AG01 - Washed Away Read Online Free Page B

never gone out was still a mystery to the townspeople.
    They got a booth in the corner and ordered coffee. "Ok, CC, what's up? You have a strange look on your face."
    "I've found out who owns the truck and trailer," here he hesitated. "I seem to bring you nothing but bad news."
    "CC, just tell me. You know how much I hate being kept in suspense."
    "He's a friend of yours. Lex, it belongs to Fred Silva." Alexa sucked in a breath,
Not Fred
, she thought.

CHAPTER 6
     
    "Fred?" asked Phil, trying to grasp this bit of information that Alexa had shared. Not only was it too early in the morning to deal with such things, it was hardly believable.
    "That's what CC told me last night, and I was just as incredulous as you! This makes no sense! Fred couldn't kill anyone. He's squeamish about stepping on a bug. How in the world is he supposed to hang someone, and then tie the dead body to the axle of his boat trailer and drive the thing off into an overflowing creek?" Alexa was pacing quickly back and forth in Phil's living room, dramatically emphasizing her point by waving her arms and acting out each main verb in her sentence. She actually snarled and looked like Cruella DeVil when she said the word drive. It was impossible for her to speak without using her hands, and in this case, her arms, head, and feet.
    Phil began to wonder if she needed a Xanax.
Nah, she'll calm down in a second. Hurricane Alexa always blows through town quickly. When she runs out of steam, I'll tell her my good news.
    True enough… Alexa usually overreacted to really bad news. It was either complete and total shock-like silence, or she blew up and just as quickly calmed down after she had vented for a while. She acted somewhat like the early-model locomotives from the 1800s – she put off a lot of steam but didn't go very far.
    Alexa ranted around a few minutes more, but suddenly stopped when she noticed that Phil was apparently lost in his own world.
    "Hey! Why aren't you commenting? You're supposed to be as upset as I am."
    "Sorry, I was thinking about something else. And, I am upset about Fred. I agree. It's ridiculous to believe that he could have committed this crime. But…"
    "What?" Alexa asked, sensing his mood.
    "Well, I have some good news, but I wasn't sure whether right now would be the best time to mention it."
    "What? What's happening? What's going on that you haven't told me?" Alexa, now curious, and finally calm about the Fred thing, plopped down on the couch one leg tucked under her, and faced Phil at the other end.
    "Well, after you and I hung up last night, Lisa called. She's FINALLY coming up here. We sold our house, and she hired the movers and everything. We have to go down for the closing in a few weeks, but she's driving up today and should be here around six or seven tonight. I can hardly wait! I've missed her so much!" Phil was clearly excited and pleased that everything had worked out so well about moving to Neosho.
    "Aw, I'm so happy for you guys. I know it's been hard being so far from each other. Now, we have to get Lisa a job lined up and you'll be all set. Hey, tell her to come by the hospital, I know they're hiring. Maybe she can find something there that will interest her."
    Phil looked happy, pleased, grateful, excited, and anxious all at the same time. Alexa could tell that he had missed his wife Lisa, mainly because he had been moping around since he had last returned from Texas. It had been a sacrifice for them to be apart for so long, but Alexa had a feeling that Phil's bouts of sighing loudly whenever he saw something that reminded him of Lisa were about to be over.
    Just then, Alexa's phone rang,
Got to change my ring tone to something generic – AGAIN! Having kung fu sounds blast out in public is embarrassing. I'm gonna have to do something evil to Tara to pay her back for changing my tone.
Tara regularly did that just to see Alexa's face when elderly church members turned around to stare at her during service while