Dark Luck (A Suspense Thriller) Read Online Free Page A

22nd, eight
days before Nora was supposed to kill Ted. 
    Ted shook his head. “No. I’m still waiting.”
    Honestly, Ted was impressed that he hadn’t hesitated to
lie to his son. The ability to think on your feet was a great quality to have.
    Why had he lied? Well, telling Mike that his mom was
going to kill his dad didn’t seem to be a very good idea to Ted.
    Anyway, it was what they called a white lie , so
no one had gotten hurt.
    Watching Mike shove the check in his jeans pocket, Ted
said, “By the way, do you know anything about Mom that I ought to know, too?”
    “Like what?” Mike gave him a curios look.
    “Cheating, for example. Is Mom cheating on me?”
    “Why do you think she’s cheating on you?” Mike lifted
his eyebrows.
    “I didn’t say she’s cheating on me. I’m asking if you
know something that could be of interest to me. And apparently, you don’t.”
    “No, I don’t. I’m sorry, Dad.”
    “It’s okay, son.” Ted patted him on the shoulder.
    Later that day, Ted left for Las Vegas. He chose not to
fly, fearing that Nora might somehow gain access to airline databases (through
a friend working at the Los Angeles Police Department, for example) and find
out where he went. He used a fake name when he checked into the hotel. He paid
for all his purchases with cash from the moment he left Encino till the moment
he came back home.
    Ted suspected that his murder would be premeditated. Nevertheless,
he kept an open mind and recognized that the possibility, however nebulous,
existed that it was going to be an accident. Nora might run him over after
losing control of her car. Or shoot him while cleaning a gun. Do you have any
idea how many people get injured or killed in gun-cleaning accidents in America
every year? One hundred.
    It could also be one of those cliché scenarios where a
character actually caused the prediction to be fulfilled while trying to
prevent it from coming true.
    Ted was still alive when he returned to Encino on
October 15th. He stayed two weeks past the date from Nick’s email just in case.
    He hoped the problem had been solved. He was wrong.
     
    13.
    Ted received a new message from Nick on October 17th.
    ‘Ted Duplass was killed by his wife Nora on October 29,
2013.
    I found your time capsule.
    Nick Duplass.’
    Ted frowned. What did this mean? Was the date in the
previous email wrong? Or had Nora simply rescheduled the killing?
    Well, he should have expected that. Nora didn’t quit
easily.
    Depending on her motive, she might never give up this
dumb idea. By the way, what was the motive?
    Most likely, money. Nora probably wanted to lay her
hands on his fortune, which was certainly understandable. She might have a
lover. Some hot young surfer type with shaggy blond hair and blue eyes. A woman
in love doesn’t care about the law and the consequences of breaking it.
    But it could also be the good old spousal hatred.
Twenty two years of marriage can do that to you. He had never hated Nora,
though; he wondered why. 
    Ted sighed quietly. At least now he knew that the
murder was premeditated.
    What could he do to stop her?
    Maybe he should tell Nora that he was onto her. That
was how civilized people handled conflicts—they talked to each other.
    Showing his cards to Nora was risky and accomplished
nothing. You don’t tell your killer that you know what he (or she) is up to.
The information he had received from Nick was his trump card, and he had to use
it wisely.
    Divorce? Unfortunately, since he had won the lottery
while they were married, he’d have to give Nora half of his winnings, so
divorce was not the optimal solution. 
    He could write Nora out of his will—and tell her about
it. She wouldn’t bother killing him if she got nothing after his death, would
she? That would be true if his money was all she was after.
    He couldn’t go to police since he had no real evidence
that Nora was plotting to murder him.
    By the way, how did the cops find out that it was