Killertrust Read Online Free PDF Page B

try to find me. It’s too dangerous.”
Then the line went dead.
    “Damn,” Rhetta said, punching
Star 69, trying to call the number back.
    “I’m sorry, but the number
you have called is not in service…” Rhetta disconnected before the rest of the
message finished playing.
    She stared at the phone. “The
phone he called from isn’t in service. Imagine that.” She shrugged away from
Randolph, and sat on a stool. Her hands shook. She gritted her teeth. “Why?
What’s going on? What is he trying to drag me into?”
    “Are you sure that’s him?”
Randolph said, enveloping her small hands with his.
    “Yes. I’m sure. It’s the same
voice as that of the man who stopped me in the hospital garage claiming to be
my dear old dad. I’d recognize his voice anytime. Wouldn’t I love to know how
he manages to claim being my father when I have my father’s death certificate?
If he calls again, I intend to ask him about that.”
    She visualized the contents
of the large manila envelope tucked away in her top drawer at the office. She
had memorized everything in it. She had proof positive that her father died
during the Vietnam War. So who is this crazy old man claiming to be her father?
    Rhetta pounded the counter
with her fist. “I’m not going to do a thing that he asks. This guy is a cuckoo,
and I won’t be dragged into some lunatic scheme of his. ‘Too dangerous to meet
in person,’ my butt. He sounds like a paranoid cold-war ex-spy from an old
James Bond movie. I’m going to report this to the police.”
    Randolph kissed her cheek,
and clasped her hands again. “I seriously doubt that there will be any kind of
key at the office. If I’m right and there isn’t, then definitely call Sergeant
Delmonti, tell him about this, and that’s that. Who knows? This may even be the
guy who ran over poor George. If there is a key, whatever you do, don’t go out
to the airport. Call me right away. Then call Delmonti. This guy may be
following you.” He kissed her palm.
    Rhetta shuddered. “You’re
right, as usual. I’m calling Delmonti anyway and telling him about all of this.
The police may be able to piece this together.” She slid off the stool and
hugged her husband. “Right now, I’ll get this fire going.” As she passed the
window, she glanced out, staring through slowly swirling snowflakes down the
long driveway toward the road. Nothing looked out of place. No cars or vehicles
lurked. Was he out there? Following her? Why?
    And,
what if there is a key waiting for me?
     
     
     
     
Chapter 7
Monday morning, December 10
    The day dawned crisp and bright, the sun sparkling like diamonds through the frost-coated trees. The dry
dusting of snow glittered in the fields, as though fairies had sprinkled the
tops of the weeds with magic sparkles. From her bed, Rhetta gazed out at the
river birch trees stripped of leaves, but adorned with thousands of ice crystals.
She loved living in the country. She stretched, then slid out from between the
warm sheets and her husband’s sleeping form, and padded to the kitchen to make
coffee. Randolph meandered in just as the brew finished.
    She and Randolph had spent
most of the previous day packing up more art into the trailer. The Thanksgiving
show had been hugely successful and Randolph had to gather more paintings for
the last-minute Christmas shoppers who would be visiting the art galleries’
open houses all this week.
    “I’m going to the gallery
early this morning. We have a buyer from Saint Louis coming in around ten, and
I want to be sure I have all my stuff unloaded when he gets there. He’s buying
for shops from Saint Louis and Chicago.” Randolph filled his coffee mug.
    Rhetta saw his eyes light up
as he talked. She brimmed with happiness that his art was finally getting
meaningful recognition.
    She never imagined when she
met the handsome circuit judge at a Humane Society dinner auction that she
would one day be married to this terrific man and he would