Love You to Death Read Online Free PDF

on the bulletin board to replace the empty four-by-six space that Ted’s photo had left six months ago. I glared at it, at Henry’s stupid smile, at his dumb dimple. The picture had been taken on our second date as we boarded a dinner cruise around Casco Bay. A photographer was snapping everyone’s photograph in front of a buoy, and if you liked the shot, you could pay to have it in a paper frame. Henry and I were all awkward smiles and unsure of what to do with our hands. So we both settled for school-picture smiles and hands clasped in front of our stomachs. Since it was our second date, we felt compelled to say yes to the photograph, which was $14.99.

    At least Henry had paid for the picture. I glared some more at his face, then grabbed the mini darts set that my coworker Shelley had given me for Secret Santa last month. I aimed in the vicinity of Henry’s heart. Or lack thereof.

    “Bull’s-eye!” I said.

    Shelley’s head appeared over the gray fabric “wall” that separated our cubicles. Her wildly curly brown hair bounced on the top of the divider. “Uh-oh. What happened?”

    My second dart landed on Henry’s nose. “I am going to kill him, that’s what happened. That jerk ditched me in—”

    “Abby Foote?”

    I swiveled around at the unfamiliar voice to find a familiar face. The face of all faces. A face ten years older than the last time I’d seen it, but yes, it was him! Benjamin Orr! The love of my teenage life. Well, secret life. I—and countless other girls—had been secretly in love and lust with Ben Orr for two years in high school. He probably couldn’t match my name with my face, despite having been in two classes of mine. Ben Orr had been captain of everything, from the football team to Mathletes. I’d been the Amazing Invisible Girl.

    He stood just outside my cubicle with another man, fiftyish. His dad? Perhaps they had a Best Of request. Best-Looking Guy in Maine? Best Body?

    “Yes, I’m Abby,” I said, unable to take my eyes off Ben. He was tall—six feet. Broad shouldered. Dark, dark hair to match his dark, dark eyes, which were so intense, so intelligent, but sparkling. He had such fair skin. He’d been drop-dead cute at fifteen and sixteen. He’d graduated to drop-dead gorgeous.

    Both men reached into the breast pockets of their suits and pulled out gold shields, their gazes going from the dart in Henry’s nose to me and back again.

    They were the police? I jumped up. “Did something happen to my mother? Opal or Olivia? Veronica? Oh God, Oscar—did something happen to Oscar?”

    “You didn’t mention the brother-in-law,” the older one said. “Why is that? Do you want to kill him, too?”

    Huh? I glanced at Shelley; so did both cops. Her eyes widened at me and she ducked back down.

    “Excuse my partner,” Ben said, cutting the other man a look. “He hasn’t had his fourth cup of coffee yet. We’re not here about your family. We’re here about Ted Puck.”

    Ted Puck? What about Ted Puck?

    Ben eyed me. “I’m Detective Benjamin Orr of the Portland Police Department. This is my partner, Detective Frank Fargo. We’re investigating the murder of Ted Puck.”

    What? I staggered back, my butt hitting the knob of the drawer on my desk. I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. Murdered? What? What? No. There had to be a mistake. They must be talking about a different Ted Puck. I straightened. “The Ted Puck I know is fine. I just saw him yesterday. I mean, his face. His engagement announcement was in yesterday’s paper.”

    “That’s the one,” Detective Fargo said, jotting something down in a tiny spiral notebook.

    I stared from Ben to Fargo, unable to speak, unable to shut my mouth, which had dropped open. Ted Puck was dead? Dead?

    “In fact, Miss Foote,” Fargo said. “I believe Ted brought his fiancée, Mary-Kate Darling, to your birthday party six months ago when you and Ted were a couple. You caught them in a sexual act, according to