Touch-Me-Not Read Online Free PDF

waited for the water to boil, Elizabeth sat at the table with her grandmother. “How was the law enforcement meeting?”
    “Interesting,” said Victoria. “A speaker from off-Island talked about stalking and stalkers.”
    “Really!” Elizabeth sat up straight.
    “Apparently, it’s become a problem on the Island.” Victoria indicated the stack of catalogs she’d separated out of her mail. “Would you please drop these into the recycling bin?”
    “Sure.” Elizabeth took them away and returned shortly. “Just tonight, two of the women in the knitting group told us they’re getting calls from a breather. He sort of pants, then hangs up.”
    “Who are the women?”
    “Jessica Gordan and Maron Andrews.”
    “I know Jessica,” said Victoria. “She has beautiful red hair. I don’t know Maron.”
    “Maron’s really bright, as well as pretty. She’s just turned nineteen and she’s doing grad work at the Oceanographic. Jessica broke up with her live-in boyfriend a couple of weeks ago, and a few days later she started getting these calls.”
    “Have they done anything about the calls?”
    “Jessica didn’t do anything the first time, figuring it was a wrong number, but after the second call, she contacted the phone company and they put on a tracer.”
    “Were they able to identify the caller?”
    “No. He’s calling from a disposable cell phone.”
    “A disposable phone?” asked Victoria. “I’ve never heard of such a thing.”
    “You can buy them at the Stop and Shop or off-Island at places like Walmart. Vineyard Electronics probably sells them. They cost about twenty dollars.”
    Victoria sat back in her chair. “The tea water’s boiling. Then let’s hear what your mother has to say.”
    Getting the body into the book-storage shed was going to be a nightmare. The movie tonight was Citizen Kane , a classic old black-and-white film. LeRoy drove around for a half hour, along South Road, then onto one of the dirt roads that connected with Middle Road, checking the time every few minutes. At 9:15, he figured everybody must have cleared out, so he turned off the dirt road onto Middle Road, followed it to the Panhandle, which became Music Street, followed that until he came out onto South Road, and then he was a short hop from the library.
    There were still half a dozen cars in the parking lot. Several people milled about. He couldn’t pull away again without being too obvious, so he parked off to one side and turned off the engine.
    There was a tap on his window. LeRoy started. A teenager. Whit something. What was the kid’s last name? Manter. Whit Manter.
    “How’re ya doing, Mr. Watts? Are you gonna need help this summer? I’m looking for a job.”
    “Talk to Maureen, Whit. She handles hiring.”
    “Thanks, Mr. Watts.”
    “I’m not promising anything,” LeRoy called to Whit’s departing back. But then he recalled, with an odd feeling, he would need an extra hand.
    As he rolled up the window, a woman was about to tap on the glass. Diana. Another Manter. Whit’s third cousin.
    “I’m glad I saw you, LeRoy. I wanted to let you know I voted for your wife. She’s just wonderful as head of the library trustees.”
    LeRoy nodded. “I’ll tell her, Diana. Thanks.”
    “Also, it’s my dishwasher.”
    “Mice eat the wiring again?”
    “I think so.”
    “They like the white wiring. Call the shop, Diana, and talk to Maureen. She makes out the schedule.”
    He’d rolled the window up partway when he saw someone else, a woman, walking toward the van. The woman looked familiar, but he couldn’t place her right away. She was stocky and wore a mannish buffalo-plaid shirt over jeans. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail and she had long straggly bangs. Then he recognized her. Emily Cameron, their baby-sitter.
    “Hi, Emily,” said LeRoy. “Can I help you?”
    “Hello, Mr. Watts. Have you seen Jerry Sparks?”
    LeRoy shuddered. “Jerry Sparks?”
    “He was supposed to meet me