A Reunion to Die For (A Joshua Thornton Mystery) Read Online Free

could do that was not worthy of her criticism.
    Joshua sucked in his breath, forced a grin on his face, and opened the office door.
    Gail Reynolds was dressed in a blue pantsuit and gold jewelry that was hardly noticeable. Her makeup was understated and her short hair was combed back into place. Sexuality had no place in her life. She’d never had a serious relationship that Joshua was aware of.
    She had a cocky grin on her face.
    “Hello, Gail.” He refrained from asking her what she was up to.
    “Hello, Josh.” She stepped into the small office and looked around before commenting with sarcasm, “I see you’re moving up in the world.” She was referring to the corner office on the top floor of the JAG office he’d had in San Francisco before he moved his family back to Chester. Now, he had a corner office in a basement.
    Joshua closed the door and gave in to his inquisitiveness. “What’s up?”
    She took the chair across from his desk. “What do you mean?”
    “What are you doing here? I would have thought you would be in California covering the Reinhold murders.” In recent years, he had not known of one major murder case that she didn’t investigate in order to write a book afterwards. Her first book had been about him.
    She sighed dramatically. “I just so happened to be in the neighborhood.”
    “In New Cumberland? Doing what?”
    “Taking a sabbatical.”
    “I don’t believe you.”
    “Why not?” She pretended to be wounded. “I’ve been working hard my whole life. I’ve never had a vacation—”
    “That I do believe.” Gail was a classic workaholic.
    “So, I decided to come back to Chester to take a rest.” She turned her head to peer slyly at him out of the corner of her eyes. “And write another book.”
    Joshua cringed. He plopped down into the chair across from her. “Don’t tell me that you intend to write about the Rawlings case.”
    The Rawlings case was a double murder in which he had been appointed special prosecutor when he returned back home. He had promised Jan an exclusive to write her first book about the case.
    He dreaded what Jan would do if Gail wrote a book about the same case.
    The two women had been rivals since they had ended up in the same sandbox on the playground in Tomlinson Run Park. Joshua could imagine that Jan’s sandcastle fell apart while Gail’s sandy home went on to become a summer residence for a fairy princess and her royal spouse. Both girls would, every year, compete for the same editorial slots of the school paper, and Gail would always win.
    In their senior year, it turned out that both competed for the same scholarship. Gail won. Jan ended up working in her mother’s drugstore while her rival went out into the world to enjoy success and recognition.
    Figures, he thought, Gail would come home to write a book about the same subject as Jan’s.
    Unaware of his dread, she elaborated on the subject of her next project. “I’m writing a book about Tricia.”
    Joshua started. It had been so long, that it took time for him to realize whom she was talking about. “Tricia?” As soon as the question slipped from his lips, he remembered: “Tricia Wheeler.”
    “Of course.” Gail was pleased to see recognition in his eyes. “It’s about time someone investigated it.”

Chapter Two
    Nostalgia made Joshua rush home to find his high school yearbook. In one day, he had been assaulted by the past from all sides.
    His master was in such a hurry to get his yearbook that Admiral, the family’s huge mongrel, only had enough time to get his front legs down off the sofa before Joshua raced into the study and to the bookcase. When the dog realized that he was not going to be chastised for trespassing onto the furniture, he pulled himself back up and resumed his nap.
    Donny and Sarah were up in their bedrooms doing their homework. Tracy and the twins wouldn’t be home for another hour.
    In no time, Joshua found the first section, which contained the student