Hiding From Death (A Darcy Sweet Cozy Mystery #6) Read Online Free PDF Page B

on it.  I trust you.  I want to bring this over to Laura now.”
    ***
                  Darcy walked back out of town down the street that led to her house and before that, Laura Lannis’ house.  She had the books in a tote from the store, the “Sweet Read Bookstore” logo on the front of the blue nylon bag.  She disturbed tendrils of mist as she went, fog that the rising sun hadn’t burned away.  Darcy knitted her brows together in thought, wondering what problem the town sensed now.
                  Stepping up to the front door of Anna’s old house again she knocked without hesitation, an uncertain smile on her face.  Just like before, the door opened almost immediately.  It was like Laura had been watching outside to make sure no one was creeping up on the house.
                  Laura Lannis stared hard at Darcy.  Her dark black hair was pulled forward across part of her face.  She was wearing the same purple robe as earlier.  She crossed her arms and leaned in the doorway.  “Why are you here again?”
                  Darcy held out the bag.  “I don’t remember if I told you earlier, but I operate a bookstore in town.  I know I already brought you the cookies this morning but I thought maybe this would be a better way to welcome you.  There’s some books in there for Alex that I thought a young boy might like.  Even a couple about sharks.  I also put in some books about our town, so you can learn the history of Misty Hollow.  History is very important, don’t you think?”
                  Laura stared at her, narrowing her eyes as if trying to decide if Darcy was for real.  “I don’t need any books.  Thank you.  Now again, please, just leave us alone.”
                  Darcy wouldn’t be put off that quickly.  “Please.  We’re a very friendly town here, if you take the time to get to know us.”
                  She held the bag out, waiting for Laura to decide either to take the gift or slam the door in her face again.  Laura shifted from foot to foot, looking inside the house, then back to Darcy.  For just a moment it appeared she would shut the door without another word but then she sighed.  “You people around here are certainly insistent.”
                  Darcy smiled as Laura reached out to take the tote bag of books from her hand.
                  When their fingers touched, it was like an electric shock zapped through her.  Her vision blurred into bright white light.  Sound buzzed in her ears, an incoherent rushing that she gradually recognized as her own intense breathing as she ran so hard that her lungs burned.
                  Darcy didn’t know where she was.  She only knew that she was running for her life and if she stopped she’d be a dead woman.  A house.  She was racing out the back door of a house that she knew was hers even though she didn’t recognize it at all.  In her arms, she held a child, trembling in terror as they fled.
                  Somewhere in the back of her mind she understood that this was a vision.  She had been thrown into it so violently, though, that she hadn’t had time to prepare, and now everything the woman in her vision saw and experienced felt real, like it was happening to Darcy herself.
                  Darcy turned around as she made it out the door.  She had to know that she and her child were safe.  She saw the inside of the house, dark now that the hall lamp had been smashed.  A man was laying in the hall, holding his hand to his head like he’d been hurt.  “You can’t run forever!” the man yelled after her.  “I will find you!”
                  She couldn’t make out much of the man.  The woman in her vision knew him, knew his name and what he was doing in the house, but Darcy didn’t have the time to figure it out.  She had to get away.  He was a