Revenge is Sweet (A Samantha Church Mystery) Read Online Free PDF Page A

touch the floor yet! We’re sitting on a wooden bench, both leaning slightly to the right. Everything we wear matches, even our shoes and socks. One of my hands is slightly raised off my lap. Robin’s are folded and resting easy on hers.
    Looking at you, honey, in the other photograph, I might as well still be looking at Auntie Robin. You are so the image of her. You look more like your aunt with every passing year. You know you are becoming the tomboy that Robin was!
    And, sweetie, I have lost you, too. You are living on an island somewhere in the Puget Sound in the Pacific Northwest, with your father’s mother (I am sorry, baby, but I just can’t bring myself to say ‘your grandmother.’) I want you to know that she has you for now because I have made such a mess of things. Your father saw to it that you would go live with her should something happen to him and there wasn’t a thing I could do about it. That was then, sweetie, but I have every intention of doing something about it now.
    It hurts my heart that you won’t talk to me very much on the telephone, but I understand. You only answer the questions I ask and offer nothing more. But you talk to Howard and Nona. You don’t want to get off the phone with them! Nona told me last time you talked that you said you liked her better as a grandma. It’s always raining here too, you told Nona.
    Baby , you have every reason not to want to talk to me. I am working to change that, to make things better. To make me better. Then you can come home. I will bring you home. I don’t like that you’re so far away. That you are in a different time zone.
    But I have to find Wilson first. God, I hope he is still alive. I have been sitting here telling myself that he isn’t dead, that he’s in a room somewhere, still alive, getting food and water. And he’ll stay there until I come and find him and bring him home. For some reason they let me go and kept him. But why? And who are they? And what do they want from us?
    For reasons that I still do not know, or understand, Wilson has continued to believe in me , sweetie. He gave me a job when nobody else would, helped me with Auntie Robin and is helping me work to get a handle, get some control back in my life. For reasons I do not know, he seems to understand my problem with alcohol. I know they say that men and women are not supposed to sponsor each other, but Wilson has agreed to be my sponsor until I can gather up the nerve to ask someone else. He hesitated when I asked. I saw something flicker in his eyes, as if my request was something he should refuse, but I can’t be sure. It happened so fast, as if he sensed that I had noticed and it was something he didn’t want me to see. Its meaning still escapes me. Wilson wouldn’t tell me no. Or is it that he simply couldn’t?
    He was silent for a moment as he considered my request, rubbing his thumb lightly across his lips back and forth, before saying, “Of course, Sam, if you think it will help you. I’ll be your sponsor.”
    I thanked him and left his office, but not before stealing a quick glance back at him. He had gone back to writing his column. He centered his reading glasses back on his nose and began staring intently at his computer, deep in thought, so I know he didn’t know I was still standing there watching him in those quiet moments.
    I cannot let Wilson down now , baby. I will find him. Wherever he is, I must find him. Howard will help me. They must have taught him something in the Merchant Marines about how to find people who have been kidnapped.
    I look at the clock. Past three thirty. I have to get up in a few hours and get to work. As I came to my bedroom, I caught sight of myself in the hallway mirror. The weight I’ve gained shows in my face. Your Auntie Robin was the dark Italian, tall and beautiful. She had Nona’s coloring, the olive skin, the rich dark hair, eyes wide and brilliant blue. Everything about Robin turned heads. I, however, have the