Dare to Die Read Online Free Page A

watch over Nightingale Courts and get there as soon as I can.”
    Annie took two quick steps. “Max and I will take care of everything. We’re already there, for heaven’s sake.” She touched Duane’s arm. “Ingrid needs you. You go with her.”
    Duane’s staccato words peppered her. “I left folks waiting to check in. Told ’em I had an emergency. The units aren’t cleaned yet. Our housekeeper’s in Mobile. Her daughter’s having a baby. We thought we could manage until she got back. I’d cleaned one cabin, but everything else needs to be done. Ingrid will have to go on without me.”
    Annie gave him a gentle nudge. “Grab your toothbrush and catch the ferry. Tell the guests your clerk is on the way. Give them free Cokes and they can relax on the deck and watch the marsh hawks. I’ll be out there as soon as I make a couple of phone calls. I’ll check them in and clean the cabins.”
    Ingrid fought back tears. “Sissy will be all right.” Her voice was thin. “I know she will. Annie, bless you. All the keys are tagged. The extras hang on a hook in the office. The cleaning supplies are in the cement block building with the ice maker and washing machines.” She gave Annie a quick hug, swung away.
    Duane was right behind her. He was halfway out the door when he stopped and looked back. Duane was a hard-bitten former newspaper editor, unsentimental and brusque. He’d fought the dragon of alcohol, his past sorrows eased by Ingrid. He knew people. Worry puckered his face. “That girl in Six. I think she’s got trouble. Maybe nothing anyone can do to help, but keep an eye out. She rented a cabin yesterday evening. She came in the rain. Alone. On a bicycle.”
    Â 
    M AX’S CELL PHONE DIDN’T ANSWER. A NNIE PICTURED IT lying in the front seat of his new Jeep Cherokee. Sports cars, he’d told her solemnly, were part of his past. He cherished his black Corvette, but he had officially deemed it Annie’s run-about, insisting her Volvo was creaking with age. Annie still drove the Volvo so Max drove the Corvette on sunny days to keep it in running shape. The Jeep was his choice for hauling. Today he would be here, there, and everywhere, putting things in place for the Friday night oyster roast. He’d insisted on handling everything. She was not to worry. Annie was sure he planned a surprise. She loved Max’s surprises, but at this moment she wished he wasn’t determined to avoid entrapment by technology. True, life was freer before electronic tethers made solitude an elusive quest. However, all wasn’t lost. She left a message. “…call me as soon as you can.”
    Emma came up beside her. “In the rain. Alone. On a bicycle.” Emma’s face squinted in thought. “I can see her. Young. Dark curls tangled, drenched clothes plastered to her. Duane didn’t say anything about a raincoat. Who wears a raincoat on a bicycle? Why a bicycle?”
    Annie turned back to the phone. Emma’s singlemindedness never came as a surprise, but it would have been helpful if she’d offered to take over the store for a while.
    Annie dialed Henny Brawley’s number. Again she left a message. “…and if you could give me a hand at the store, it would be great. I’ll be at Nightingale Courts.”
    Emma began to pace, eyes glittering. “Alone. Did she come to the island to see someone?”
    Annie grinned. Maybe all Emma needed was a good hardpuzzle. Annie punched familiar numbers. Dulcet tones answered. “Breathe deeply, dear child.” Laurel’s husky voice was as soothing as a tai chi moment.
    Oh no. Annie wasn’t going to go there. Tai chi was her mother-in-law’s new enthusiasm. She kept urging Annie to attend a class she was teaching. Not in this lifetime. Annie felt a moment of suffocation. She wasn’t stressed. Absolutely she wasn’t.
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