If She Should Die Read Online Free PDF Page B

this bird to fly.’ ”
    “Did you ever consider kidnapping?”
    “Ames and the police did for a while, but if she was, no one ever asked for ransom. There were no signs of a struggle in her room or anywhere in the house.”
    “But you don’t believe she just ran away.”
    “I think her taking off voluntarily is really unlikely. She’d threatened it, but she always said dramatic things to get her way. Like a child. But actually running awaywould mean being out in the world on her own with only ten thousand dollars. That might sound like a lot to us, but it wouldn’t to her. She spent money like water.” Christine shook her head. “I’m rambling. This news about the body has thrown me. Maybe I can talk more clearly when I’ve had time to calm down. But—” Michael Winter raised his eyebrows. “But I wouldn’t want Ames to know I’ve been discussing the letters and the farewell note. He considers it all family business. He’d be furious.”
    “He won’t hear it from me.” Michael Winter smiled at her again. His dark eyes went from hard and inquisitive to understanding, and the chiseled planes of his face softened. His teeth were even and white, and shallow lines framed either side of his mouth. Christine noticed he had a mole beneath his left eye that looked almost like a tiny dark tear. She found herself wanting to trust him in this awful situation. She found herself afraid of taking the chance.
    “Would you like more coffee?” she asked abruptly.
    “I really should get going, although I’ve been out in this mess since early this morning.”
    Christine looked out the front windows at the rain falling against a dull gray sky. The few trees lining Main Street bore young, droopily wet leaves, and signs hanging in front of buildings flapped in the cold, brisk wind. Cars splashed dirty water onto the sidewalks. Suddenly an image of Dara, beautiful and laughing, flashed through Christine’s mind. Her stomach did a small flip at the thought of what lying in dirty river water for three years would have done to Dara’s lovely body. The picture was gruesome.
    “What’s wrong?” Winter asked. “Your face went completely white.”
    “I was thinking of Dara in the river.” She folded her arms across her chest almost protectively. “If this body found today
is
Dara’s, how could she have remained inthe water so long? Certainly she would have surfaced before now.”
    “The plastic wrapping could have gotten caught on something. Maybe trapped in tree roots sticking out under the water. This is the first flood for three years. The rush of water could have dislodged the body. And there’s a tear in the outer layer of plastic. It’s possible the body was weighted down with a concrete block or something else heavy. The bundle, for lack of a better word, could have come in contact with something sharp that ripped the plastic and the weight fell out, allowing the body to finally surface.”
    Christine swallowed hard at the idea. She and Dara had certainly never been friends, but the thought of her beautiful body slowly decomposing as it lay trapped in plastic and filthy water made Christine sick. But maybe it wasn’t Dara after all. Maybe Ames, with all his seemingly irrational optimism, was right about Dara being alive.
    “What’s going on? I thought I heard you talking about Dara.”
    They looked up to see Jeremy Ireland standing in the doorway leading to the showroom from the back rooms of Prince Jewelry. He was even taller than Deputy Winter, with blond hair a few shades darker than Christine’s but the same aqua eyes. Jeremy’s handsome square-jawed face was now pale, the mouth slightly open in surprise and dismay.
    “Deputy Winter, this is my brother, Jeremy,” Christine said quickly, going to her brother and placing her hand on his arm. “Jeremy, the flood washed up a body. It could be Dara, but the police aren’t sure it’s her. No one is sure.”
    “But it could be!” Jeremy’s voice rose.