Six Killer Bodies Read Online Free PDF

into.
    “Thanks. I work at Neiman’s at Lenox. Come by sometime
    and I’l give you my friends-and-family discount.”
    McHenry brightened. “Oh, you’re the one who hooked
    Brooklyn up with a coupon.”
    Carlotta smiled. “That’s me.”
    The officer, now in a better humor, handed Carlotta off to
    another uniform, and as she was led through a series of
    doors and hallways, she was passed to a pair of guards.
    Her pulse ratcheted higher as her heels clacked, echoing
    on the tile floor. They delivered her to a small room with
    four partitioned booths that faced a glass wall. Carlotta
    had to suppress her dismay. She’d expected to be in the
    same room with Coop when she talked to him.
    Another visitor—an older woman—was talking to an
    inmate on the other side of the glass.
    “You can take the booth on the far end,” a guard said,
    nodding.
    Carlotta swallowed hard and moved woodenly to a metal
    folding chair in front of a grubby wooden ledge scarred
    with letters and names. She lowered herself to the cold,
    hard surface of the chair. The guard stepped out of the
    room and the steel door closed with a clang. The scene
    was surreal, like something in a movie. At the sight of
    Coop dressed in a gray jumpsuit and being led in shackles
    and handcuffs to a chair on the other side of the glass, she
    grew light-headed. Starbursts flashed behind her eyes as
    she blinked back tears.
    He looked pale and gaunt, his eyes behind his glasses dark
    and sunken. He seemed lethargic as he held up his hands
    for a guard to unlock the cuffs, but he managed a small
    smile when he turned toward her and sat down. He gave
    her a small wave, then reached for the phone with a shaky
    hand.
    Moving in slow motion, she did the same, wracked with
    anguish over what he must be going through.
    “Hi,” he said into the phone.
    It was strange to watch someone talk and hear it through
    the earpiece. “Hi,” she returned with a croak. “How are
    you?”
    A light came into his eyes. “Engaged, apparently.”
    She smiled sheepishly, her cheeks warming. “I had to fib or
    they wouldn’t let me see you.”
    “I don’t mind,” he murmured, then nodded to the
    butterfly ring on her left hand. “But that’s a pretty sad
    engagement ring I bought you.”
    “I had to improvise.”
    “I’m just glad Peter hasn’t convinced you to wear his ring.”
    Carlotta bit her lip. “You have bigger things to worry
    about, Coop.”
    He sighed and averted his glance. “So it seems.”
    “I’m so sorry.”
    He frowned. “About what?”
    “Jack told me you were M.I.A. So when you called and said
    you were coming by the store with Wesley’s drug test
    results, I called Jack to let him know you weren’t missing
    after all. I didn’t mean to set you up.”
    He looked at her with quiet, hooded eyes. She could tel he
    didn’t know whether to believe her. “What’s done is
    done.”
    “Coop,” she said earnestly, “where is your fight?”
    “I’m tired,” he said quietly.
    “You’re sick. You’re going through withdrawal from the
    alcohol. You’l feel better soon.”
    He nodded, but without conviction.
    Fear squeezed her heart. “Coop, you’d tel me if something
    else was wrong, something more…serious?”
    “There’s no need to worry, Carlotta.”
    She wet her lips. “Coop, Wesley saw you at the hospital
    and he fol owed you—”
    “Stop,” he cut in, his jaw hardening. “Don’t say another
    word. Whatever Wesley saw or thought he saw, it has
    nothing to do with this, understand?”
    She nodded, aware that she had hit a nerve. Afraid that
    Coop would abruptly end their conversation, she changed
    tack. “Your arraignment is Monday?”
    “That’s what my lawyer tel s me.”
    “I hear Liz Fischer is representing you.”
    “At least in the arraignment. Then we’l see.”
    She didn’t even want to think about the case going to trial.
    “Liz wil take care of you,” she said, trying not to let her
    disapproval of the woman show.