Without a Grave Read Online Free PDF Page B

pequeña joya?’
    â€˜I’ve got a prospective buyer, Papa. I could use your help.’
    Rudy took his daughter’s hand, tucked it under his arm, then turned to Pattie and me, bowing slightly. ‘Duty calls. You’ll excuse us, then, ladies?’
    Pattie answered for both of us. ‘Of course.’
    I took a deep breath and let it out. ‘Who is she?’ I asked when father and daughter had disappeared into the tent.
    â€˜That’s Gabriele Mueller, Rudy’s daughter, as I’m sure you gathered. He’s got a son living on Hawksbill, too. Rudy’s wife . . .’ She lowered her voice. ‘Wife number two. She stays back in San Antonio with the twins. They must be four or five years old by now. And if they weren’t enough of a handful, I hear they’re adopting an infant from Columbia.’
    â€˜Speaking of adoption, how did it go with the potcake puppies?’
    â€˜Super! Both potcakes were adopted by a couple in West Palm Beach. Funny little sausages. The dogs, I mean. Terrier and collie with a smidge of dachshund thrown in.’
    I chuckled at the image. ‘We missed you on the Net the other day.’
    She waved her champagne flute. ‘Someone had to accompany the pups. It’s difficult to fly them out commercial, so we chartered a flight with Cherokee.’ Pattie raised an eyebrow. ‘Say, how long are you here for?’
    I was puzzled by the non sequitur. ‘Six months,’ I told her. ‘Paul’s writing a book and he hopes to finish by December. Then we’ll have the family down at Christmas time.’ I managed a weak grin. ‘Alas, Paul has to go back to teaching in early January.’
    Pattie tapped out the months on her fingers. ‘I have to go Stateside on family business in a couple of weeks and I need someone to anchor the Net while I’m away. You always seem at ease on the radio, Hannah.’
    I pressed a hand to my chest. ‘Me? You’re kidding, right? How about that doctor on Knot on Call ?’ I paused, trying to remember the captain’s name. ‘Uh, Jim. He did a great job this morning.’
    Pattie shook her head. ‘Jim’s starting back to Virginia Beach around the first. He says he can’t afford the hurricane insurance for Knot on Call , and he’s already pushed his luck by overstaying six weeks.’
    â€˜Surely there’s somebody . . .’ I began.
    â€˜It’s a piece of cake,’ she insisted. ‘Really. I give you the script, you fill in for a couple of days just to get in some practice, and then . . . voila !’
    I felt myself weakening. ‘How long are you going to be gone?’
    â€˜Just two weeks.’ Her cinnamon eyes locked on mine. Her neatly groomed eyebrows arched expectantly. A friendly smile played across her lips.
    I was doomed.
    â€˜Sure,’ I told my new friend. ‘Why ever not.’
    Pattie raised her empty glass and clinked it against mine. ‘I think that calls for a toast, don’t you?’ And with a friendly ‘Don’t go away!’ Pattie Toler went off in search of more champagne.
    A few minutes later, Pattie got cornered by a sunburned vacationer who wanted to pick her brains about ATM locations, so I took the opportunity to slip away and look for Paul. I found him back inside the tent, standing in front of a booth where the main attraction was a meticulously constructed scale model protected from curious fingers by a Plexiglass dome. A banner in the colors of the Bahamian flag – turquoise with yellow lettering shadowed in black – announced that this was the booth sponsored by the Tamarind Tree Resort and Marina.
    I’d read about the controversial development in The Abaconian like everyone else. And I’d seen the clubhouse, too . . . through binoculars. But seeing the master plan laid out before me in all its ambitious and arrogant splendor