The Lady Who Cried Murder (A Mac Faraday Mystery) Read Online Free PDF Page B

that time to case Spencer Point for potential items to steal. Every couple of weeks, Mac would search Spencer Manor for the stolen goods and return them to their owners.
    By the time Gnarly had finished breakfast and returned outside, Mac would be fully awake. By the time Gnarly had finished breakfast and returned outside, Mac would be fully awake. If Mac was lucky, he could catch a nap after Gnarly returned from his second outing at nine o’clock.
    This morning, Mac decided to catch his nap on the sofa in front of a roaring fire. Between the hot flames and the toasty afghan he curled up under, he was able to drift back to sleep until he heard one of the bedroom doors upstairs open and close. The click-clack of high heels on the granite floor told him that it wasn’t Archie. She went barefoot except for when she absolutely had to put on shoes.
    A freelance editor, Archie had jumped right back into work upon their return from the cruise. She had stayed up until well after midnight editing a novel for a mystery writer whose publisher had a tight deadline.
    “Good morning, Chelsea,” Mac greeted their houseguest without opening his eyes. “I guess you’re going to work.”
    “Some people do have to work for a living,” she said with a smile in her voice.
    Trying to hang onto a thread of sleep, Mac squinted up at her. In the bright morning sunlight bouncing off the lake to spill in through the windows, Chelsea Adams resembled an angel with her platinum blonde hair framing her face in wispy waves. Chelsea’s light blue eyes and ivory skin gave her an almost albino appearance. Her turquoise suit brought out the blue in her eyes.
    Her hair was almost as white as her service dog, Molly, a German shepherd, who was also dressed for work in her gray vest with “Service Dog” stenciled in red block letters on the sides. Suffering from epilepsy since a serious car accident years before, Chelsea had enlisted the aid of Molly, who was trained to pick up early signs of seizures, which allowed her mistress time to take the medication to stop it.
    Since Chelsea’s arrival in Deep Creek Lake, Molly and Gnarly had become fast friends. When she and her mistress came downstairs, Molly galloped over to sniff Gnarly, who had curled up on the rug to warm himself in front of the fire.
    “I’m very aware of that,” Mac said. “Do you need a ride? I heard David come in around three o’clock this morning. He may not be up yet.” He fought a smile when he saw a flicker of disappointment come to her eyes.
    “You know,” Chelsea said with a cock of her head, “I discovered something very interesting yesterday at the county prosecutor’s office.”
    “What’s that?”
    “You and Ben Fleming go to the athletic club together twice a week.”
    “You didn’t know that?” Mac asked with mock surprise. He folded his arms across his chest.
    Chelsea sat down in the chair across from him. “How is it that the county prosecutor called out of the blue to offer me a position as paralegal in his office when I was looking for a job here in Deep Creek Lake? Not only a good job with a good salary, but they’ll pay for my law school as well.”
    “How is that?”
    “And the rent for the lakeside condo that I’m moving into, which has a view to die for, is a fraction of the other condos in the area and is managed by Spencer Properties, which you own.” Her voice rose in octave.
    “I knew that.”
    “My mother used to say that if it is too good to be true,” Chelsea said, “it usually is. What gives, Mac? You’re calling in favors and losing money on rent to make it almost impossible for me to not move back here to Spencer? Why? What’s in it for you? You certainly aren’t looking to date me, because I see how you look at Archie.” She glanced in the direction of the guest cottage where Mac’s half-brother lived. “Is it David? Did he ask you to do this?”
    “No,” Mac said, “David didn’t ask me to put all this in motion. I