RESORT TO MURDER Read Online Free PDF Page A

skins on your
back! Also, I tended to send potential customers to the SPCA for
puppies or kittens instead of selling his purebreds.
    "Before that I worked in a
paranormal book shop, which was kind of fun. My folks weren't too
crazy about it, but they thought at least it was an improvement
from when I studied witchcraft - good witchcraft you understand. The
only really true witchcraft.” Dyna's expression was reverent for a
moment, then turned rueful. "But I decided I didn't have it in me
to be a successful witch.
    "Problem is, I guess, I
don't really have to do anything. Grandma Hall left me a trust fund, you see,
and I only take jobs to try to please my parents. They're very
busy, productive people. Dad's an engineer and Mom designs jewelry.
Maybe someday I'll find something that seems worth the effort.”
Dyna grinned, but didn't look convinced that that day would ever
come. Maggie wondered what life would be like without a central,
motivating passion. She had always delighted in the challenge of
math, and though teaching it was occasionally frustrating, she
loved that too. She felt sorry for her well-to-do
friend.
    Dyna's grin faded and she said, "So you knew
that girl out there?"
    Maggie let out a long sigh. "Yes. She was in
one of my geometry classes. A good kid.” She shifted the pillows
and sat up on the bed, leaning against them.
    "Was she?"
    "Yeah. Quiet, but not in a shy way. She just
wasn't a bouncy cheerleader type. She was more thoughtful,
introspective. And idealistic."
    "Yeah?"
    Maggie nodded. "I tutored her for a while,
after school. She was bright in other subjects, but had some
trouble with math. She wanted good grades to get into college. I
remember she talked about wanting to join the Peace Corps someday.
The only problem she had with it was that she hated the thought of
leaving her folks. I think they weren't too well off, and she felt
maybe she should get a good job and help them out. They moved from
Baltimore to this area just before her junior year.
    "I met them a few times before that, when
one or the other of them would pick her up after the tutoring
session. Nice, decent people. I think life was a struggle for them,
but they did their best, and they were proud of her.” Maggie looked
out the window at a distant mountain peak. "Who knows what she
would have done with her life, if she'd been given the chance."
    "Yeah," Dyna said, following Maggie's gaze
then turning back. "She sounds like a good kid. God, seventeen,
eighteen, is that what she was? How can someone die, like that, so
young? How do their parents handle something so awful?"
    Maggie thought of her own parents. They had
wanted her to be with them this week at the beach. Had she been
selfish to say no, to do her own thing? Look how it had turned out.
They would be horrified to find out what she had run into, but what
had happened to her was nothing compared to Lori. What if they had
to receive the kind of news Lori's folks would be getting?
    Guilt tweaked at her when she thought of the
worry that would come when they found out. She would have to call
and tell them. They would want her to leave, pack up, join everyone
at Bethany. And she could do that.
    But then she thought of Lori's parents.
Their lives had been shattered. Their daughter had been murdered.
And by whom? Nobody seemed to know yet. And Maggie wondered just
how much would be done to find out. The sheriff had seemed more
concerned with other things. Maybe she could do more by
staying?
    She looked back at Dyna. Dyna's expression
was angry, which seemed strangely out of place on her, as though
the muscles had to rearrange in ways they had never tried
before.
    "Whoever killed her really deserves the
worst," Dyna said. "The chair. Hanging. Whatever we have here in
Maryland. I just hope that sheriff catches the creep soon. They
will, don't you think?"
    Maggie wished she could agree and let it go
at that. But she never was one who could just go along with the
easy answer. It had