Sketch a Falling Star Read Online Free PDF

the matter of traveling.
    Rory didn’t answer immediately. She was distracted by his right foot, which had become translucent, as if its molecules were flying apart. She watched it shimmer for a few seconds like air caught in a heat wave before evaporating completely. Zeke seemed unconcerned about the loss, but Rory still found the process unsettling. Had he been more wraithlike to begin with, it might have been easier for her to accept this lack of cohesion. But at his optimum the marshal appeared as whole and solid as any mortal, and mortals weren’t in the habit of dissolving into thin air no matter how low their energy levels sank.
    Knowing that he might wink away at any moment, Rory gave him a quick rundown of her library visit, ending with the fact that Helene’s distress call had come before she’d had a chance to track down Abner Jensen.
    Zeke frowned. “I don’t see what help he would be anyhow.”
    “The librarian seemed to think there might be old papers or journals in the house that could prove useful. Of course, she had no idea what I was actually researching. But with all that’s happened up in Page, I’ll have to make another trip out here to follow up with Abner. Preferably minus an acting troupe.”
    She was surprised to see Zeke’s body stiffen. “I’m not interested in anythin’ more than the name of the coward who shot me in the back,” he said tersely, “and I don’t believe this Abner fella would have that sort of information.”
    Rory had expected him to be excited and upbeat about this new avenue she’d found to explore, but he sounded irritated, almost angry. It made her wonder if he was afraid she might unearth other information—information he preferred to leave buried. Although curiosity was pressing her to pursue the subject, it would have to wait. For now, the tragedy in Page topped her list of priorities.
    She did a quick check of the room to make sure she hadn’t left anything behind, then zipped up her suitcase. When she looked back at Zeke a moment later, his right arm had vanished, leaving his hand to float in midair like a relative of Thing from The Addams Family .
    “I’ll be out of commission for a time recoverin’ from this trip,” Zeke said finally, in a nod to his disappearing limbs. “Try not to get into any more trouble, ’cause I won’t be around to help you out.”
    “ I wasn’t in any trouble,” Rory reminded him sharply. “And you know damn well by now that I’m perfectly capable of resolving anything that could come up.” Before she reached the end of her sentence, the marshal was gone, and she had no way of knowing if disappearing at that precise moment was a matter of metaphysics or personal choice.

Chapter 4
     
    W hen Rory stopped into the motel office to check out, the young man behind the desk was staring at a small flat-screen TV, where a weary-looking reporter was reciting Preston’s bio with as much enthusiasm as she could muster at that hour.
    “…an only child, he’s survived by his mother, Clarissa Carpenter, who still lives on Long Island. Mr. Wright had returned to Long Island two years ago, at which time he joined the Way Off Broadway Players. In past years he’d belonged to a half dozen amateur acting troupes in as many different states. Although he received uniformly good notices from local critics, it seems he never sought a more professional outlet for his talents.”
    So, Preston didn’t like staying in one place for too long, Rory thought as she set her key card on the counter. It occurred to her that she didn’t really know much about him, or any of the other Players, for that matter. Helene had made a big fuss over introducing her to each of them after the first performance she attended, but what little information she possessed came from anecdotes her aunt shared with her from time to time.
    Since the clerk had run her credit card when she’d arrived, Rory tossed him a hurried “good night” as she turned to