Killer Swell Read Online Free PDF

white pillars, illuminated by the coach lights. Her arms were crossed tightly across her chest, and her chin was tucked down. Ken Crier, her husband and Kate’s father, stood next to her, his face as white as a sheet.
    I stopped my car in the circular drive and got out.
    Marilyn looked up as I approached. “Noah.” Her voice was hoarse and disjointed.
    I held up my hand, an awkward attempt at a greeting. “The police were just here?”
    She nodded slightly. “Yes.”
    â€œI’m sorry, Marilyn.”
    Marilyn’s lips puckered, and her eyes filled with tears. She turned and disappeared through the massive doors into the house.
    Ken Crier walked down the stone steps. He cleared his throat and extended his hand. “Noah. It’s been a long time.”
    Ken was a small, compact man with thinning brown hair. His eyes were small, his mouth perpetually tightened into what looked like an uncomfortable grimace. Large forearms extended from the sleeves of his white golf shirt, which was tucked tightly into a pair of immaculate khakis. In eleven years, he’d aged about an hour.
    I shook his hand. “Yeah. I wish I were here for a different reason.”
    He cleared his throat again, his eyes unsteady. “You spoke with Marilyn earlier?”
    â€œYes.”
    He nodded and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Did the police tell you anything?”
    â€œNo. Not really.”
    He sighed and shook his head. “It’s unbelieveable. I don’t know that I believe it.”
    He was in shock, and I didn’t know what to say to him. I had never been able to speak comfortably with him. He’d intimidated the hell out of me as a teenager, always cutting me off in mid-sentence and making me feel small. It was his way. But I’d always known that he loved his daughter. I hadn’t seen Kate in years and her death was digging into me like an ice pick; I couldn’t imagine what Ken was feeling.
    â€œNoah, I’d like your help,” he said, suddenly.
    â€œMy help?”
    He nodded at me, his eyes beginning to refocus. “I need to know what happened to Kate.”
    I squinted into the evening breeze. “I’m sure the police will keep you informed.”
    He waved a hand in the air, dismissively. The wrinkles around his eyes tightened in contempt. “The police will take their time, tell me things I don’t understand, and treat me like an idiot.” He paused. “I don’t need that and I don’t want that.”
    â€œI don’t know that I can do much better,” I told him honestly.
    â€œI’d appreciate it if you’d try,” he replied, turning toward the house. He walked back up the stairs and stopped at the giant doors. He turned back to me. “She was in trouble, Noah.”
    That surprised me because it was at odds with what Marilyn had told me. “Trouble?”
    He bit his bottom lip for a moment, and his eyes blinked quickly. “Something was wrong,” he said, his voice tight. “This wasn’t random. I knew something was wrong with her or with her life. I could feel it. But she wouldn’t talk to me.”
    Kate could be stubborn, but I remembered her being Daddy’s little girl. “Why?”
    He turned toward the open doors, then paused. “She never forgave me,” he said, over his shoulder.
    â€œFor what?”
    Ken Crier turned back and looked at me. There was little warmth in his smile. “For always intruding in her life.”

9
    â€œI lied,” Kate Crier had said to me.
    It was a July night, two months after our high school graduation. We were sitting on a bench on the boardwalk on Catalina Island. We’d had dinner at a small Italian place, near the casino at the north end of the island.
    I didn’t know what she was talking about.
    â€œWhat?” I said. “You lied?”
    She took a deep breath and brushed the blond bangs from her tan