Half Past Mourning Read Online Free PDF Page B

something no one else has?”
    “Well, no, but then I have an advantage no one else has had. I have the car and I have a connection with the woman whose husband bought it. I think I can contact her and find out more about how he came to buy it. Another thing in my favor: I haven’t been carrying the burden of loss you have for the last two years. I might hear or see something in a new light.”
    Afraid to hope, fearing another disappointment yet unwilling to let the chance pass, Nina turned the pocket knife over and over between her hands. “You’d do that, Dr. Shayne? Go back to the woman who sold you the car? You might be wasting a lot of time, going down a dead-end road. She might not know anything more than she’s already told you.” Nina drew a shaky breath. “Or she might not want to get mixed up in this thing.”
    “It’s Peter,” he insisted. “If we’re going to work on this together, let’s forget formality.” He took the knife from her and held her slender fingers in his wider hand. “I’ll take the chance, Nina, if you will. How badly do you want those answers?”
    His question hung in the air as darker shadows filled the room. “I want to know,” she answered at last. “I want to stop living in limbo. I don’t know if you can help, but if you’re willing to spend the time, I’m grateful. Where do we start?” She touched the two items on the coffee table between them. “This doesn’t look like much of a sign post.”
    “It’s more than you had before we met at that parking lot, and yet you were still looking. You had even less to guide you.” Peter sat back in his chair, crossed one ankle over his knee, and made a tent of his fingers. “I don’t know anything about Danny, but I’d guess whatever happened to him is somehow rooted in who he is and who he knew. Why don’t we start with you telling me about the man you married? Where did you meet, how long had you known him, why did you fall in love with him? Let me see him through your eyes. And then tell me what was done to find him. At least I’ll feel like I’m looking for someone real. Right now he’s just the guy on that driver’s license.”
    Go back over it all again? Can I do it, relive it all once more? Nina sighed. What other choice do I have? Just give up and pretend Danny never existed? Keep living half a life? “Let me make some fresh coffee,” she suggested, buying herself time to brace before facing his questions. “I bought some brownies at the bakery this morning, too.”
    “A notepad or tablet would be good, if you have one handy. Making notes will save me from having to ask the same questions over and over.” Peter quirked an eyebrow. “I wouldn’t want to trust my memory,” he confessed.
    “One thing a schoolteacher always has is notepaper.” Nina opened the drawer of the coffee table and handed him a steno pad and two pencils.
    “Schoolteacher, are you?” Peter’s voice had a tone of surprise. “I thought you were a student at San Felipe.”
    Nina smothered a chuckle. “Thanks, but I’ve been teaching fourth grade for four years. I can still run to the playground with my kids, but every year it gets harder to keep up with them.” She turned toward the kitchen. “If you turn on that lamp behind your chair, you should be able to see to write. I’ll be back with the coffee in just a minute.”
    Steeling herself to deal with Peter Shayne’s questions, Nina returned from the kitchen with coffee and a plate of moist, dark brownies. Peter had turned on the lamp and was writing in short focused bursts across the lined paper. Pushing aside her reluctance, Nina took the chair beside him.
    “How do you take your coffee?” she asked as he continued to make notes. “Sugar, cream?”
    “Drop of cream, no sugar,” he answered and looked up from the page. “Oh, brownies! My grandmother must have made a batch a day when my brothers and I were at home. She put walnuts in hers.”
    “Sorry, no walnuts,