Hell Read Online Free Page B

but it was extraordinary. The house overlooked the ocean in the Village of Key Biscayne, and the materials Daniel had used were designed to adapt to weather shifts – a tough call in South Florida. When it was sunny and hot, the huge expanses of smart glass darkened and cooled to comfortable levels; when storm clouds and thunderheads gathered over Biscayne Bay, their dramatic displays were reflected by equally ‘smart’ wallcoverings.
    Grace liked the house more with each visit. Like Claudia, she had initially found its high-ceilinged open spaces and white tiled floors daunting – not to mention its state-of-the-art security system, with a siren loud enough to wake all the dead of Miami. Time, however, was softening her opinion, and whenever she stepped outside on to the terraces Daniel had created on both levels of the house, she realized that her brother-in-law had somehow managed to create an environment wholly in keeping with the island.
    Today, Claudia, delighted by her unexpected visit, had rustled up a lunch of crab cakes and salad, which they were eating in one of the surprising, comfortable nooks, some large enough for the whole family, some designed for one or two, all on the ocean side of the house; this one a cozy corner with a sleek bio-fireplace that would make it perfect for relaxing come winter.
    â€˜Now I feel guilty,’ Grace said.
    â€˜Whatever for?’ Claudia asked.
    â€˜I turned down patients this week so I could organize the wedding, and now Mildred’s taking care of Joshua, and here I am living the life of Riley.’
    â€˜A shrink should know better than to ruin simple pleasures with guilt.’
    â€˜Point taken,’ Grace said.
    She looked through the glass wall at the rain-soaked terrace and smooth Brazilian hardwood deck, looked past the swimming pool toward the gate in the security-alarmed white fence that led on to public, sandy, palm-planted grassland, the beach and bay beyond, and felt they might almost have been back on Islamorada in the Keys, where Claudia had been so happy before Daniel’s work-motivated move to Seattle and the rocky personal times that had lain ahead.
    Grace looked at her now, thought how peaceful she seemed, her dark eyes alive, her sense of contentment almost palpable.
    Almost contagious.
    The tranquility remained with Grace for most of the drive home.
    Until she stopped at La Tienda Fiesta, a party store in Little Havana where she’d placed a large order for the wedding. She’d hoped to double-check Wednesday’s delivery with Luis, the manager, but the place was hectic, and he seemed embroiled with a purposeful woman wielding a clipboard. Spotting Grace, however, Luis gave her a thumbs-up, which she supposed was reassurance enough, but while she was here, she thought she’d check for some party extras for the lanai.
    An attractive leather-bound guest book caught her eye, a possible keepsake for Mildred and David.
    She stooped to pick it up.
    Something brushed the back of her neck.
    Startled, she straightened up and turned.
    No one there.
    Just a couple a few feet away, intent on their own shopping, and an elderly blue rinse lady to her left who looked a little confused.
    But it had felt like fingertips. Like a caress .
    So much so that as she’d turned around, she’d half expected to see Sam standing behind her, laughing.
    Thrown, Grace looked left and right again up the aisle.
    And saw a figure just disappearing around the corner at the rear exit end.
    Male, average height, slim, with silvery-blond hair.
    Familiar.
    Suspicion hit her hard, like a small, sick punch to her chest.
    â€˜No,’ she said out loud, and took off, sprinting to the rear exit, wanting desperately, even as she ran, to be wrong .
    Out in the parking lot, no men who looked like him .
    An assortment of cars, all ordinary, anonymous. She scanned the lot through the mist of rain, saw a young couple, laden with bags, clambering into