Kissing Arizona Read Online Free PDF

have been some store when the two of you were in it together.
    â€˜Has the house been broken into? Is that what happened, he found somebody stealing something? He was always fierce if he caught anybody stealing anything at the store. If he caught somebody in the house—’
    â€˜We haven’t found any sign of a break-in, Mr Cooper.’
    â€˜See, but I’d know right away if anything was missing or out of place. That’s why you should let me in, so I could look around and see . . .’
    â€˜Mr Cooper, there was no forced entry. Rosa used her key to open the front door just as she always did.’ Cooper looked puzzled and dissatisfied. ‘What about employees? Any of them have a grievance?’
    â€˜Well, it’s always possible somebody could be mad at the boss. My father was pretty strict, and he wasn’t very tactful if somebody screwed up. Nicole would have a better idea of that, I don’t do much in the merchandizing end.’
    â€˜Oh? You just do the buying?’
    â€˜No, no. I don’t do any buying.’
    â€˜What other part is there?’
    â€˜The money part. I’m the money man.’ He ducked his chin and showed a small, self-satisfied smile.
    â€˜What does that mean?’
    â€˜Just what it says. I manage the money.’ She waited. Silence, she had learned, sometimes elicits its own answers. She kept her eyes on his face until he added, ‘We run a big organization, two warehouse-type stores and a third in the planning stage. My parents have always been too busy making money to think much about investing it. So gradually I’ve taken over that end.’
    â€˜I see,’ Sarah said. She didn’t, exactly, but decided she had more important questions now. ‘I’ll need to see your receipts from the hotel where you were staying, please, and the pictures in your camera, they’ll be dated and timed. Anything else that will confirm you were in the canyon.’
    â€˜Dear me, what else? Charges on my gas card, I suppose?’ His sarcasm made it plain how insulting he felt it was for her to ask for proof. His pomposity was so annoying, Sarah caught herself thinking how satisfactory it would feel to slap the cuffs on him and read him his rights.
    But in the next minute the door of the RV squeaked open, and the floor gave the little bounce that signaled somebody standing on the step. Tom Cooper, whose chair was facing the door, said softly, ‘Oh, God, here’s Nicole . . .’
    His sister stood motionless in the doorway for a long couple of heartbeats. Then her eyes moved, but not toward her brother. Sarah found herself being assessed. Apparently that didn’t take long. Nicole closed the door and moved toward them along the narrow aisle. The small space felt colder with her in it. She said, ‘Detective Burke?’
    Despite being six inches shorter and a hundred pounds lighter than her brother, Nicole Cooper exuded self-confidence in a way he didn’t. She wore blond-streaked straight hair in a chic cut, discreet make-up in desert tones and a simple, expensive-looking pale gray suit. Her voice was so quiet Sarah had to lean forward to hear her ask, ‘Are my parents still over there, in the house?’
    Sarah said, ‘Yes. I’m sorry you can’t see them yet – it’s a crime scene, and we have to protect the chain of evidence.’
    â€˜I understand. Where’s Rosa, do you know?’
    â€˜Last I heard, still in the hospital.’
    â€˜In the hospital? Rosa? What happened to her?’
    â€˜I understand she had a sort of breakdown while she was telling the first responders about finding your parents this morning.’
    â€˜Breakdown? I can’t imagine Rosa breaking down.’
    â€˜Well, she had a pretty bad shock. And look, the rules say I need to talk to you and your brother separately the first time.’ Her instincts were telling her to get this