Hangman's Root Read Online Free PDF Page B

been able to break.
    "How do I know?" He made an exasperated noise. "China,

    who else but that fruitcake would cut the padlock on Harwick's garage, snip the trigger rod on the trap, and leave without taking anything but a cat?"
    A reasonable question. Too bad I couldn't think of a reasonable answer. "What^oe^ she say?" I countered cautiously.
    Another exasperated noise. "She says the cat came home by herself early this morning. Very convenient, huh?"
    "Convenient for Ariella," I replied. I was glad he couldn't see me smile. "What did you do?"
    "I lectured Harwick on theft and cruelty to animals and impounded the damaged trap. I got nothing out of him when I mentioned the letters. Then I went next door and lectured your friend on trespass, destruction of county property, and assault with a deadly weapon." There was a moment's accusing silence. "You didn't tell me about the hammer."
    I cleared my throat. "That's because she missed."
    "Damn good thing she did. That woman's got the arm of a blacksmith, and he's kind of a wimp. As far as the letters are concerned, I'd say the hammer makes it about even." There was a hint of a grin in his voice, and I breathed a little easier. "If I were you," he added, "I'd tell her to cool it. The county's out forty bucks for that trap she disabled."
    "I'll see that the county gets its money," I said, "but I'm not sure it'll do any good to tell her to back off on Harwick. Especially if she gets another letter threatening her cats."
    "Sounds like you've got a zoo on your hands," he said, and rang off.
    Well, that was that. Dottie might have broken a law or two, but not fatally. With Ariella safely at home, the worst was over. I dialed Dottie's number but there was no answer. She'd probably already gone to the university. Or maybe she was out looking for a twenty-four-hour security guard. I put down the phone. Anyway, she was an adult woman, responsible for her actions.

    I wasn't going to give her a hard time about liberating Ariella, and I couldn't ride herd on her or her animals. Blackie's remark to the contrary, it wasn't my zoo. In the meantime, there was the garden.
    I went out to the storage shed behind the kitchen to look for the spade. But before I could locate it in the messy clutter of tools, garden equipment, and empty pots that fills the storage shed and overflows into the area around it, I was attacked.
    "Gotcha!" McQuaid said with lustful enthusiasm, and fastened his arms around me from behind like a grizzly bear grabbing an unsuspecting camper. His elbow shoved a bag of sulphur granules off the shelf. My foot hooked a hoe, which fell over with a crash and took the hedge clippers with it. There's not enough room in the shed for heavy breathing, let alone a wrestling match.
    "Hey!" I caught a box of plant stakes. "Watch it!" Then, as he kissed the back of my neck, under my hair, I stopped squirming, turned around in his arms, and joined in. I'm always surprised at the way McQuaid can arouse me after three years, going on four, of pleasant intimacy. But it was my day off and I had things planned, so after a few minutes I pulled away from what could have turned into something more than an incredibly sexy good-morning kiss.
    "Want to help me go after the costmary?" I asked seductively. "I'm sure I can find another spade."
    He shook his head. Sex having been postponed, he, too, had something planned—breakfast. He lifted a small white bag. "Lemon custard. How about coffee?"
    I put the spade back. "You sure know how to put the screws on," I said. I stay away from sugar, and I cut back on fats where I can. But wave one of the Doughnut Queen's lemon custard doughnuts at me, and I'm tempted. Offer me two and I'm done for.

    McQuaid sat down at the kitchen table while I got a bag of coffee beans out of the freezer. He's big—six feet, one-ninety plus— and his presence always seems to organize the space around him. It's not just size that does it, either. He has the commanding presence