Jack Stone - Wild Justice Read Online Free PDF Page B

blistering off the walls, and the guttering sagged. Stone noticed there was grey mesh insect screen on all the windows he could see from where he stood.
    Lilley stooped over a mailbox that was just a standard metal box atop a treated timber post. She withdrew an advertising circular and tucked it into her handbag, then led Stone along a short cement path and up two steps onto the veranda. The screen door hung off one hinge. Lilley made a face that might have been a plea for understanding, or an apology, Stone wasn’t sure. She pulled the door open and held it with her hip while trying to balance her handbag on her knee as she rummaged round for the key. Stone set down his knapsack and stood back to let her do her thing while he looked around.
    The houses across the street were in the same state of neglect and disrepair. Maybe all the residents were unmarried women who didn’t have a man to do the maintenance work around a house. Maybe the men in Windswept were lazy, or worked away all week. Maybe the relentless harsh weather in these parts just became too much to bother trying anymore.
    Maybe everyone knew the town of Windswept was dying, and it was just a matter of time.
    There was a light burning in the front room of the house directly opposite, and he could hear a dog barking somewhere further along the street.
    Stone heard Lilley grunt, and he turned round to see her using her shoulder against the front door to shove it open. She stood in the doorway for a moment, reaching inside the doorframe to switch on lights.
    “Welcome,” she said. “I know it’s not much, but it’s home.”
     
    Seven.
     
    Lilley dropped her handbag on the sofa and went through the rest of the house switching on more lights while Stone stood in the small living room and looked around.
    “Make yourself at home,” she called from somewhere down a long hallway. Probably her bedroom, Stone guessed. “I’ll just be a couple of minutes.”
    Stone stood in the middle of the room and took it all in quickly. Cheap sofa, old television resting on a cabinet that looked like it had been bought in a pack and assembled. There were chips and gouges in the laminate. There was a bookcase set against the far wall that looked like it matched the TV stand. Stone ran his eyes over the stacked shelves out of idle curiosity. There was a lot of cook books, some old hardcovers and three shelves of erotic romance paperbacks. The rest of the space was stacked with sagging mounds of magazines and personal nik-naks. There were no photos. Stone thought that was odd. He frowned and looked around the room again. No photos anywhere.
    He went to the front window and pulled back the curtains. The windowpane was dusty, and the insect screen was frayed and holed in a couple of places. He noticed the window frame had been nailed shut.
    Stone glanced out at the quiet street. The light he had seen in the house opposite was out now, everything eerie silent and shut down for the night. Even the dog had stopped barking.
    He heard Lilley before he turned. She was talking as she came down the hall, probably for no other reason than to let him know she was coming so he wouldn’t feel like she was sneaking up on him. So when she came into the living room he was standing waiting by the window.
    She had changed out of her blue uniform into a white sundress. It was a simple thing, buttoned up at the front, and belted at the waist with a piece of fabric that was the same material and color as the dress. It was sleeveless, cut just above the knee. The white showed off the tan of her legs and arms. She smiled at him, and he noticed she had taken time to touch up her makeup. The lipstick was fresh, and she had added color around her eyes. Her hair was still in a bun but she was tugging at the pins even now while he watched her. She did it all very casually, very matter-of-factly, but Stone knew enough about women to know that she was doing this for him, not for comfort, and not out of