Storm Season Read Online Free PDF

surrounding vicinity."
    A moment later she and Kitt stood beside the Jeep.
    Kitt looked at her. “Can you do this?”
    Her heart was beating so hard she thought it might burst out of her chest. “Yes,” she said evenly. “I’m fine. Absolutely.”
    “Then prove it. Keep your shit together."
    They searched the Jeep. Nothing to suggest any kind of struggle or violence. Nothing personal had been left behind--no wallet, cell phone, not even a pack of gum. Erik disliked feeling constricted while driving and almost always removed his coat, either tossing it in back or laying it across the passenger seat. Its absence suggested he’d slipped it on, then climbed out of the car. As if to greet someone.
    Then he’d disappeared.
    Who could he have been meeting? And why here?
    “Let’s get Sorenstein and company out here,” Kitt said. “They can process the scene.”
    “Let’s just leave. Go away.”
    Maybe he had done that? Made a fresh start.
    Without her.
    No, that was crazy. She realized her hands were shaking and stuffed them into her pockets. That was just talk. A man like Erik, one with so many responsibilities, didn’t do that. Couldn’t do that.
    “M.C." Kitt said, interrupting her thoughts. “You said Erik was upset last night.”
    “Yes."
    “Despondent?”
    “I guess. Bello’s parents called, they blamed him. He took it hard.”
    “And then you argued? Over your relationship? He asked you to marry him again.”
    “Yes. But--”
    “How despondent was he, M.C.?”
    She realized what Kitt was intimating and shook her head. “No. There’s no way he would . . . no."
    “Kill himself? Are you sure of that?”
    He’d felt he failed Whitney. Had said he didn’t think he could go on the way they had been.
    And she hadn’t even thrown him a scrap.
    “I’m positive,” she said, though she didn’t like any of the possibilities running through her head. They all took her somewhere she didn’t want to go.
    “There are other options, M.C. Erik’s a powerful and wealthy man. A target for those who might want to profit from hurting him."
    One of those places. God, no. Not yet. “Maybe he’s hurt. He likes to run. Especially when he needs to work things out. Maybe he fell. Broke his leg or--”
    “If he went for a run, why leave his vehicle running?”
    It didn’t make sense. She knew it but wasn’t ready to fully face it.
    “I grew up on this side of town. I know this park. There’s a trail along a--”
    A large retention pond. Not two hundred yards away. Over the hill.
    Whitney Bello had drowned.
    “How despondent was he, M.C.?”
    M.C. reacted to the thought and ran for the hill. Kitt called after her, but she didn’t stop until she topped the hill. The pond, it’s surface as smooth as glass, mocked her.
    What did you hope to see, Mary Catherine?
    She brought the heels of her hands to her eyes. She had to slow down, get a grip.
    Do it, Mary Catherine. Focus.
    She reached the edge of the pond, scanned the perimeter. Nothing. She started around it, eyes darting back and forth. The sun broke out from behind a cloud. Something winked at her from the weeds.
    She went to it. An iPhone 5. Or what was left of one. It’d been smashed. Or stomped. And tossed.
    Erik had an iPhone 5.
    She sank to her knees. Kitt came up beside her. “You don’t know that it’s his."
    M.C. agreed, though that was a lie. In her heart, she knew. The premonition. Her dread.
    “I called in Canataldi and Baker."
    M.C. looked up at her and frowned. “Why? We’ve got this."
    “I’m handing it over, ." It’s the smart thing to do."
    “That’s bullshit. "She got to her feet. “I’m okay. My shit’s together."
    “It’s not, M.C." You’re not. Besides, we’re working Bello."
    “We’ll hand her to them. This is Erik, for God’s sake! I’m not--”
    Kitt caught her hands, looked her dead in the eyes. “Let it go. It’s done."
    Furious, she freed her hands and stalked back to the scene. Canataldi and Baker had