “Hey, big boy. How about a cheese curl?” Sara
poked the treat between the grating in the door, but the scarlet
macaw looked past her shoulder and trained one ringed eye on
Dagger. “Come on Einstein. You like cheese curls.” Without turning
she said, “Dagger, you are making Einstein nervous. You pace like a
caged animal. You’ve avoided playing with him, and he can tell
something is wrong. You know he’s very sensitive.”
    Dagger yanked open his desk drawer, pulled
out a Brazil nut, and held it up. “His only problem is he doesn’t
recognize me without my beard. All he sees is razor burn.” He
shoved the Brazil nut through the grating and took time to rub the
top of Einstein’s head. The macaw grabbed the treat with one claw,
studied it, squawked his approval, and flew to the top of the
fifteen foot tree in his aviary.
    “What you need is a case.”
    “What I need is food.”
    “I’ll buy you lunch. Just listen to a few of
these first.” Sara sifted through the opened mail and pulled out a
letter. Dagger Investigations was never advertised. People heard
about them only through referrals. Dagger used a post office box
which Simon checked and hand delivered the contents several times a
week.
    “Did you take your vitamins?”
    “Yes, all eighty million of them. I feel like
a walking chemical factory.” Dagger plopped down on the couch and
rested his legs on the coffee