In The Bleak Midwinter: A Special Agent Constance Mandalay Novel Read Online Free

seatbelt
warning chimed for attention. With a staticky pop, the radio
blipped back on and the announcer was rambling once again, or maybe
still. You just never knew with him, but one thing hadn’t
changed—as usual he seemed overjoyed by the sound of his own voice.
“…ing up in just a couple of minutes. Hey, here’s some news. I
don’t know if any of you caught this or not, but it seems Winter
Solstice happened at around five forty-five central standard time
this morning. That means last night was the longest night of the
year. Or is it tonight? Who knows? Probably the NASA guys, right?
But it’s good news for you night owls, I guess. And on the up side
for you sun worshipers, the daylight hours start getting longer
from here on out.
    “Just for fun I dug up some info on this stellar event, so here are some Solstice facts for you
stargazers out there. Number one…”
    “C’mon, c’mon. Give me some weather…” Deputy
Carmichael muttered.
    “… moment the Earth’s axial tilt is at
its farthest point from the sun, whatever all that means.” There
was an audible shrug in the disk jockey’s voice that underscored
the latter words. “Two. It is the official start of the winter
season… Yeah, like the white stuff falling out of the sky starting
around Thanksgiving didn’t give us a clue about that already,
right?”
    “Sheesh, Ronnie…” Skip grunted. “Quit
screwin’ around. Just get to the actual weather forecast, will
you…”
    Oblivious to the deputy’s frustration, of
course, the announcer was still ticking off his list of factoids.
“…also called midwinter. Hey, what kind of sense does that make? Is it the start of winter or the middle of winter? Make up
your minds, guys. You have to wonder if those astrologers are
getting a little tipsy at the office party, huh?”
    Carmichael shook his head as he grumbled.
“Astronomers you idiot. Astronomers, not astrologers.”
    “… And four: Did you know that in
ancient Pagan cultures, the Winter Solstice marks the holiday known
as Yule? I guess that means the natives will be restless tonight,
huh?” The announcer chuckled at his own joke before continuing.
“And here’s something about this particular Solstice: Depending on
the year, they can occur either on…”
    “The twenty-first or the twenty-second,” Skip
announced a bit louder, and then let out a sigh. His moist breath
turned into the barest hint of steam that dissipated as quickly as
it formed. With more than noticeable exasperation, were anyone
there to see it, he said aloud, “Will you just give the damn
weather forecast, you turkey…”
    Even though he was early and had plenty of
time on his hands, Carmichael was quickly growing tired of the
drone. He had little patience for unnecessary prattling, most
especially if it was coming from Ron “Rockin’ Ronnie” Connelly. The
only reason he even listened to K-I-M-O was that it was the only
station that came in worth a damn, especially if the weather was
rough. The other three on-air personalities he could handle, but
this guy made him want to punch something.
    Of course, part of his annoyance certainly
stemmed from the fact that “Ronnie” and he had gone to high school
together and hadn’t exactly been what you would call friends.
Actually, that was putting it mildly. They had been more along the
lines of archrivals, all for the affections of a particular
cheerleader.
    Of course, that was then, and this is now, as
they say. High school was almost seven years behind them, and the
competition should be a distant memory. However, it had carried on
well past graduation, and though it had been moot for a good while
now, time had done little to change his adversarial opinion of the
man behind the drive time voice of the hometown radio station.
    At the thought, Skip once again stuffed his
hand into his jacket pocket and wrapped his fingers around a small
box. He’d already checked a dozen times since leaving the store,
just to make