Two Guys Detective Agency Read Online Free PDF

that she’d visited Lexington lately. The last time she was in town for a Junior League event, Mary
    — er, make that Maggie — had been in diapers. And Sullivan and Linda had been doing renovations on
    their tiny little home in their shabby little neighborhood. A few minutes later when the Mercedes pulled up
    to the house, she realized nothing had changed — the neighborhood was still shabby, and the renovations
    were still underway.
    “Is this it?” Richard asked.
    “Unfortunately.” She flashed back to the dilapidated little house she and Linda had grown up in. Hadn’t
    her sister gotten a belly full of that life?
    Since the driveway was jammed with minivans, Richard pulled into a spot on the curb.
    “If you don’t mind,” he said, “I’m going to let you go in alone. I need to return that phone call.”
    “Okay,” she said, opening the door to climb out next to a storage drain, then moved toward the
    driveway, her feet heavy in her black Christian Louboutin pumps.
    Because of her background in cheerleading and beauty pageants, she shined at life’s celebrations —
    birthday parties, weddings, anniversaries. Funerals, though, were sad, boring affairs where everyone’s
    makeup ran. And she never knew the right thing to say.
    But she lifted her chin and walked up to the front door of Linda’s house. She would be there for her
    baby sister. She rang the doorbell and waited, hoping the inside of the house looked better than the outside.
    Just when she was about to ring the bell again, the door opened.
    Octavia looked down to see a chubby little dark-haired girl wearing a tight pink flowered dress over a
    pair of red pants. The outfit was atrocious, but the tiara was a nice touch. The lipstick, however, was a little
    over the top.
    “Who are you?” the little girl demanded.
    Octavia frowned, holding her brow wrinkle. “I might be your Aunt Octavia. Who are you?”
    “I’m Maggie. My daddy died.”
    Octavia’s heart pinched. She didn’t really connect with kids, but she crouched to look into blue eyes
    identical to her own. “I know. I’m sorry. I like your tiara.”
    Maggie dimpled. “I have more. Do you want to see them?”
    Octavia nodded, and followed the little girl inside.
    Sadly, the interior of the house was in worse disarray than the exterior. Tools and building supplies
    were stacked around the perimeter of the entryway and every room she could see into. People milled
    around, holding plates of food and talking in low voices. Rowdy kids chased each other. In the corner sat a
    mountain of Kleenex boxes — good God, had her sister become a hoarder?
    She kept an eye out for Linda as she followed Maggie down a dim hallway into a tiny room that had
    exploded with stuffed animals and dolls, many of which were dressed in psychedelic clothing.
    “Here they are,” Maggie said, opening the middle drawer to a tiny white vanity with a perfectly
    proportioned mirror for a budding beauty queen. Her little round face glowed with awe as she looked over
    her sparkling toy crowns sitting on a green felt background.
    Octavia knew just how she felt. “They’re so pretty.”
    “I know,” Maggie breathed. Then she looked up at Octavia. “My mommy won’t stop crying.”
    Her heart twisted — and she had the urge to run. She hadn’t told Linda she was coming…she could
    drop the check in the mail.
    “Maggie, who are you talking to?”
    Octavia looked up to see Linda standing in the doorway. She straightened. “Hi, sis.”
    Linda had sounded bleak on the phone, but Octavia was unprepared for how much her sister had
    changed since she’d last seen her. Linda had always been the prettier one, as fair as Octavia was dark, with
    a sweet disposition that lit her green eyes in a way no makeup could duplicate. But the woman standing
    before her was a faded flower, her bare face a study of devastation, wearing a too-long black dress and ugly
    flat shoes.
    Linda opened her arms and Octavia went to her for a