forgotten (Twisted Cedars Mysteries Book 2) Read Online Free Page A

ago?”
    Dougal took a quick look around the room. “She must be exploring your place. I hope that’s okay. I’d better go get her litter box and her food and water bowls.”
    “I’ll pour us a drink while you do that.”
    He could hear amusement in her voice. Up to now, she hadn’t seen much of his nurturing side. But hey. If you owned a pet, you had to look after it.
    * * *
    A few minutes later, all three of them were cuddled on the sofa, Charlotte and Dougal on the cushions, Borden perched on the back. The old cat was cautious, but she’d allowed Charlotte to scratch her behind the ears and under her red leather collar. Charlotte decided they were going to get along just fine.
    “Revisiting Jane Austen, are you?” Dougal was looking at the stack of novels on her coffee table.
    “My go-to books in times of stress,” she confessed. She’d started with Emma and was now a quarter way through Sense and Sensibility . “Austen is so comforting. As her Emma says, If things are going untowardly one month, they are sure to mend the next .”
    “Pretty quote. I prefer scotch myself.”
    “Well, I did have a beer tonight, as well. I met Wade at the Linger Longer earlier this evening.”
    “Rekindling the old flame?”
    She checked his expression. When she saw he was teasing, she mock-punched his arm. “No. He was bringing me up to date on the investigation in Daisy’s death. Yesterday I handed over the banking records from our joint account. They’re going to see if they can match all the withdrawals to Kyle’s so-called business trips.”
    “Sooner they arrest that guy, the happier I’ll be.”
    “It would be nice to have some closure before I plan the memorial service for Daisy.”
    Dougal brushed his hand down the side of her cheek. His touch gave her delicious shivers, making her feel cared-for and aroused, all at the same time.
    “Do you regret letting me rent the Librarian Cottage? If I hadn’t dug up the old garden, Daisy’s body would probably never have been discovered, and you could have at least had hope.”
    “But if Kyle did this, he ought to pay. Besides, what good is false hope? The truth is better, even if it’s painful to face. Think about Chester and Cory. It’s awful that their mother is dead. But at least they know she didn’t desert them.”
    “Yeah. I’m glad for my sister’s sake, too. When I warned Jamie not to marry Kyle, I had no idea he’d done anything this evil. I just thought he was a jerk.”
    “I’m still having trouble believing he did this. Maybe I could picture him accidently getting too rough with her. But burying her out in the forest? Rather than taking responsibility for his actions?”
    “Kyle has always been a master at getting away with things. At school he was rich, good-looking, and the best athlete on the football team. Did he take advantage of that? He sure as hell did.”
    “But think of what will happen if he goes to prison. Chester and Cory will practically be orphans.”
    “Yeah. It’ll be tough on the kids all right.”
    Charlotte sank her head against his chest. “This is depressing. Tell me about New York. Were you able to sublet your apartment?”
    “Actually, subletting the apartment was the least of my worries.”
    “Oh?”
    “It’s kind of mind-blowing. Maybe we should wait until tomorrow. It’s late and you look beat.”
    “You can’t be serious. I’ll never sleep now that you’ve made me so curious. What happened?”
    “You know that neighbor who was looking after Borden while I was away?”
    “You said it was an old guy. Monty, right?”
    “Yeah. Monty Monroe, or so he said. I thought he was a lonely guy willing to do me a favor by pet sitting Borden. But his motivations were much more devious than that. He was the one sending me those emails. My neighbor was none other than Librarianmomma.”
    The reason Dougal had come back to Twisted Cedars last month—first time since he’d left after high school graduation—was to