The War Against Miss Winter Read Online Free PDF Page B

kneeler and stared at the corpse. Dead Jim didn’t look anything like Live Jim. His suit was missing its tell-tale wrinkles, his mouth its cigar, and his hand bore a shiny gold ring I’d assumed he’d long ago lost to his weekly poker game. Most distressing was his head. Seeing Jim out of a fedora was like seeing him without a limb.
    I closed my eyes and prayed that his end came quick and that his life, despite appearances, had been happy. After that I crossed myself, crossed the room, and searched my pocketbook for something to tip the coat-check girl with.
    “You must be Rosie. I’m Eloise McCain.” A china doll in a high-end black suit and a hat that looked like a bird in flight blocked my path and offered me her hand. “It was so kind of you to come and pay your respects.”
    “It was the least I could do.” She was unnaturally light, like dollhouse furniture made of balsa wood.
    Her large blue eyes studied me through the black netting of her hat’s veil. “It was so kind of you to call me like you did.” There was an artificial sweetness to her voice that made me question her sincerity. Every word she spoke had a duplicitous quality to it.
    “It’s what I would’ve wanted someone to do for me.” I gawked at her—I couldn’t help it. Under her hat was air-spun red hair that twisted, tornado-like, into a pompadour. She barely came up to my chin, but she possessed a magnetism that made me believe I was looking up at her.
    She released my hand and her arm gracefully traveled behindher. “This is my son, Edgar.” A man in naval dress uniform with a gaze that made it clear he viewed everything as prey emerged and cast a shadow over his mother. He offered me a mitt that resembled the steel claw one operated in hopes of obtaining a prize at a carnival.
    “It’s nice to meet you,” I said. “Jim said a lot of nice things about you. About both of you.” I punctuated my lie with a cough and mentally counted the steps to the exit.
    Edgar released my hand and gave me the up and down. “How well did you know him?”
    I couldn’t tell if it was a casual question or tainted with accusation. I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. “I’d been working for him for only a couple of months. He seemed like a swell guy though.”
    The interrogation continued. “Are you married?”
    I shifted my weight and tried to determine the most polite way to excuse myself. “No.”
    Edgar raised an eyebrow. “Were you shacking up with him?”
    “Edgar!” Eloise’s eyes darted about the room, monitoring if anyone else had heard him.
    “It’s a fair enough question, Mother. We know Jim had his dalliances and she certainly seems the type.” From the way he said it, I knew type was another word for cheap . That may have accurately described my shoes, but I wasn’t about to let it describe my person.
    I grabbed hold of his wrist and pulled him toward me. “Seems you’ve forgotten your manners, sailor. Apologize to me and I’ll be on my way.”
    His surprise turned to amusement. Apparently I didn’t cut a very threatening figure. “I have nothing to apologize for,” he said.
    “Then you must be deaf, ’cause I heard a mouthful of rude. Shall we let Mother’s guild know or should we keep it between us?”
    He fought to hide his smile. “I’m sorry if I was wrong about you.”
    I swallowed the if and released him. I was about to walk away when he snagged the elbow of my dress. He moved in close, until his voice was barely a tickle in my ear.
    “You know, Rosie—it could have been to your betterment. What woulda girl like you rather be: a whore or an old maid?” The four gold bars that signified his rank winked at me from the wrist of his blue jacket.
    I wrenched my arm free and grabbed a fistful of his uniform. Once again I pulled him toward me until he was close enough to kiss. “Look, Edgar, I’m not a day over twenty-two and the only thing I’m about to clean is your clock. Your pop was my boss and