Murder Past Due Read Online Free PDF Page A

Athena—besides Julia, of course—and my son is living in your house. I thought you should know, since I’ll be in town for a while, hoping I can get to know my son.”
    His only “old friend”? I almost laughed at that. Considering our history in high school and college, Godfrey had to be pretty desperate to call me his friend. After the way he treated me, I shouldn’t even be talking to him.
    Even though he was still a jerk, I couldn’t, in good conscience, turn my back on him. As a father, I could sympathize with his situation.
    “I’ll do what I can,” I told him.
    His face brightened.
    “But you need to keep in mind that Justin is in his first semester of college. He’s facing a lot of stress as it is, and you need to be careful about adding more.”
    “I understand,” Godfrey said. “I just want to be a part of his life, if he’ll let me.” He leaned back in his chair. “But I’d really like to take him to California with me for a while. We could get to know each other, he could have a little fun—which we both know he hasn’t had with Misery in the picture. Maybe take off for Europe, if he’d like that.”
    Protesting would do no good, I realized. Julia would be horrified if she heard this, because I knew she wouldn’t want Justin that far away from her. But they would have to work this out themselves. It was none of my business.
    Diesel jumped down from the window and walked over to Godfrey’s chair. He sat up on his hind legs and stretched out one of his front legs, resting his paw on Godfrey’s knee. Godfrey stared down at Diesel in surprise.
    “He does that sometimes,” I said. “He seems to sense people’s feelings, and he tries to comfort them.”
    “Thank you, buddy,” Godfrey said, his voice soft as he touched Diesel’s paw lightly with his hand.
    Diesel muttered, withdrew his paw, and went back to his window.
    Godfrey shook his head. “I’ve got to put him in a book. That was freaky.”
    “Diesel is a special cat.” I smiled and reached for a piece of scrap paper. Picking up a pen, I jotted down my telephone number. “Call me and let me know when you’ll be coming by the house, okay?”
    Godfrey accepted the paper. “Thanks, Charlie. I’ve got another appointment before I meet Julia for lunch.” He stood.
    I stood too and accepted the hand he proffered. “Good luck. I hope things work out for you with Justin.”
    Godfrey thanked me again, and I watched as he strode out of the room.
    “What a mess,” I said.
    I didn’t realize I had spoken the words until I felt Diesel’s paw on my shoulder. When I turned to face him, Diesel gazed at me, his head cocked a bit to the right. It was uncanny, the things this cat seemed to understand. “Yes, it’s a messy situation. Poor Justin.” I shook my head. “Poor Godfrey, poor Julia, and even poor Ezra.”
    Diesel trilled a couple of times.
    “Somehow I think we’ll be in the middle of it, too. With Justin in our house, there’s no way to avoid it.”
    Diesel chirped.
    “We’ll support Justin any way we can.” I spoke with more assurance than I felt. “If he wants our help, that is.” I couldn’t believe I was saying such things. What had happened to my resolve to steer away from emotional complications?
    I stared at my cat as if he could answer that for me. Diesel blinked slowly before settling back down to nap.
    For a few minutes, I thought about what had just occurred in my office. Godfrey started out as I remembered him—cocksure, swaggering, self-involved. His manner changed, though, his self-assurance seemingly gone when he told me about Justin. Perhaps having a son humbled him.
    But there was more to it. The way he squirmed when talking about Julia. He lied to me about that. He had been lying to himself for years. He knew all along Julia was pregnant, but for whatever reason he hadn’t been willing to acknowledge it. Until now. Why? I wondered. Maybe hitting fifty had done it.
    I turned to my computer. All