Claire Gulliver #06 - Carnage Goes Coastal Read Online Free Page A

credit for detecting the cause for Karen’s bulging stomach.
    Karen forced herself to respond. After all, the woman wasn’t to blame for Karen’s nightmares all night. She nodded. “I did. In fact I couldn’t resist making a couple of purchases. Who would have thought they would have such a nice selection in such a remote place?”
    That was enough encouragement for the women with her. They immediately launched into a discussion of the best shops in New York to buy baby presents. It seemed that one of their daughters was expecting and apparently the woman had already bought out the town. Actually, the conversation was a distraction for Karen and it wasn’t long until she dug into her purse and extracted her list so she could jot down the names of a couple of the stores they were especially enthused about, thinking it would help her find the things she needed. Finally, the women finished their coffee and took themselves off for the day. Karen helped herself to a refill of herbal tea and took it out to a rocking chair on the porch.
    It was a beautiful day. Truly, today felt as if spring was here to stay. The sunshine was warm with a gentle breeze which wafted through the newly sprouted leaves. It was pleasant sitting there sipping tea, while watching the world pass by. Gradually, the terror of last night’s nightmare slipped away and she felt she could think about that event earlier in the week calmly. First, she examined why she thought the incident in the subway had been a deliberate attempt to kill her.
    Well, maybe because it almost killed me, she told herself. And she could still feel the way those hands felt on her back when that mighty shove pushed her forward. It hardly felt like an accident.
    She shuddered. Thank God for that man standing next to her. He not only noticed what was happening, but he acted fast enough to snatch her back from what would have been sure death. And, she realized, she hadn’t even thanked him properly.
    She shook that worry off, remembering the concern on his face before he disappeared into the crowd in the subway car. He knew. He was well aware that he saved her life. She could visualize him telling his wife over dinner how he saved the life of some ditzy pregnant woman who stumbled, or fainted, and was falling right in front of the arriving train when he pulled her back to safety.
    Thank God he was there.
    She watched a bee flitting about in the tree at the edge of the porch. Finally, she allowed herself to admit the real reason she felt someone tried to kill her. It was probably the reason someone was chasing her through her dreams last night. It was all the result of that distressing and sudden meeting with Scott.
     
    *  *  *
     
    Two weeks ago on Tuesday it looked like spring would never arrive. It was cold and blustery and threatening rain. In fact, it felt as if it might even snow. It was late afternoon and Mark Irving, Karen’s boss, was attending a two-day conference at the Algonquin. And as usual he needed her presence to assist him in preparing for the presentation he was giving. Usually, she enjoyed the opportunity to be out of the office for a day or two, but today she was exhausted. It had been a particularly difficult day. It seemed like Mark kept finding more tasks for her to do, and mostly he wanted them all done at the same time.
    And it was such a glum day, as if winter was starting all over again. Worse, her pregnancy was starting to weigh on her. Anyway, at four o’clock the conference was breaking up and Mark decided to go down to the bar for drinks with some of the other participants. In a moment of generosity he told Karen to go home for the day instead of going back to the office as usual. That was a welcome order.
    She headed out of the hotel through the beautiful and historic lobby already thinking about picking up an order of Chinese fried rice to take home for dinner when something caught her eye across the lobby. She glanced that way and then froze