No Place To Run. Marion Faith Laird

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СКАЧАТЬ with Lorie and the Burkhalters?

      “Can you give us a moment, please?”

      “Of course, Deputy.” The stately, graying supervisor moved down the next aisle.

      “Do you want to go sit down while I print this area?”

      Lorie knew she was in shock. She needed a cup of oversweetened hot tea. She put a hand to her face. Cold. So cold. Like that night—

      No. She wouldn’t let herself fall apart again. She needed to be stronger than that. It was the only way she’d get through this.

      “Is it okay if I stay? I’ll sit right over here on the step stool out of your way.”

      “Fine. Wait here while I get the incident kit.”

      Lorie nodded.

      Matt left, carrying the book and that bloody-looking note with him.

      Supervisor Pitt reemerged from around the corner. He gave her the same encouraging smile he’d had for her when he convinced the library board to hire her.

      “Has the deputy finished investigating the shelves, Miss Narramore?”

      “I’m sorry, sir. I think it’s going to be a while.”

      Supervisor Pitt straightened his shoulders in a way that made him look much more vigorous than a man in his sixties ought to appear.

      “I’m in a hurry, Miss Narramore.”

      Lorie knew exactly how Mr. Pitt felt. She was frustrated, herself.

      “What book are you looking for?” The words came out of her mouth against her better judgment.

      The look on his face went from impatience to satisfaction in an instant. “The Art of the Decoy.”

      “Do you know the call number?”

      “745.4.”

      Lorie looked for the book, just down the aisle a bit from where she’d found the note.

      Forget the note. Concentrate on the patron.

      The trade paperback was stuck between two oversize hardbacks. Lorie worked it loose and handed it to Supervisor Pitt just as Matt came back.

      “What are you doing?”

      “My job. I didn’t think you’d want anyone else in here until you’d—what do you call it—processed the scene.”

      “Exactly why I don’t want anything to be moved.” Matt held out his hand for the book.

      Supervisor Pitt got a sour look on his face. “Young man, do you know who I am?”

      “Yes, sir.” Matt stood his ground. “Joseph Pitt, County Board of Supervisors, an elected official.” The emphasis he put on “elected” was subtle, but it was enough to raise the man’s blood pressure, if the rising color in his complexion were any gauge.

      “Miss Narramore was simply handing me the book I want.” He raised one impeccably groomed gray eyebrow. “If I am forced to stand around all day, I can’t get back to my meetings and reports that allow me to allocate funds for this library and your salary.”

      “The library and I are both grateful for your support. We’ll be even more grateful if you’ll let us do our jobs. This is a crime scene.”

      “A crime scene? Here?” Pitt managed to infuse the maximum amount of incredulity and disdain into his tone. “Where’s the body?”

      In California. Lorie squeezed her eyes shut against the memory, but it didn’t help. She could still see the man lying there, bleeding out, hear his last words, cursing her, cursing—

      “Just because there’s no body doesn’t mean there hasn’t been a crime.”

      Jolted back to the present, Lorie watched as Supervisor Pitt forked over the book, still looking as though his face could curdle milk. Strange. He’d always been so polite when speaking to her. After one last cold glare at Matt, he left. They could hear his complaint to Jen as he stalked out of the library without checking out any books. Lorie ran both hands through her hair but stopped short of pulling it out.

      “Of all the times for him to want to check out a book—”

      “He’s a blot on this county, even if he does own the best auto-body shop in the area.”

      Lorie blinked at Matt. He sounded so...angry. She knew he didn’t like Supervisor Pitt, but his reaction seemed way out of line.

      “A few more disgruntled patrons like the supervisor, and I won’t even need my poison-pen pal.”

      “Let’s deal with one thing at a time.” Matt applied fingerprint dust to the area surrounding the book’s place on the shelf.

      Lorie covered her mouth and nose to avoid breathing the few particles that became airborne. It was like watching a crime show on television. She’d never liked them. Not after the arrest and— Don’t go there.

      Her thoughts turned back to the note, and its contents. Who here could know about California? Aside from Supervisor Pitt and the rest of the library board, her fellow librarians, her immediate family and closest friends...unless they’d told their friends...

      Who could hate her so much? More importantly, how far were they willing to go?

      * * *

      Matt had an idea for the next step he should take—but he decided he’d better consult Frank first.

      Frank answered the tap on his open door with a beckoning nod.

      “What’s the follow-up on the meth lab?”

      Matt shook his head, frowning in frustration at the thought of the other case on his desk—the one that was going absolutely nowhere. “Gone. Nothing left but the smell in the air, a couple of empty propane bottles and a bunch of trash in the abandoned house. We did manage to lift some prints, but so far the computer hasn’t been able to find a match. Probably amateurs.”

      “That’s the problem with meth. It’s too easy to cook.” Frank closed a file on his desk. “And nothing to connect it to our old friend Leonard Adderson?”

      “Nope.” Frank and Matt agreed that the real-estate mogul was probably behind the meth labs popping up all through the county, but they hadn’t been able to prove it. “Once again, it was on one of his rental properties, but we can’t find evidence linking him to the actual operation. I keep hoping he’ll slip up and be on-site when a call comes through.” It was unlikely to happen. Adderson was as elusive as the snake his name resembled, and just as poisonous.

      “So what do you need?”

      “I want to ask Supervisor Pitt a few questions about the threats to Lorie Narramore.”

      Frank’s fuzzy eyebrows shot toward the ceiling. “Your life insurance paid up?”

      “I СКАЧАТЬ