The Mountain's Shadow Read Online Free PDF Page B

recall, young lady.” The tenor voice at my shoulder startled me, and I turned to gaze right into the icy blue eyes of Peter Bowman.
    “All right, my kitchen.”
    He wedged his briefcase between me and the guy next to me. “’Scuse me, I have some business with this young lady,” he told the annoyed construction worker, who glared at him but moved over.
    “I’ll tell you later, Miz Fisher. I’ve got to wait on these gentlemen over here.”
    Louise disappeared and left me with my empty coffee mug. And Peter Bowman.
    “I don’t believe we’ve met,” I said.
    “Yet each of us knows who the other is.”
    “True enough. So no formal introduction is necessary.”
    “Not unless you stand on such ceremony.”
    “Not usually.” I took a breath. Here I was feeling like I needed to keep the conversation going, yet it was he who had barged into my space and my talk with Louise.
    “I would appreciate an introduction to your lovely friend, the one you were with earlier.”
    “Why?” I had to ask, although I suspected his intentions were less than honorable.
    “Let me pay for your cup of coffee.”
    “I’ve got it, thanks. So, how do you know Lonna?”
    “She worked on a case for a friend of mine in Little Rock. Although we never met personally, he pointed her out to me online.” He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “I’d like to become acquainted. I may have some work for her here.”
    “She’s spoken for.”
    “I’m sure. But I’d like to meet her regardless.”
    “I’ll think about it.”
    “Please do. In the meanwhile, I’ll speak to the sheriff and let him know we have an esteemed P.I. in our neighborhood.”
    “She’s incognito for now.”
    “Then we shall definitely have to talk.” He reached in his pocket, and for a moment I thought he was going to draw a gun on me, but he pulled out an ivory-colored business card.
    “I look forward to seeing her in the morning. My schedule’s clear until lunch.” He disappeared into the crowd.
    “That one’s a snake,” Louise said as she suddenly reappeared in front of me, coffee pot in hand. “What did he want with you?”
    “Not me, my friend.”
    Louise nodded as if Peter Bowman asking about an attractive woman wasn’t at all unusual. “His poor wife. She seems to be such a nice little woman too.”
    “Any kids?”
    “Lance is a cutie pie, but he’s difficult. His mother has her hands full with him and his dad.”
    “How old is Lance?”
    “Terrible two. And he is one hundred percent little boy.”
    Another memory jolted me. My brother had been like that—a challenge for both my parents, although my father had taken pride in Andrew’s rough-and-tumble personality. It was a miracle he’d never broken a bone.
    Louise glanced over her shoulder, where another new face had joined the crowd. “Look honey, I know you must be real curious about everything that’s been going on. Why don’t you come by tomorrow morning when it’s not so busy, and I’ll fill you in on the town gossip about your granddad?”
    “That would be great.” The tension in my chest that had been there since the sheriff’s visit eased a little. “Thanks, Louise.”
    She waved and moved down the line, refilling coffee cups and greeting newcomers. I left enough money for the coffee plus a generous tip and squeezed out of the diner. As I walked out the door, I realized I had no idea what Lonna and I were going to do for dinner, but there was no way I’d turn around and fight my way back to order something to go from the packed diner. A chill had crept into the air with the setting sun, and I shivered.
    “You’ll catch your death of cold out here.” The tone was mocking. I turned to see Leonard Bowman leaning against a lamppost. He wore a black leather jacket over an open green polo shirt and khaki trousers, and although his posture was relaxed, he seemed like a compressed spring ready to uncoil at any moment.
    I blurted out the first thing that came to mind.