Poisoned Ground Read Online Free PDF

her ears and murmured, “I know, I know. I’m so sorry, sweetie.”
    Looking up at the hills flanking the two-lane road, Rachel wondered how Packard Resorts would market Mason County as a vacation spot. True, the mountainside trees formed a breathtaking palette of red, orange, and yellow in early fall, but now all the leaves lay rotting on the ground, packed down by recent rain, their colors faded. The bare branches along the ridges had their own bleak beauty, dark spears aimed at the scudding gray clouds. But this was not a welcoming place in winter. Did Packard Resorts want to create a mountain retreat that would be open only in warm weather months? Or did they have a grand plan for transforming this small rural county in southwestern Virginia into a winter wonderland?
    Their plans didn’t matter. The project would probably die if Joanna stood in the way. The only question was what kind of penalty Joanna would pay for killing a lot of people’s hopes for jobs and profit.
    Back home at the farm, Rachel pulled into the driveway ahead of Joanna and opened the back door of the Range Rover. Bonnie shot out and slammed into Rachel. Reeling, Rachel grabbed at the leash but it slid through her fingers. The dog bolted across the yard, heading for the sheep meadow. Heading toward home.
    “Bonnie, come back here!” Rachel yelled.
    Joanna jumped out of her Jeep and the two of them sprinted after the dog. Joanna couldn’t keep up with Rachel and quickly fell behind. When Bonnie charged across the meadow, the two dozen sheep scattered in every direction, uttering a chorus of frantic baa-aas . The dog swung to the right, then the left, as confused as the terrified sheep.
    Rachel caught up, lunged at the dog and threw both arms around her. Bonnie surrendered, panting, her tongue lolling.
    “You silly old girl.” Rachel sank to her knees, gasping for breath. “I’ll bet your arthritis is giving you fits right now.”
    The dog laid her head on Rachel’s shoulder and whined.
    “I know, sweetie. You’re scared and you don’t understand what’s happening. Come on, let’s go see Billy Bob.” Rachel pushed herself up, the leash firmly in hand, and led the dispirited dog back to the house.
    Joanna hauled the carrier holding the two rabbits out of the Range Rover, along with the bag of their food.
    When they entered the house with the animals in tow, Tom’s brown-and-white bulldog, Billy Bob, emerged from the kitchen at the end of the center hall. He barked with excitement when he saw Bonnie and trotted toward her, his nails clicking on the oak floor. Rachel unhooked Bonnie’s leash and let her go to meet Billy Bob.
    Frank, Rachel’s black-and-white cat with one and a half ears, made a brief appearance in the hallway. He took a look at Bonnie, growled and hissed, then shot through an open doorway into the den.
    “Okay, where’s Cicero?” Joanna asked. “We might as well get his opinion, too, while we’re at it.”
    Right on cue, Rachel’s African gray parrot called “Hello, Rachel, hello” from the den.
    “He’s going to stay where he is,” Rachel said. “He’s one animal more than I can deal with right now.”
    “I’ll take the dog home with me, if you want me to. She gets along with my dogs, and if she gets loose and runs back home I won’t have far to go after her.”
    “Oh, God, yes, thank you,” Rachel said. “Now what the heck am I going to do with these rabbits? They’re used to running around loose in the house, but that’s not going to happen here. Do you think the Kellys’ son or daughter will take them?”
    “Lord, I don’t know.” Joanna, holding the bag of supplies, used the fingers of her free hand to comb her reddish blond hair, smoothing the mess her short run had made of it. “I couldn’t predict what those two will do about anything. Ronan and Sheila are both very different from their parents. And that worries me.”
    “Come on, I’ll put the rabbits in the office for now.” On