Running on Empty Read Online Free PDF Page A
Author: Sandra Balzo
the conversation about her and was just getting
up to sock Mama in the jaw.
Before AnnaLise could throw herself into the breach, the restaurant door burst open
and an unfamiliar voice bellowed over the chime, 'A body's just been pulled out of
the lake!'
Chapter Four
'Huh,' Daisy Griggs said. 'A little early in the season, now, isn't it?'
Mouth open, AnnaLise turned to her other
mother.
'Daisy's dead-on right, I'm afraid,' Phyllis said, rising. 'Classes don't start up
to the university till Tuesday.'
The University of the Mountain. Where kids drank too much, went to the water's edge
to relieve themselves and tumbled into the lake. With luck, their friends dragged
them out. The buddy system of drinking was much encouraged in Sutherton.
Mama was peering out the front window toward the beach across the street. 'Usually
be a week or two after that before somebody actually sees a floater going past.'
'A... floater?' said the herald. A man of about thirty, with the tell-tale sunburn
of a tourist, he was obviously perplexed by the lack of excitement his announcement
had engendered. 'My God, a corpse just washed up on the beach. Shouldn't we do something?'
'Like what?' Mama turned. 'Police chief's car is already kicking up gravel over there.'
'And from what you yourself said, they don't need an ambulance,' Daisy contributed.
She was paging through Mama's copy of The Kraft Cookbook
. 'At least, not right away.'
Mrs. B, who had made it as far as their table, looked shocked at the collective insensitivity.
AnnaLise seconded the emotion. Her grandmother used to say that, getting older, 'you
can finally say what you think. Other people don't like it, that's too damn bad'.
But Grandma Kuchenbacher had been eighty. If Daisy was starting now, how would she
be in another thirty years?
Mrs. B might originally have intended to confront Mama and Daisy about their gossiping
over Bobby's paternity, but if so, she wisely changed her mind. Skirting the tourist,
she kept right on going.
He followed her out, seeming relieved there was at least one person in the restaurant
with a social conscience. AnnaLise could see him trailing, trying to point the way
to the action. When Mrs. B ignored him and went in the opposite direction, he glanced
back toward the restaurant.
Mama waved. 'Y'all enjoy your vacation, now.'
AnnaLise didn't need to see an eye-roll. Shaking his head, the visitor recrossed the
street to the beach.
'Ambulance chaser,' Mama muttered.
Not giving Daisy an opportunity to point out, again, that there was no immediate need
for an ambulance, AnnaLise stood. 'I'm going to see Chuck over there. Be right back.'
Making her escape, she found Sutherton's chief of police leaning down, talking to
the driver of a second patrol car through the window.
Straightening, he saw AnnaLise. 'Hey, Lise — good to see you. Sorry I didn't return
your call.'
'No problem,' AnnaLise said. 'I just assumed you were getting an arrest warrant for
my mother.'
He gave her a quick kiss on the lips. 'Well, the possibility did bring you back to
us.'
Chuck Greystone's face combined the strong planes of his Cherokee grandfather with
the auburn hair and green eyes of his Irish mother. It was a devastating combination.
One that still could make AnnaLise's heart melt, despite the fact that she'd literally
and figuratively moved on.
She gestured toward the knot of people close to the water. 'College student?'
'Nope, looks like Rance Smoaks. Though he's been chewed on some, so he's got some
chunks missing.'
Lovely, if not unusual in the High Country.
Chuck's voice was neutral, despite the fact that he and Rance shared a long history.
A long and bitter one, partly because Rance Smoaks was a son-of-a-bitch and partly
because Chuck had replaced the man as Sutherton's chief of police.
Rance's father, Roy, had preceded his son in the office. And Roy's father before him.
The Smoaks family hadn't
up to sock Mama in the jaw.
Before AnnaLise could throw herself into the breach, the restaurant door burst open
and an unfamiliar voice bellowed over the chime, 'A body's just been pulled out of
the lake!'
Chapter Four
'Huh,' Daisy Griggs said. 'A little early in the season, now, isn't it?'
Mouth open, AnnaLise turned to her other
mother.
'Daisy's dead-on right, I'm afraid,' Phyllis said, rising. 'Classes don't start up
to the university till Tuesday.'
The University of the Mountain. Where kids drank too much, went to the water's edge
to relieve themselves and tumbled into the lake. With luck, their friends dragged
them out. The buddy system of drinking was much encouraged in Sutherton.
Mama was peering out the front window toward the beach across the street. 'Usually
be a week or two after that before somebody actually sees a floater going past.'
'A... floater?' said the herald. A man of about thirty, with the tell-tale sunburn
of a tourist, he was obviously perplexed by the lack of excitement his announcement
had engendered. 'My God, a corpse just washed up on the beach. Shouldn't we do something?'
'Like what?' Mama turned. 'Police chief's car is already kicking up gravel over there.'
'And from what you yourself said, they don't need an ambulance,' Daisy contributed.
She was paging through Mama's copy of The Kraft Cookbook
. 'At least, not right away.'
Mrs. B, who had made it as far as their table, looked shocked at the collective insensitivity.
AnnaLise seconded the emotion. Her grandmother used to say that, getting older, 'you
can finally say what you think. Other people don't like it, that's too damn bad'.
But Grandma Kuchenbacher had been eighty. If Daisy was starting now, how would she
be in another thirty years?
Mrs. B might originally have intended to confront Mama and Daisy about their gossiping
over Bobby's paternity, but if so, she wisely changed her mind. Skirting the tourist,
she kept right on going.
He followed her out, seeming relieved there was at least one person in the restaurant
with a social conscience. AnnaLise could see him trailing, trying to point the way
to the action. When Mrs. B ignored him and went in the opposite direction, he glanced
back toward the restaurant.
Mama waved. 'Y'all enjoy your vacation, now.'
AnnaLise didn't need to see an eye-roll. Shaking his head, the visitor recrossed the
street to the beach.
'Ambulance chaser,' Mama muttered.
Not giving Daisy an opportunity to point out, again, that there was no immediate need
for an ambulance, AnnaLise stood. 'I'm going to see Chuck over there. Be right back.'
Making her escape, she found Sutherton's chief of police leaning down, talking to
the driver of a second patrol car through the window.
Straightening, he saw AnnaLise. 'Hey, Lise — good to see you. Sorry I didn't return
your call.'
'No problem,' AnnaLise said. 'I just assumed you were getting an arrest warrant for
my mother.'
He gave her a quick kiss on the lips. 'Well, the possibility did bring you back to
us.'
Chuck Greystone's face combined the strong planes of his Cherokee grandfather with
the auburn hair and green eyes of his Irish mother. It was a devastating combination.
One that still could make AnnaLise's heart melt, despite the fact that she'd literally
and figuratively moved on.
She gestured toward the knot of people close to the water. 'College student?'
'Nope, looks like Rance Smoaks. Though he's been chewed on some, so he's got some
chunks missing.'
Lovely, if not unusual in the High Country.
Chuck's voice was neutral, despite the fact that he and Rance shared a long history.
A long and bitter one, partly because Rance Smoaks was a son-of-a-bitch and partly
because Chuck had replaced the man as Sutherton's chief of police.
Rance's father, Roy, had preceded his son in the office. And Roy's father before him.
The Smoaks family hadn't